Brookes books his place in showdown with Silverstone podiums

2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round 8 – Silverstone National

The eight Title Fighters who will battle to be crowned the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike champion were finalised at Silverstone on Sunday afternoon, as it went down to the wire in the final race of the Main Season as five riders duelled for the final three positions ahead of the Showdown.

After 24 races in the Main Season, which has seen seven different race winners and a total of 12 podium finishers, the leading contenders in Bennetts BSB battled to join Jason O’Halloran, Tarran Mackenzie, Christian Iddon and Tommy Bridewell at Silverstone.

Peter Hickman had guaranteed his position following Saturday’s opening race for the FHO Racing BMW team, whilst Glenn Irwin had edged closer to securing Title Fighter status with his first victory of the season in Saturday’s Race.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Standings ahead of the Showdown

1. Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 1071
2. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 1041
3. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 1026
4. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 1024
5. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 1015
6. Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW 1014
7. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 1012
8. Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 1002

Superbike Race One

Glenn Irwin became the seventh different race winner in the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, scoring victory in a dramatic BikeSocial race at Silverstone, as the McAMS Yamaha team-mates crashed out of the two leading positions.

The race began with Tarran Mackenzie hitting the front of the pack after a rapid start from the front row. However as the pack streamed across the line for the first time, Tommy Bridewell had claimed the advantage on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati.

On the second lap the drama began; Peter Hickman had a high-speed crash at Becketts, but the FHO Racing BMW rider had his Title Fighter position confirmed in the Showdown, having a 70-point advantage over ninth place in the standings ahead of Sunday’s two races.

The battle for the Title Fighter positions continued to rage throughout the pack. On the same lap, Danny Buchan went for a move on the inside of Ryan Vickers at Woodcote and they collided sending them both crashing out of the action.

There was heartbreak for Lee Jackson too as a technical issues forced him to retire his FS-3 Racing Kawasaki; the three riders remain in a position to secure one of the final three places tomorrow.

As Keith Farmer and Takumi Takahashi crashed out, the BMW Safety Car was deployed on lap four. The pack formed up with Bridewell leading Jason O’Halloran, Gino Rea, Glenn Irwin and Andrew Irwin plus Christian Iddon. Mackenzie meanwhile had dropped to seventh ahead of Josh Brookes after the opening laps.

When the race resumed on lap seven, O’Halloran was instantly attacking; making a move at Copse to snatch the lead from Bridewell. The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider responded instantly to regain the position at the front of the field, as Glenn Irwin moved into third.

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Mackenzie was making up ground though, he was up to second by lap 21 and the McAMS Yamaha rider was pushing for a repeat of his Snetterton victories.

However on the penultimate lap, Mackenzie had taken the lead and was defending hard from his team-mate when he high-sided at Brooklands, collecting O’Halloran and bringing out the red flag.

Mackenzie sustained a fractured fifth metacarpal on his left hand and will not take part in the races tomorrow, whilst championship leader O’Halloran is expected to race.

That awarded the win to Glenn Irwin, who had been holding third ahead of Iddon before the incident, as the VisionTrack Ducati rider returned to the podium for the first time since Thruxton. Bridewell completed the podium, adding to his Podium Points.

A fourth place for Brookes promoted him up ninth in the standings, just six-points adrift of Bradley Ray who held the last place in the top-eight ahead of Sunday’s two races following his fifth place finish.

Gino Rea claimed sixth place, but both him and Andrew Irwin were now out of the running for the final Title Fighter positions. Rory Skinner, Kyle Ryde, Xavi Forés and Luke Stapleford completed the top ten.

Glenn Irwin – Race One Winner

“It was a chaotic race, but I wanted to be one of those not making lunges at the beginning. I had to play it quite safe as I know the place in the Showdown is what we need this weekend. I saw with about eight laps to go Jason [O’Halloran] was starting to push and I did feel okay. But we also have a bad sector, which is sector three – Brooklands. I lose a little bit of traction front and rear and I start to understeer a lot, so we’ll sit down and look and see if that’s something we can improve for tomorrow. But a win – what a way to kick-start this Showdown decider weekend. There is pressure; we put ourselves under the maximum, but I like that because I think that’s when I perform and I’m really happy with today. When the Fireblade is good like it is this weekend, I’m up to fight for the wins and podiums. I’ll be trying my best again tomorrow, I think now we can go really get stuck in. To lose a 32 point buffer in two races would be silly, so let’s go get stuck in!”

Christian Iddon – P2

“I’m really happy to be back on the podium as I’ve been off the pace recently and had a few tough rounds so it’s nice to get this feeling again. Even at the start of this weekend, I was only average, but we made some improvements during qualifying, and I kept moving forward the whole race. Gino Rea looked to have that bit more on the Suzuki, but I was confident I could get by Glenn Irwin although the crash changed everything, and we ended up second. I’m really strong in some parts of the track but weak in others so if we can get off the corners better, I think we’ll be in a really good position for tomorrow’s races.”

Josh Brookes – P4

“The wheel spin and lack of grip I’ve been encountering continues but I’ve almost learnt to live with it although it does make the races hard work. We only have a small window where the bike works and just the slightest movement out of that window leads to big mistakes which is why I’m up and down a bit during the races. I’m not known for making mistakes or for getting bad starts but that’s what’s happening although as the race goes on, the other riders come back to me. I can see them spinning up in the second half of the race but because I’ve had that from the start, I’m able to make up ground in the latter stages. It’s not ideal and it’s still frustrating but I’ll take the positives and the fourth place.”

