Tommy Hill powered to the opening victory in the Showdown at Croft this afternoon to fend off the challenges of Relentless Suzuki's Michael Laverty who piled on the pressure up until the final lap as their Title Fighter rivals struggled.
Michael Laverty had taken the lead on the opening lap, with Hill tucked in behind before he made a lunge up the inside at Barcroft to take the lead but Laverty was straight back just a corner later.
Hill hit the front for the second time at the Hairpin on the fourth lap to take the lead away from Laverty and then continued to hold off the challenges of Laverty until the chequered flag.
"It's a good start to the Showdown for me that's for sure," Hill said. "I felt comfortable during the race and I just chipped away and tried to keep Michael behind me. I was protecting my lines and just tried to keep my cool. We made some drastic changes this morning, then reverted back to the original settings. We have a few tweaks for race two but more of the same would be good for me!"
Title Fighter Michael Rutter was holding a strong third place but the Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati spectacularly crashed out at the Hairpin with seven laps remaining, whilst Alastair Seeley also had his race ended at the same corner on the tenth lap whilst running eighth.
The Swan Hondas were then battling for the final podium position with James Ellison heading the way until he suffered a puncture and was forced to retire, leaving Stuart Easton to claim his first podium finish since Oulton Park.
Simon Andrews had his best finish of the season for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team in fourth after he passed Motorpoint Yamaha's Dan Linfoot with three laps remaining.
The HM Plant Honda team had a tough opening race as Josh Brookes worked his way through the field from twelfth on the first lap to finish in sixth, ahead of Loris Baz who made a strong debut in seventh place.
Title Fighter Ryuichi Kiyonari had an even tougher job as he was only 22nd when the Nissan GTR safety car came out at the end of lap one when David Johnson crashed at Clervaux and he fought to finish eleventh.
John Laverty held off Chris Walker on the Sorrymate.com SMT Honda to finish eighth whilst Gary Mason rounded out the top ten for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Croft, race one result:
1. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki)
2. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.155s
3. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +10.177s
4. Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +13.512s
5. Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +14.742s
6. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +15.407s
7. Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +21.044s
8. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +25.983s
9. Chris Walker (Sorrymate.com SMT Honda) +26.304s
10. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +26.670s
