Solid Oulton Park weekend sets Scott up for Showdown

 In News

The Be Wiser Ducati team of Scott Redding and Josh Brookes head into the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown after another strong day at Oulton Park today.

Scott won the opening race of the day on his factory supported Be Wiser Ducati Panigale V4 R with Brookes just behind in second to give the team their third 1-2 of the season. Redding then took third place in the day’s second race and although Brookes crashed out, he leads Redding by three points as the series enters its final three-round phase.

Results from yesterday, which saw Brookes take the victory, meant the Aussie started on pole for the first 18-lap race today with Redding three places further back and it was Redding who made the better start of the two slotting into second at the end of the lap with Brookes back in fourth.

Gloucestershire’s Redding was pushed back to third on lap two and positions remained the same until lap seven when former MotoGP rider Redding got past Bradley Ray to move back into second. There was never more than a few bikes’ lengths between the top four of Tommy Bridewell, Redding, Brookes and Ray and at two thirds race distance, Redding hit the front for the first time.

The closing stages saw Brookes move up into third as Redding held off Bridewell to take his seventh win of the season. Brookes also managed to sneak by Bridewell on the line to ensure it was another 1-2 for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team.

The final race of the triple header weekend saw Scott start from the middle of the front row and Brookes in fourth with the duo completing the first lap in second and third respectively. Lap three though saw Brookes hit the front and with all of the leading four riders lapping under the lap record, it was a close fought affair.

On the tenth lap Brookes slid out of the action after crashing at Shell Oils Corner and although Bridewell went on to win the race from Ray, Scott rode a sensible race to finish in third place despite suffering from a tyre issue.

The results from the weekend, and subsequent recalculation of points, sees 2015 BSB champion Brookes lead the standings from Redding by three points as the series now heads into the Showdown phase with the title set to be decided at the final three rounds of Assen, Donington Park and Brands Hatch.

Scott Redding:
“The first race was great, and I knew I had the pace to run at the front if I could make a better start. Morning warm-up gave me more confidence and I got the start in the race which I needed and with the bike working really well, I was able to get to the front. It still wasn’t easy and there were a couple of places on the track where I was giving away time, but I kept a tight line coming into the final corner and was over the moon to get the win. In the second race, I just didn’t have a good feeling with the rear tyre right from the word go. I was at the limit of what I could do with the tyre so it was a bit frustrating as I felt I could have made it win number two but I’ve come away with a win and two thirds and we head to my territory now so let’s try and get this championship won.”

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