Alastair Seeley misses win 'by a cigarette paper' after pulsating last-lap battle with Dan Linfoot in National Superstock 1000 shootout

Seeley, riding the SYNETIQ BMW, covered his line with a defensive approach at Lodge corner as he led on the final lap, but Linfoot switched to the Carrick man’s outside and snatched victory by only 0.027s on the sprint to the line in a photo finish.

Donegal man Richard Kerr was a close third on the AMD Motorsport Honda without ever getting close enough to land a blow.

Seeley, third in the championship with two rounds left, finished third in Saturday’s first race after a mistake cost him the chance of victory, with Linfoot winning from Kerr by 0.248s.

“It was an awesome race and Dan was strong on the brakes,” Seeley said.

“I knew if I left that door open he would go in there and he ran wide himself [earlier], and I nipped under.

“So, I knew I had to defend there on the last lap and I tried to get the chicane pretty clean as well. I thought coming out of there that was it, pretty much; hold a defensive line and park it on the onside, so someone would have to go around the outside.

“Fair play, he did but I knew we had good drive and it was nip and tuck. I could see my bike edging ahead and then I could see his, but I was asking 100% throttle from the big BMW and with the lean angle, she just lit up the rear and that lost me the drive,” he added.

“I missed it by a cigarette paper but it’s good for the team, good going into the final rounds. I feel like we have a good package and I’ve been learning the bike all year, and I have a good feeling with it now.”

Scott Swann (Swann Racing Yamaha) was 13th while Banbridge man Simon Reid had a DNF.

Linfoot leads Kerr by 35 points, with Seeley 46 further adrift in third.

In the British Supersport Feature race – won by Gearlink Kawasaki’s Tom Booth-Amos – Eugene McManus finished 10th, while Eunan McGlinchey was disqualified from the results by Race Direction on a ‘minimum weights’ infringement.

Dungannon’s Cameron Dawson claimed his first victory in the National Junior Superstock race on the MSS Kawasaki, with Sam Laffins on the podium in third.