Aussie Brendan Roberts took victory in the third round of the Suzuki GSX-R European Cup at Silverstone today after a race-long battle with Briton Tommy Bridewell. The pair – both ‘Wild Cards’ – entertained the crowd throughout the race after early leader Xavier Simeon crashed out after four laps. Roberts was too strong for Bridewell and took the chequered flag by just over three tenths of a second. Third place went to Italian Simone Castellani ahead of Magnus Houston, Anthony Delhalle with Robert Barber sixth. With ‘wild cards’ ineligible for any points, Castellani took the 25 points and has now closed the gap on leader Simeon to just four points Brendan Roberts – 1st: “It took me a few laps to get going in the race, but once I got past Tommy, I knew it was going to be a fight between the two of us. We soon pulled away from the rest of the field and although he overtook me with one lap left, I knew what to do and where to do it. I knew I was stronger than him in certain points, so I made my move on the last lap, put my head down and held him off. It was always going to be a bit of a ‘do-or-die’ situation, but I felt pretty confident that I’d come out on top. This has been a fantastic experience for me and it’s been great racing in front of a large number of fans. I hope I can get another ‘Wild Card’ ride later in the season and have some fun all over again.” Result: B Roberts, 2 T Bridewell, 3 S Castellani, 4 M Houston, 5 A Delhalle, 6 R Barber. Championship Points (after 3 rounds): 1 Simeon 50, 2 Castellani 46, 3 Mahr 41, 4 Delhalle 37, 5 Hafenger 33, 6 Van Der Marel 33.