Brands Hatch BSS: Cooper wins as Seeley closes gap in title battle

Richard Cooper won the opening Motorpoint British Supersport race of the weekend in commanding form, leading from flag to flag to take the win from Alastair Seeley and Lukes Jones.

Cooper led from start to finish, taking off the line to lead by three seconds. However, second wasn’t as easily decided, with Seeley, Billy McConnell, Jason O’Halloran and Glen Richards all trading places.

However, towards half distance in the sprint race, Seeley was able to detach himself from the fight and pulled away to secure a vital second place, taking the lead to championship leader Stuart Easton down to four points.

A huge moment at the half way point had dropped Jones out of the battle for third initially, but he was able to pull back the distance and plough through the Australian contingent to take the final podium spot.

Easton had a disaster of a race, finishing back in eleventh after technical problems cost him performance. He was initially under observation from race control but although his bike stopped smoking, he was unable to recover places.