OULTON BSB: COOPER CLINCHES MAIDEN VICTORY IN RACE TWO

Buildbase BMW’s Richard Cooper was caught in a hard fought battle for the MCE British Superbike race-two victory with fellow BMW rider, Tyco’s Christian Iddon. An epic battle emerged between the duelling pair from lap twelve onwards and particularly on the final rotation the lead changed multiple times between the pair, with Cooper getting the better of the Stockport rider coming out of the final corner just as the chequered flag appeared.

It is the maiden race win for Cooper, but it is Iddon who leads the championship, with 72 points in total. Further down the pack it was a JG Speedfit Kawasaki fight for the final podium spot and it was Leon Haslam who took the spoils from his team-mate, James Ellison.

There were quite a few different tyre choices out on track, due to the mixed conditions as there was a short, heavy rain shower just moments before the start of the final BSB race of the day. Cooper opted for an intermediate front and slick rear tyre, whereas Iddon went for inters for both.

Pole-setter Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty completed the top five. Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne slips to second in the overall standings, but racked up some solid points after crossing the line in sixth on what was his 301st BSB race. Irwin, O’Halloran, Kennedy and Easton completed the top ten, with Mainwaring, Hickman, Jackson, Bridewell and Smrz the last of the point finishers.

Initially on the opening lap it was Linfoot who got the hole-shot only for Kennedy to go ahead, then Cooper took the lead for the first time this season a rotation later, with Iddon in tow. Further down the pack Byrne, Haslam and Laverty were fighting for eighth, with Byrne having the slight edge on lap six of eighteen.

Meanwhile Haslam and his team-mate James Ellison opted for all slick tyres, but Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot went for wet front and intermediate rear and was pacing ahead but the track did start to dry up and while in seventh he crashed while battling with Haslam at Shell, in what was his second DNF of the weekend.

On lap ten Cooper had a two second advantage over Iddon, and as the leading duo continued to plough on ahead Haslam and Laverty were pushed further up the grid after Linfoot crashed and an epic battle ensued between the championship contenders. But Ellison wanted to join the party and at Shell made his presence felt and at Island went ahead of his garage buddy to go into fourth behind Laverty. But three laps towards the end the rain started to fall out on the track, but it soon stopped.

While the weather kept changing Iddon closed the gap to Cooper on the penultimate lap by only 0.1 seconds. On the final lap Iddon took the lead at Cascades from the fellow BMW rider, but
Iddon had a big moment and held on coming out of Hizzy’s only for Cooper to propel his Buildbase BMW back into the front at the final corner.

It was not a great start for Bennetts Suzuki’s Ryuichi Kiyonari who had another DNF, but this time on the warm up lap. ePayMe Yamaha’s John Hopkins experienced a problem with his R1 and retired to the pits on the opening lap. There were a few incidences out on track including crashes for RAF BMW’s Alastair Seeley and Riders BMW’s Martin Jessopp, who fell at Shell. Both were declared OK at the trackside.

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