Leon Haslam scored his third victory of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season at Knockhill after an intense fight for the win with Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot.

As the race got underway Jason O'Halloran hit the front of the pack from Haslam and John Hopkins, with the ‘Pocket Rocket’ hitting the lead with a decisive move at the Hairpin on the third lap. As the pair diced for the lead, Shane 'Shakey' Byrne was pushing to move up the order, but crashed out on the fourth lap at the Hairpin, collecting Briggs Equipment BMW’s Jake Dixon.

The incident bought out the Nissan GT-R Safety Car and the pack formed up with Haslam leading Hopkins, Linfoot and Michael Laverty with O’Halloran pushed back to fifth. By lap eleven Hopkins was threatening at the front; taking the lead for the ePayMe Yamaha team, but as they streamed down to the Hairpin, Haslam made a move to regain the lead.

Linfoot was on the move; pushing ahead of Hopkins to move second on the 15th lap as Luke Mossey carved his way up the order and then also made a move on the American to move into third. Hopkins was then embroiled in a battle with Laverty and the pair made contact at the Hairpin, sending the Tyco BMW wide and dropping him down the order.

Linfoot was piling the pressure on Haslam for the lead; regaining the position on the run into turn one on lap 19; however two laps later Haslam repaid the move with a pass down the inside into the Hairpin. The pair traded blows, but in the final battle the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider held the narrow advantage from his Honda Racing rival.

Mossey held off Hopkins to claim third, becoming the tenth different rider to claim a podium finish this season with Peter Hickman closing on the leading quartet to score fifth position from Richard Cooper on the Buildbase BMW.

James Ellison moved through the field to finish seventh on the third JG Speedfit Kawasaki ahead of a recovering Laverty and O’Halloran. Danny Buchan was the leading Ducati in tenth position.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, race one result:

Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.202s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) +0.782s
John Hopkins (ePayMe Yamaha) +0.896s
Peter Hickman (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +1.672s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +2.341s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +4.686s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +5.500s
Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +5.653s
Danny Buchan (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) +7.257s


MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Knockhill race one:

Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 118
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 90
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) 88
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) 84
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 74
Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) 69