Brookes and Byrne separated by just two points ahead of the Showdown

Courtesy of MCE British Superbike Championship

Results Race one (Saturday): 1: Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 2: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.780s 3: Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +1.784s 4: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.421s 5: Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +10.605s 6: Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +10.820s Race two: 1: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 2: Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +8.519s 3: Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +12.194s 4: Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Tec-Care Kawasaki) +14.508s 5: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +14.589s 6: Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +18.034s Race three: 1: Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 2: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.304s 3: Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) +2.113s 4: Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +3.784s 5: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +3.870s 6: Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +4.358s Championship standings ahead of the Showdown: 1: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 553 2: Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 551 3: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 522 4: Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) 507 5: Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) 507 6: Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 500 Report The MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship intensified at Oulton Park between Josh Brookes and Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne with the pair sharing the wins at the triple-header. The Australian leads the standings by just two points into the crucial Showdown opener at Assen (18/19/20 September). In the second race of the triple-header weekend Brookes and Byrne again went head-to-head and it looked set to go down to the wire between the pair of them until the defending champion was sidelined by a technical problem on the penultimate lap. Brookes claimed the vital five podium points for the win ahead of MCE BSB rookie Danny Buchan who scored his best ever finish in second place. A spectacular crash for Tommy Bridewell elevated Dan Linfoot to third for Honda Racing as he edged closer to his Showdown position at the expense of Stuart Easton who withdrew from the races due to his injury. In the final race of the weekend Brookes made the perfect start but again Byrne was piling on the pressure. The scrap at the front was briefly paused when the Nissan GT-R Safety Car was deployed after Shaun Winfield crashed out. When the race resumed Byrne saw his chance and made a lunge to pass Brookes, but it cost him as he ran wide and dramatically lost ground dropping him back down the field. A determined string of laps put him back into second ahead of Bridewell. The final laps again came down to a battle of supremacy between Brookes and Byrne. The PBM Kawasaki rider was locked on his target, making a move at Shell Oils corner and then defending hard to hold off his Milwaukee Yamaha rival on the final lap. Bridewell scored an impressive third place despite being battered from his earlier crash ahead of Buchan and Ellison, who had confirmed his place in the Showdown after the opening race for JG Speedfit Kawasaki. Bridewell and his Tyco BMW team-mate Michael Laverty confirmed their places inside the top six with Linfoot finishing sixth in the final race to become the last rider to make the cut for the Showdown. For more information visit http://www.britishsuperbike.com Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) Championship leader: 553 points “I felt quite comfortable in the race today but I was struggling at the end with grip. It is difficult to accept to lose it in the final race. I had put my head down and did everything I could and we were running a good pace. I rode as hard as I could but Shakey could do more. “The Showdown feels real now, especially after a weekend like this one with the highs and lows of the good luck and bad luck we have had at Oulton Park. When we are all lined up in the Showdown I will be giving it everything to try and win which is always my approach and plan and that will continue until the end of the year. I have high hopes for Assen now, but anything can happen.” Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) Second in the standings: 551 “I was watching Josh and wanted to make a move after the Safety car, but Josh left it quite late to go and I had a good run on him so I went for a lunge on him. I can’t tell you what I thought as I went straight on and unfortunately everyone was buzzing passed me! I got my head down and put some harsh moves on the others as I knew I had no time to waste to get back to Josh. It was now or never so I went for the move and led the rest of the lap and fortunately held him off. “We will regroup again after this weekend so we are ready for the Showdown at Assen. We need to do everything we can do be in the position to go out and attack in the last three rounds as you can’t do anything else now. The circuits coming up should be good for the PBM Kawasaki so we need to make our weaknesses as small as possible and our strengths as big as possible.”