BSB:Cadwell Park - Titan-ed Up At The Top

Well, this was certainly a race to behold that had twists and turns aplenty for the Showdown, what a clash of the titans this is proving to be!

With the trio of Shane 'Shakey' Byrne, Alex Lowes & Josh Brookes all battling for podium credits to maximise their impact come Showdown time, the race at Cadwell Park would be one that was anyone's guess on who'd come away with maximum points and therefore maximum credits...


QUALIFYING

There were a couple of crashes to mention in qualifying that affected some rider's positions on the grid with Jon Kirkham losing control of his Buildbase BMW machine at Park Corner in Q1 forcing him to start in 18th position, a result which obviously must have disappointed him as he was battling hard with team-mate James Westmoreland for top honours in that team. Westmoreland himself started in 11th position, missing out agonisingly close on making it into Q3 by three thousandths of a second from the tenth placed Chris Walker.

Next casualty was the Aussie, Brookes, who crashed out at 'Barn' to see him starting on the third row of the grid and it was of course disappointing to hear his comments as it was not actually his fault, just unfortunately one of those things that can happen.

His team-mate, PJ Jacobsen on the other hand, managed an impressive 4th place on the grid ahead of both Tommy Bridewell, who was looking impressive since his switch to Halsall Racing Team and the Samsung Honda of Ryuichi Kiyonari.

Lowes, Byrne and James Ellison were once more on the front row and this was a perfect chance for the Milwaukee Yamaha rider, Ellison, to confirm his position in the end of season Showdown, although quite whether it'd be as easy as that remained to be seen though.

Onto the action...

RACE ONE

As soon as those lights went out it was Byrne who slammed his bike into first position at the first corner, but then immediately was overtaken by Lowes due to the flip-flop nature of the first corners of the lap. Lowes it was who was looking to claim his first ever win at Cadwell Park and the omens looked good if this was anything to go by.

By lap six, Brookes it was who'd made up ground on the leading pack and he got himself into fourth position in an effort to ensure that he was still pushing both Lowes and Byrne for as many podium credits as possible come end of season time.

Three laps or so later saw the first casualty of the day, the Bathams Honda of Michael Rutter, who this year completed a hat-trick of victories on a zero emissions bike at the TT.

Another three laps later and we almost saw another casualty, Ellison who almost lost it at Mansfield and by this time you could see that he was pushing the likes of Lowes & Byrne for the win, proving his earlier season form was no fluke either. Unfortunately for the Milwaukee Racing rider, he was quickly overtaken a lap later by Brookes who was looking desperate to rejoin the battle at the front of the grid.

Things didn't get any better either for Ellison who lost it at the bottom of 'The Mountain' in what he said was an unfortunate accident because the way the set up of the bike the suspension had bottomed out when he got to the rise and due to the tyre usage, there was just no grip there and the bike let go in quite spectacular style... so with that being said, it looked like he would have to wait for Race Two and another chance to confirm his Showdown spot!

The highlight of Race One for me was definitely Kiyo pasting Peter Hickman for sixth position at Park's in a move that was reminiscent of some of the top riders of yesteryear proving that everyone at the front end of the BSB grid actually deserved to be there!

In all this time, Tommy Bridewell had been keeping to himself and he had managed to take advantage of Ellison's misfortune now that Brookes had rejoined the fight for a podium spot to get himself up into fourth position.

So, that was how the race ended with Alex Lowes taking his first ever win at Cadwell & his third of the season so far. The usual contenders of Byrne and Brookes followed him onto the podium and in such commanding style was Bridewell for his stunning 4th placed finish that were it not for Lowes' 1st win at Cadwell (and his overall race performance, I might add!), then I'd have been tempted to pick Tommy as a contender for R.o.t.D.

As it was, Bridewell, in fourth position, headed up both Jacobsen, Walker & Kiyo, who should have finished higher than his position of seventh but those in front were just that bit more on their game.

Onto the pre-race casualty, Jon Kirkham, who finished in 13th position, three places behind his team-mate Westmoreland, so that battle was over for now.

RACE TWO

Now then, Race Two as usual was made up of the fastest laps of the riders from the previous race so unsurprisingly, Lowes made it on pole position and two out of two for the local boy whose home circuit they were visiting.

