Leon Haslam was dominant yet again in race three of the weekend at Oulton Park as he completed a hat-trick of race victories in Cheshire.
Haslam had a race-long battle with Jason O’Halloran but was left to take victory without any problems after the Honda Racing rider pulled out of the race with a technical issue.
Luke Mossey was next up in second place as he secured his spot in the Showdown. Mossey knew from the start of the race that all he needed to do was beat Michael Laverty and he would be in the Showdown.
The duo were joined on the podium by Tommy Bridewell, who battled through the pain following his huge crash on Saturday afternoon.
Laverty was next up in fourth place – missing out on the Showdown places by just four points. Shane Byrne battled back his crash in race two to take fifth place, just ahead of Richard Cooper in sixth.
Peter Hickman had to settle for seventh place, ahead of Lee Jackson and Christian Iddon. Broc Parkes rounded out the top 10 finishers on his ePayMe Yamaha.
At the start of the race it was pole-sitter O’Halloran who made the best initial getaway but he was caught midway through the opening lap by James Ellison.
Glenn Irwin also appeared to have made a quick start to the race but he was soon penalised and given a ride-through penalty for jumping the start.
Ellison and O’Halloran would exchange the lead over the opening laps. Ellison’s race was brought to an end on the start of the fifth lap though due to a mechanical problem.
Elsewhere around the lap there was a huge crash for Jake Dixon at Brittens – with his bike smashing over the barriers and into the crowd. The Briggs Equipment BMW rider was taken away in an ambulance following the incident.
The safety car was deployed for a few laps whilst Dixon was taken away. At the re-start it was Haslam who made the jump – taking the lead at turn one.
O’Halloran fought back instantly and a battle ensued between the two riders. Behind the leading duo the battle for the final Showdown places was heating up.
Laverty was now up to seventh, with Mossey up in third place. Dan Linfoot put extra pressure on his Showdown spot on lap 11 as he crashed out of fourth place at Hizzys.
Back at the front O’Halloran and Haslam continued to exchange places up until Lodge at the end of lap 13 when the Australian was forced to retire with a technical issue.
This elevated Mossey up into second place with main Showdown threat Laverty now up in fourth position. Any hopes of catching Mossey were soon dashed as Cooper relegated Laverty back down to fifth on lap 15.
Laverty would make it back past the Buildbase BMW rider but the damage was now done. Byrne followed Laverty through past Cooper at the beginning of the final lap.
Further down the road Haslam took the chequered flag for the third time in 24 hours, 1.3s ahead of Mossey.
The weekends results mean that Haslam and Byrne are joined by O’Halloran, Ellison, Mossey and Linfoot in the end of season Showdown – which gets underway at Donington Park next weekend.
