Hill Victorious in Only Race to Beat Oulton Park Weather

Tommy Hill benefitted from a crash for John Hopkins to take victory in race one at Oulton Park on Sunday, with torrential rain preventing any further racing.

Polesitter Hopkins lost the lead early on to Shane 'Shakey' Byrne but regained the advantage on lap four. But no sooner had he returned to the front, the Crescent Suzuki man slid off at Lodge corner, ironically the same bend that saw Hill's title hopes evaporate last year.

This time he was the beneficiary, as he took up second in the queue behind the safety car, but the Swan Yamaha rider stormed into the lead moments after the green flags returned and waltzed off into the distance.

Hill now four victories to his name this year, more than any other rider and admitted that Sunday's was the most challenging of them all.

“The win was just what we needed, and it was a case of using all of the grip we could get. I had to keep my concentration and just make sure I didn’t crash. I think the team probably wanted me to slow down but I just didn’t want to lose that win.”

Former leader Byrne was struggling in the tricky conditions and fell into the clutches of Josh Brookes and Michael Rutter, who were both able to deprive the championship leader of a place on the podium in the latter stages. Rutter's move came at the very last corner of the race with Byrne crossing the finish line 0.086s behind the Ducati in fourth.

Gary Mason took a strong fifth for MSS Colchester Kawasaki after edging out Michael Laverty with the Motorpoint Yamahas of Loris Baz and James Westmoreland taking seventh and eighth.

Jon Kirkham finished ninth in the sole remaining Crescent Suzuki while Scott Smart finished an outstanding tenth, claiming the mirror.co.uk EVO class win in the process. Another surprise came in the form of Ryuichi Kiyonari, as the Oulton Park specialist took a solitary point for 15^th.

The rain intensified as the afternoon continued and after several inspections of the circuit race officials decided on safety grounds that no further racing was possible.  The outstanding Superbike race has been rescheduled to be held at Cadwell Park over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Race One Result (15 Laps):

Riders Championship (After Round 7: Oulton Park)