BSB ROUND 5 - SOLID TOP TEN FINISHES FOR EVOTECH PERFORMANCE-SUPPORTED TEAMS AT KNOCKHILL
Located in Fife, around 10 miles outside of Dunfermline, the Knockhill round is the British Superbike Championship’s most northerly, but it didn’t stop the thousands of race fans travelling from far and wide to Scotland’s national motorsport centre this weekend for the fifth event in the 2018 series.
It was Kawasaki’s Jake Dixon who celebrated victory in the first Superbike race of the day, holding on to the ‘King of Knockhill’ title he earned after winning both races at the circuit in 2017. The RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki rider had pretty much led the race from the off and despite some early place-swapping with current championship leader, Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki), he managed to regain the lead when it mattered most to finish the 30-lap race in first position. Haslam eventually finished second followed by Danny Buchan, who received a position penalty for overtaking the #91 rider under a yellow flag.
Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin was Evotech Performance’s top scoring supported rider of the first race in fourth, followed by the Tyco BMW pairing of Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon in sixth and seventh positions respectively. Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) ended the race in eighth place as he fought off Richard Cooper on the Buildbase Suzuki while Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) completed the top ten riders.
It was a reversal of roles in race two as Haslam beat Dixon to the top step of the podium, with Buchan once again in third. Irwin clinched fourth place again while Laverty and Iddon moved up a place each to secure fifth and sixth place at the chequered flag. Andrew Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) finished eighth, while Hickman brought the Smiths Racing BMW home in tenth.
In the National Superstock 1000 class, Tyco BMW’s Keith Farmer took to the top step of the podium twice over the weekend with a double race win. As well as setting a new circuit lap record, his double victory has now secured him the championship lead – 12 points adrift of second placed Billy Mcconnell.
The next round of the BSB takes place at Brands Hatch on 20-22 July. Haslam currently has a 74-point lead over Dixon in the Superbike class, but with seven rounds still to play out, the championship is far from decided just yet…