BSB Brands Hatch: Race 1 report

Leon Camier underlined his dominance of this season’s British Superbike Championship when he took Saturday’s opening race at Brands Hatch. The Airwaves Yamaha rider had to overcome the fast starting Broc Parkes but once he hit the front on lap 10, he slowly eked out an advantage, eventually taking the win, his 12th of the year, by 1.9 seconds.

It was Parkes who took the holeshot on his PBM Kawasaki and he led the opening lap from the fast starting Karl Muggeridge, Camier and Chris Walker but front row man Karl Harris went backwards and found himself out of the top ten. Also making an early exit was fellow front man Sheridan Morais who crashed out spectacularly at Stirling’s, his Kawasaki doing its best to clear the trackside barriers.

Parkes opened up a healthy lead in the early stages but once Camier got up to second, he chipped away at the deficit and gradually closed in on his Australian rival. Behind, Easton, who suffered a broken crank in the closing stages of qualifying, vaulted up from tenth on the grid and he overhauled Muggeridge for third on the fifth lap. Most of the action was coming further back though with a terrific six-rider dice going on for fifth, Tommy Hill and Walker colliding on the exit of Paddock Hill bend, neither of them giving an inch.

On lap 10, Camier made his move on Parkes at Druids and with the front four places settled, Hill did similar in fifth but Walker was fading and as he dropped back, John Laverty and Harris moved forward.

At the head of the field though, Camier was putting in another faultless ride and he wrapped up another win with Parkes and Easton completing the podium in second and third, the latter named over 11 seconds adrift of the flying Camier. Muggeridge marked his return to the BSB series with a solid fourth with Hill securing fifth with a strong second half to the race.

James Ellison battled hard for sixth with Laverty, Harris, Walker and Julien da Costa completing the top ten just ahead of temporary team-mate Michael Rutter.

Result (18 laps)
1 Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha)
2 Broc Parkes (PBM Kawasaki) +1.901s
3 Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +11.495s
4 Karl Muggeridge (HM Plant Honda) +15.461s
5 Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +15.840s
6 James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +17.959s
7 John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +19.646s
8 Karl Harris (Hydrex Honda) +21.033s
9 Chris Walker (Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha) +23.195s
10 Julien da Costa (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +23.236s