Superbike Race One Results

Superbike Race Two

In the second race of the weekend, Mackenzie claimed his fifth win of the season, bouncing back from his huge crash yesterday to snatch victory from a resurgent Brookes on the final lap.

Mackenzie had undergone further rigorous assessments by the BSB Medical Team this morning after sustaining a fractured fifth metacarpal on his left hand in yesterday’s crash, and was passed fit to ride.

At the start of race two, Gino Rea launched to the front of the pack from pole position, but a lap later Brookes had made up three positions to put the VisionTrack Ducati into the lead.
Mackenzie was in the mix with the leading contenders as Bradley Ray moved into second to fight for his position in the Showdown.

Bridewell was soon on the move and he dived down the inside of Ray at Copse to claim second position for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team. The pair traded blows for several laps in the battle for second, as the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW rider fought to remain in the top eight.

Mackenzie though had moved back up the pack and into second place ahead of Ray and his teammate O’Halloran, who was also still battered and bruised after yesterday’s crash.

On the final lap Mackenzie lunged down the inside of Brookes at Copse to take the lead, but the defending champion also had O’Halloran for company, and he made his move at Luffield to push their VisionTrack Ducati rival back into third at the chequered flag.

Ray ended the race fourth to keep himself in contention ahead of the final race as Bridewell completed the top five, fending off the challenges from Rea and Iddon.

Superbike Race Two Results

Superbike Race Three

The final three Title Fighter positions would be decided in the final race and Glenn Irwin, Danny Buchan, Ray, Brookes and Jackson prepared for one last bid for Title Fighter status.

Whilst O’Halloran became the third different race winner of the weekend, Brookes battled to a hard-fought podium in race three to secure his positon in the Showdown by just four points, knocking Ray out of contention.

The race had earlier been red flagged due to track contamination when Luke Stapleford crashed out at Brooklands. At the stoppage, Brookes had been leading the pack from Bridewell, O’Halloran and Mackenzie ahead of an 11-lap restart.

On the restart, Brookes was determined to secure his position, firing himself to the front ahead of Rea, Bridewell and O’Halloran. However, there was disappointment on lap two when he crashed the Buildbase Suzuki out of second place.

O’Halloran had moved into second before grabbing the lead on the seventh lap as Mackenzie also pulled a pass on Brookes to push the defending champion into third.

By lap 12 the McAMS Yamaha pairing were dicing for the lead again with the pair trading blows until the chequered flag, with O’Halloran holding the advantage by just 0.124s following a last lap scrap.

Brookes held onto third following an intense last lap battle with Bridewell and Buchan, who also confirmed his position in the Showdown for SYNETIQ BMW with fourth place after getting the better of the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider.

Iddon finished the final race of the Main Season in sixth place ahead of Ray, who dropped out of a Showdown position at the final stage. Jackson finished in eighth place, with Glenn Irwin in ninth to secure his Title Fighter status.

The Title Fighters are confirmed: O’Halloran, Mackenzie, Iddon, Bridewell, Hickman, Buchan, Glenn Irwin and Brookes.

Six different teams will line up to battle for the title over the final three round Showdown representing four different manufacturers, with the first round taking place at Oulton Park on 24-26 September.

Superbike Race Three Results

Jason O’Halloran

“After yesterday, to walk away with the same championship gap we had when we came here is a good result. To win in that final race means a lot, it wasn’t easy but I was determined to get to the front and keep out of the battles and that’s what we did. Taz tried at the end but we were straight back at him so I’m really happy with that as I’m quite second hand. Thanks to everyone at the medical centre and McAMS Yamaha. We’ve had a great year, so it would have been a shame to lose our advantage going into the Showdown so to stay ahead is really good. I can’t wait to get stuck in at Oulton Park.”

Josh Brookes

“That third race was a lot more hard fought so I’m proud of our efforts today. In the earlier race this afternoon, to get mugged at the end was a bit of a downer. I ended up in the same position in race three, but I feel a lot better about it. I raced from a position, we had the stoppage and then in the restart I got a good start for once! I had a good battle with Tommy as well. All around it’s been positive. I actually didn’t know Danny was there too on the last lap, I just saw Tommy come past and I didn’t want to give up the position. I didn’t know where other people were in the race and potentially losing another place would’ve meant I may have been out of the Showdown. I had a couple of motivating factors to be sure I got back. The point where I wanted to get back past him I couldn’t actually do the move. Tommy outbroke himself, so we eventually achieved the same result. I’m just pleased for the VisionTrack Ducati team, the sponsors and everyone that supports me. Last time we were at Oulton Park I had a lot of problems getting performance, but we seemed to make some good changes to get the bike up to the speed we’re at now, so if Silverstone is a gauge, this is a track we’ve normally, not sucked at, but not particularly gone good at. So if this is an example, then maybe we’ll go good at Oulton Park too. I’m as curious as anyone to find out so we’ll see what happens in the Showdown.”
Mackenzie was victorious despite his huge crash yesterday

Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Standings ahead of the Showdown