Leon Haslam doubled up on race victories at Snetterton following an incredible finish to the second Bennetts British Superbike Championship race when the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider and Josh Brookes were so close they collided on the drag to the finish line!
At the start of the race Bradley Ray had hit the front of the pack, but Brookes was instantly on the attack and he made a move on the inside at Agostini to grab the lead for McAMS Yamaha.
Enjoy everything More Bikes by reading the monthly newspaper, Read FREE Online.
James Ellison was running in the top five but a mistake the lap later put the Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha rider out of contention when he crashed at Agostini.
Brookes was holding off Ray and Dixon as Haslam moved ahead of Glenn Irwin and on the seventh lap moves ahead of the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki rider as the ‘Pocket Rocket’ forged his way through the field.
Haslam was then piling the pressure on Ray and two laps later he made a decisive move at Riches to move into second. However there was more drama for Ray as the Buildbase Suzuki rider was under attack from Irwin. The Be Wiser Ducati rider had moved ahead with a move at Agostini, but Ray fought back as the pair began an intense battle for position.
A lap later and as Ray went for a counterattack he lost the front and crashed out of contention, taking Irwin with him, ending their races prematurely.
The fight for the lead though was raging too and Haslam moves ahead of Brookes on lap 11, but a lap later and Brookes had repaid the move to fire the McAMS Yamaha back to the front. The championship leader was determined and he was pushing hard to get back ahead of the Australian and with two laps to go he pulled another pass heading into Riches.
It all came down to the final lap and Haslam had the edge but a hard-charging Brookes made a lunge at Murrays to grab a slight advantage. The pair though collided on the drag to the finish line and it gave Dixon the chance to split the pair with an incredible 0.129s covering the top three with Haslam victories and Brookes in third.
Dan Linfoot delivered a strong performance on his return to finish fourth after he was caught out with a lap one crash in race one, forging ahead of Danny Buchan and Peter Hickman who completed the top six for Smiths Racing BMW.
Richard Cooper was seventh ahead of the Tyco BMW pairing of Christian Iddon and Michael Laverty with Andrew Irwin scoring a top ten finish on his Bennetts BSB debut with Be Wiser Ducati.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Race 2 result:
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) +0.040s
Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) +0.129s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +11.425s
Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +12.268s
Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +12.432s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase Suzuki) +14.733s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +14.911s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +15.733s
Andrew Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +27.365s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, standings after Snetterton:
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 165
Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) 101
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 98
Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) 91
Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) 79
Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) 72
Advert
Enjoy everything More Bikes by reading the MoreBikes monthly newspaper. Click here to subscribe, or Read FREE Online.
