Editorial Note: American Brandon Paasch, riding his Dynavolt Triumph, had contact with another rider and both crashed out of British Supersport Race Two at Cadwell Park. Paasch was uninjured in the crash.
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:
Hickman denied the home hat trick by O’Halloran but crowned Milwaukee King of the Mountain
Peter Hickman was denied his first ever Bennetts British Superbike Championship triple victory in race three at Cadwell Park, when a last lap mistake gave Jason O’Halloran the opportunity he needed to grasp the lead on the final lap to celebrate his first win at the Lincolnshire circuit.
Hickman had a spectacular start to the weekend, claiming Faye Ho’s FHO Racing BMW team their first Superbike race win yesterday.
The local legend was then able to carry the momentum into the second race of the weekend, despite coming under pressure on the final lap from standings leader O’Halloran.
O’Halloran got a tremendous launch off the line in race two, leading the pack on the opening lap but Hickman was instantly on the attack. However, it wasn’t until lap nine that he could make a pass on the McAMS Yamaha rider, diving down the inside on the brakes at Mansfield.
Hickman continued to try and break his rivals, edging out an advantage over O’Halloran but the Australian reeled him back in over the final three laps.
The McAMS Yamaha rider was within striking distance on the final lap, but despite piling on the pressure, Hickman had the edge at the chequered flag.
The battle for third was initially between Christian Iddon, the region’s fastest plumber Lee Jackson, and the Irwin brothers, but disaster struck for the VisionTrack Ducati rider when he crashed out of third at Charlies on lap four.
Jackson then had the upper hand, but Tommy Bridewell was storming through the pack after another bad start, running in eighth on the opening lap.
The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider first moved ahead of Glenn Irwin, and then hit a top three position with a decisive pass at Coppice on lap 14, pushing Jackson back to fourth.
Bridewell was able to break the group behind him, but reigning champion Josh Brookes had been building momentum throughout the race from his fourth row start, and was able to force his way through to fifth.
The lone VisionTrack Ducati rider held off Glenn Irwin, who was then embroiled in a fight with his brother Andrew, as the pair exchanged blows, but it was the Honda Racing rider who had the edge.
Andrew Irwin’s seventh place put him just ahead of rival BMW rider Bradley Ray. Ryan Vickers, still feeling sore after his high-speed qualifying crash, was ninth as Storm Stacey returned to the top ten.
Tarran Mackenzie was watching from the sidelines after the McAMS Yamaha rider decided to sit out today’s races after breaking his finger in his race one crash yesterday.
In the final race, O’Halloran hit the front to take the initial advantage off the line, but by the time the pack had reached Park, Glenn Irwin went for a move down the inside to grab the lead.
O’Halloran was then pushed back into third place when Hickman made a move on lap three, before the FHO Racing BMW rider was able to take the lead at Mansfield two laps later.
Bridewell again had one of his bad starts off the pole position, which dropped him down to fifth on lap one, but by the sixth lap, he had wrestled his way through into third place.
The leading trio remained the same as the previous two races with Hickman and O’Halloran ahead of Bridewell, until the closing stages.
Hickman managed to save a big moment on the final lap, but it meant that he lost momentum at Coppice. O’Halloran seized the opportunity and made a decisive move down the inside at Charlies.
O’Halloran was able to hold off a counter attack to score his first race win at Cadwell Park, and with it claims the Milwaukee Summer Grand Slam Trophy. Hickman meanwhile took second place and his highest points’ score of this round crowned him Milwaukee King of the Mountain.
The battle for fourth was between Brookes and Jackson, which went down to the wire. Brookes had made a spectacular pass on Jackson and Glenn Irwin in the early stage of the race to move into fourth.
Brookes continued to defend hard from Jackson, but the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider was able to match his best season result, making a move with three laps to go to push the Australian back a position. Today’s fifth places marks Brookes’ best result of the season in dry conditions.
