Tommy Hill claimed his seventh victory of the 2012 British Superbike season with another display of dominance in race two at Cadwell Park. As in the first race, Michael Laverty got his nose in front early on and although it took Hill longer to get by, he was never under threat once he did.
The opening lap was very similar to earlier too with Laverty choosing exactly the same place to take the lead, diving through at Park. Alex Lowes slotted into third ahead of Josh Brookes with Danny Buchan, the star of race one, running fifth. The 19 year old would go from hero to zero though with a front end washout at the bottom of the mountain, ending his race on lap three. His demise created a sizeable gap between the top four and the second group of riders which was now led by Tommy Bridewell.
With half distance approaching, Hill’s patient approach finally gave way with the championship leader aggressively passing Laverty into Coppice. Brookes was also attacking and moved up a spot at the expense of Lowes with a late braking move into the turn 17 hairpin.
Heading into the final five laps, Laverty was still keeping Hill’s lead under a second but the Ulsterman’s victory challenge would be ended by more bravery from Brookes. The hairpin at the end of the lap would be the destination of choice again as the Australian charged up the inside to grab second. Laverty was not only down to third but he was now almost three seconds adrift of the Swan Yamaha out front.
Hill no longer had a threat from behind and cruised home to victory by 2.1 seconds while Brookes held Laverty at bay for second. Although Alex Lowes missed out on the podium in fourth, the WFR Honda rider had done enough to overtake Noriyuki Haga in the championship standings, giving him possession of the final showdown spot ahead of the decisive Donington Park meeting.
Tommy Bridewell looks to have one foot in the Showdown after another solid fifth place which leaves him 23 points clear of the chasing pack while James Westmoreland and Ian Lowry kept their hopes alive with sixth and seventh. Peter Hickman, Karl Harris and Michael Rutter completed the top ten but all were out of showdown contention before the race started.
