Silverstone BSB: Kennedy claims 50th Supersport win

Jack Kennedy took the opening Quattro Group British Supersport Championship race at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon with victory giving the Mar-Train Racing Yamaha rider his 50th win in the class.

The race saw a three-way battle between Kennedy, Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing Yamaha) and Bradley Perie (Appleyard Macadam Yamaha) until the latter retired on the 12th lap allowing teammate Harry Truelove to take the final podium position. It was Perie who grabbed the holeshot from Kennedy and Johnston but it was Kennedy who led the field round at the end of the opening lap having slipped up the inside of Perie at Brooklands. Truelove pushed Johnston back to fourth with Rhys Irwin (Astro JJR Triumph) and Jaimie van Sikkelerus (MPM Routz Racing Yamaha) slotting into fifth and sixth. Perie moved back into the lead at Maggots next time around only for Kennedy to re-take the lead at Copse at the start of lap three. Johnston had also moved back into third with the leading quartet already pulling away from the chasing pack. Meanwhile, Damon Rees, Sam Munro and Eugene McManus were all out whilst holding onto top ten positions, Rees and Munro tangling at Luffield and McManus going down at Copse. Back at the front and Kennedy still led Perie and Johnston with just half a second covering them as they started their sixth lap, Truelove now half a second adrift in fourth. Irwin and van Sikkelerus continued to hold on to fifth and sixth with Jack Scott the leading GP2 category in ninth. There was little to choose between the leading trio with Johnston setting a new lap record on lap six and they continued to dispute the lead and pull further away from Truelove in doing so. By the ninth lap, half race distance, it looked like Kennedy and