Leon Haslam emerged victorious in the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race of the triple-header weekend at Oulton Park. The intense Showdown deciding weekend produced a historic race one for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team who completely locked out the podium for the first time with James Ellison in second place ahead of Peter Hickman.

At the start of the race Shane 'Shakey' Byrne hit the front of the pack from the pole position, but Ellison was instantly on the attack and had captured the lead before the stream of riders reached Clay Hill for the first time.

Ellison was then leading Byrne, Haslam and a fighting Tommy Bridewell, with fellow Showdown contenders Luke Mossey, Peter Hickman, Michael Laverty and Richard Cooper in hot pursuit. As Bridewell made a bid to move up the order, the Bennetts Suzuki rider crashed out heavily, he was able to get to his feet, but that now puts him out of Showdown contention.

At the front Haslam was hounding Ellison for the lead and took the advantage at Lodge on the ninth lap to force his team-mate back to second with Byrne sitting in third place. The trio had made a break at the front, but a huge moment for Byrne on the exit of Hislop chicane saw the championship leader take to the gravel and rejoin in ninth place.

It was a disastrous race too for Showdown contender Christian Iddon who crashed out at Brittens on the ninth lap and he now lies 35 points off sixth place in the standings with a maximum of 50 up for grabs in the two races tomorrow.

Glenn Irwin was another rider to crash out of contention, but the Be Wiser Ducati rider was able to walk away from his tumble at Lodge on the ninth lap.

Haslam was fending off his team-mate Ellison, but behind Hickman had taken advantage of Byrne’s mistake after getting the better of Jason O'Halloran and Mossey to move up into third place and despite pressure in the latter stages, he held the final podium position.

O’Halloran held fourth ahead of his team-mate Dan Linfoot, who still holds fifth place in the overall standings, with just a single point separating him and sixth placed Michael Laverty who finished in eighth position.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race one result:

Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +4.536s
Peter Hickman (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +7.761s
Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +8.016s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +9.902s
Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) +10.261s
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) +13.711s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +16.299s
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +16.380s
Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) +19.318s