Tyco Suzuki's Josh Brookes pulled a calculated last lap move on defending champion Tommy Hill to take the lead and then the race victory in the second MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race at Thruxton.
Swan Yamaha's Hill had taken the lead off the line from Ian Lowry and Shane 'Shakey' Byrne, with the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider making a move on the race one winner to move second on the opening lap.
Brookes was again outside the top ten on the opening lap but he sensationally clawed his way back through the field and had his sights focused on race leader Hill on the final lap. The pair were inseparable and the Tyco Suzuki rider made a move at Campbell which put him ahead and then he defended hard from Hill who had to settle for second place again.
Byrne had held the race lead in the early stages after moving ahead of Hill at Club on lap three, but he retaliated and the Swan Yamaha rider made several attempts to pass before he returned to the head of the pack on lap 17. But Brookes by this point had charged ahead of the two Rapid Solicitors Kawasakis before getting the better of Hill. Stuart Easton held his position to finish in an impressive fourth place just behind team-mate Byrne.
Brookes said:
"After the first race I was planning to get off to a better start so I didn't have so much work to do in the race, but it didn't quite work out. I let the clutch out too quick and I lost momentum which dropped me down the pack but I knew from race one we had the speed. I got into a rhythm and I could see the leading group had a bit of a gap but I just concentrated and I didn't deliberately plan to wait until the last lap but that was the way it went and if it had finished a lap earlier it would have been a different result. It was a result for the team and I need to thank the Tyco Suzuki team for their efforts again this weekend."
Race one winner Lowry was fifth ahead of team-mate Luca Scassa in sixth as the Padgetts Honda team were edged out in the final stages but fought off the Samsung Honda of Jon Kirkham. WFR Honda had two riders in the top ten with Alex Lowes eighth and James Westmoreland in ninth as Noriyuki Haga ended tenth after a promising start to the race.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, race two result:
Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki)
Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +0.664s
Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.443s
Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.526s
Ian Lowry (Padgetts Honda) +2.719s
Luca Scassa (Padgetts Honda) +15.445s
Jon Kirkham (Samsung Honda) +15.722s
Alex Lowes (WFR Honda) +16.969s
James Westmoreland (WFR Honda) +17.188s
Noriyuki Haga (Swan Yamaha) +19.011s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Thruxton:
Ian Lowry (Padgetts Honda) 49
Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 47
Jon Kirkham (Samsung Honda) 43
Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 40
Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 38
Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 24
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