Brookes, proving his Race One third position was no accident but was due to sheer pace, was second on the grid with Tommy Bridewell clocking in at 3rd (see? that's no fluke when your race pace carries over to a front row start, is it?!) ahead of Byrne & Ellison who again looked like they'd be fighting over one another for the highest position on the grid.

Behind them was Jacobsen, another rider who was proving that, though he was seen by some as a less experienced rider than Brookes, the American was proving he was here in BSB to make a name for himself and hopefully be classed as a number one rider pushing for titles in the years to come.

The start itself was pretty magical, with Brookes flying from second position into the first corner first proving that a bike can fly if given enough impetus to do so. However, that didn't last as in a repeat manoeuvre of Race One (only on Shakey that time), Lowes mugged him to re-take race lead.

Just like in Race One, the front five managed to pull a considerable lead meaning that anyone from Lowes, Brookes, Byrne, Ellison & Bridewell could take full advantage of what the others' lacked in performance.

By lap five, Lowes had settled into a rhythm but you could see from Brookes' mannerisms that he was beginning to ask questions of the Samsung Honda rider to see if there were any cracks to his race strategy.

So far this season, how's this for a stat? Shane Byrne has led 164 laps, Josh Brookes 59 & current race leader Alex Lowes led 42... yet what did that mean in terms of current race performance at Cadwell? D!ck, that's what, as Lowes was the man to beat so far this bank holiday weekend!

Now, before it was called the British Superbike Championship, it had been titled the 'Superstocks' according to James Whitham, ITV4's resident co-commentator & there used to be a cash prize for the rider who could clock up the most race laps led in a season... carnage! Is it any wonder they cancelled that idea, bro's? Imagine how many crashes there could be and you've already seen my report of Oulton Park in Cheshire!

Back to the race and Tommy Bridewell was the first to turn the crank on lap 6 as he took advantage of a mega mishap from Brookes who on riding high at 'The Mountain' came down askew and had a major moment that allowed the Halsall Racing Team rider to slide down the outside at the succeeding bend... jeez, that was close, he seriously could have lost it there, bro's!

But he didn't, he didn't!

Unfortunately, a short time after that, Jacobsen's race was ended at Charlie's when he lost control of his machine thus ending his weekend prematurely. By this time, Byrne it was who actually seemed to be backing off the likes of Lowes, Bridewell & Brookes. The latter traded positions on lap 16 of 18 as Brookes was really looking to get the hammer down and close in on race leader Alex Lowes.

With such electric pace as this, Brookes caught right up to Lowes and tommy'd (see 'gunned' for that, bro's) his way past the local lad & it looked like a bare-faced snub to the man who'd been leading most of the race and in fact, most of the weekend, until...

DISASTER!!!

Brookes, going on to set the fastest lap of the race actually managed to lose control of his machine, a low-side incident at Mansfield, in such a way that his race was definitely ended prematurely!

So, that being said, Lowes wraps up not just one, but both wins at Cadwell with an average speed of 88.88MPH and yes, you did see some serious s**t (because of the way he brought that home!) from the local lad.

Watch this though, for the stats, it was actually Josh Brookes on the lap he crashed that set the fastest lap of the race, going round in a scorching 127.422MPH... you could argue 'is it any wonder he crashed at that speed?!', but let's not take away the focus from race winner Lowes who was just a minor cut above the rest today!

Following him home was Bridewell who is looking like the real genie from out of the bottle now that he's brought his Halsall Racing Team machine home on the podium with Ellison making up 3rd position. Behind those was a disappointed Byrne, Kiyo & Chris Walker.

Further back, the battle between Westmoreland & Kirkham was once again won by the former with a 9th placed position, just one place ahead of his team-mate... impressive stuff!

RIDER OF THE DAY

How I'd want to go for James Westmoreland, I really would, but for sheer performance, grit and determination it's none other than: -

Alex Lowes

The Tyco Suzuki rider had led for most of the race only losing out to the unfortunate Josh Brookes, but he was beginning to prove a real fly in the ointment for Brookes' own title hopes as we edge ever closer to the Showdown, bro's.

He looked sublime over the whole bank holiday weekend & I am sure that this is not the last time this season we'll be seeing Lowes on the top step of the podium, but the question is, will we see Shakey on there again?

Personally, I think you'd be a fool to think he won't be!

Next time out it's Donnington Park so let's see what happens as we edge ever closer to the Showdown!

Peace out, bro's!


The Lanky Penguin