Glenn Irwin held off Iddon to claim sixth place with Ray in eighth, but dropping out of the top eight in the standings by just two points. Andrew Irwin and Vickers completed the top ten.
Peter Hickman – FHO Racing BMW
Race 2 winner
“Race two was certainly a harder race than yesterday, although it is never easy around Cadwell Park!
“I was watching my pitboard and was up to 0.7 and then I had a little bit of arm pump, but I saw Jason was getting closer and I could hear him out of Charlies!
“I knew I had to be a bit more defensive but not compromise my speed. I got away with it towards the end but it was fantastic to make it a double.
“To say I am disappointed to have not made it a hat trick would be an understatement, but it was my only mistake all weekend in the third race.
“It cost me the race, so that was frustrating but I am pleased I was able to save it, as the rear came right around at 120-140mph!
“That gave Jason the chance and I thought about having a lunge back, but I just wasn’t close enough.
“Two wins and a second place, plus Milwaukee King of the Mountain, so I am really pleased with a fantastic weekend for the FHO Racing BMW team as that is a big point’s haul for the championship.”
Jason O’Halloran – McAMS Yamaha
Race 3 winner
“It’s been an amazing weekend. I know we’ve done some triples this year, but that win means a lot to me.
“I have wanted to win here for a long time, it’s the closest thing I’ve got to a home round and over the years I’ve had a lot of local support from both the fans and people sponsoring me so it’s a special place for me and I’m really pleased I could do it.
“The whole team have done an awesome job this weekend, we were up against it with the weather so we had to use the races to figure out a setting. Each race the bike was better and in the last race the bike was the best it’s been all weekend.
“The pace was so fast, fair play to Peter he was setting a really good place at the front but I never gave up, hung on for as long as I could and went for the opportunity when it arose. I’m really pleased with the weekend and can’t wait for Snetterton.”
More, from a press release issued by Dynavolt Triumph:
Fifth for Smith in Feature Race as Paasch crashes out
Dynavolt Triumph’s Kyle Smith salvaged a fantastic top five finish from a challenging weekend in today’s 16-lap Quattro Group British Supersport feature race in front of a bumper crowd at Cadwell Park. It’s fair to say that the unique nature of the Lincolnshire circuit was unlike any other Smith has any experience of but, from the sixth row of the grid, Smith rode a defensive race to cross the line in fifth position and holds on to fourth in the championship, just 30 points off the top.
Kyle Smith: “A more positive day today, we’ve learned something about the direction with setup. We’ve gone back to what we had at the beginning of the season. It feels better but still got lots to work on. Look on the bright side, finishing P5 is good for the championship so just continue working on that and see if we can be more competitive in the next races.”
Teammate Brandon Paasch’s race ended prematurely when he collided with Jack Scott at Chris Curve (T5) on lap 4 taking them both out of the race. Paasch acknowledged his error and is looking ahead to Snetterton to make amends.
Brandon Paasch: “Done and dusted here at Cadwell Park. Race two did NOT go to plan to say the least. Sorry to Jack Scott. Unfortunate incident but we’re coming out of here healthy so we’ll move on to Snetterton and see what we can do.”
Dynavolt Triumph Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “From 16th on the grid is always difficult but we found improvements in lap times and Kyle got more to grips with Cadwell. A good bit of progress from him to finish fifth, obviously we want more but he’s got a much better feel for the bike so we can be happy with that. In the end, from a difficult weekend, that was a really positive performance by Kyle in race 2.”
“Brandon rode well yesterday and had podium potential but I have to be honest, he was involved in a dice with Jack Scott (GP2 bike) and he made a lunge far too late, there’s no way Jack saw him coming. They collided and both went down. We can only say it was a silly mistake by Brandon and hopefully he’ll learn from it. Let’s look forward to Snetterton a track that’s more suited to Kyle’s style for sure and probably more suited to the nature of our bike.”
