Ducati dominate Brands Hatch BSB on Sunday

2023 British Superbike Championship
Round Six – Brands Hatch GP Circuit
Sunday Superbike

Images by David Yeomans Photography

Superbike Race Two

Tommy Bridewell fought his way to the front of the pack and then pulling the pin in the closing stages to have an edge of 2.406s at the chequered flag in the first of the two British Superbike races held on Sunday at Brands Hatch.

Kent hit the front of the pack at the start ahead of Iddon, yesterday’s race winner Ryan Vickers and Jason O’Halloran.

However, the lead changed on the second lap as Iddon grabbed the advantage with a move down the inside at Paddock Hill Bend.

Kent recaptured the lead at Surtees a lap later, but Iddon instantly attacked back to put the Oxford Products Racing Ducati back ahead.

Vickers and O’Halloran were equally looking for their chance to make a move, but on lap seven Dean Harrison crashed heavily at Paddock Hill Bend and the BMW Safety Car was deployed. The DAO Racing Kawasaki rider was unhurt in the crash, meanwhile Josh Owens also tipped off at Graham Hill Bend.

Iddon was then back in the lead when the race resumed, but Bridewell was moving through the pack and by lap 12 he was fighting at the front and he made a decisive move at Hawthorns to head his rivals.

Bridewell then made his charge, breaking the pack whilst behind it became an intense run to the finish with five riders fighting for the final two podium positions. It was Iddon and Kent who held the advantage to secure consecutive top three finishes with Glenn Irwin fighting through to fourth ahead of Vickers and O’Halloran.

Kyle Ryde was seventh on the second of the LAMI OMG Racing Yamahas, with Lee Jackson in a lonely eighth place with Josh Brookes and Jack Kennedy completing the top ten.

Superbike Race Two Results

Superbike Race Three

Race three was an intense five-rider race-long fight for victory in the final action of the weekend, with it coming down to the final lap between Bridewell and his BeerMonster Ducati team-mate Irwin and BikeSocial Sprint Race winner Vickers.

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At the start of the race, Josh Brookes was caught up in the pack before crashing out at Paddock Hill Bend unhurt.

Meanwhile at the front, Kent had dived into the lead ahead of Bridewell, Iddon and Kyle Ryde, who later retired from the race on the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha.

Iddon then took the lead on the second lap and he was holding the advantage until lap 12 when Bridewell had edged ahead with a move at Hawthorns.

The lead group had become a five-rider freight train and Bridewell was holding the advantage over Iddon, Irwin, Vickers and Kent.

Irwin moved into second at Surtees on lap 15, pushing Iddon back to third and then the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider was under attack from Vickers who made his move at Stirlings.

On the last lap, both Irwin and Vickers were hunting Bridewell but it wasn’t enough to deny him the double victory with just 0.237s covering the top three at the chequered flag.

As Bridewell claimed a second win, Irwin fought back to finish on the podium for the first time this weekend, whilst Vickers ended the event on a high with third place.

Iddon held off Kent to take fourth place with O’Halloran completing the top five for McAMS Yamaha.

In the closing stages, Lee Jackson was able to get ahead of Leon Haslam on the ROKiT BMW Motorrad with rookies Charlie Nesbitt and Max Cook completing the top ten.

Superbike Race Three Results

BSB Rider Quotes

Tommy Bridewell

“It’s been a great weekend in all aspects. To win one BSB race is an achievement so to win two in a day shows how confident I am and how I feel within myself, with the bike and with the team. I’m really proud of what we’re doing at the moment. I’m thinking more about what I’m doing which is allowing me to analyse more, understand more, and learn more and all of that combined is helping me go faster. In the final race, I knew Glenn would be there with me but it’s testament to the hard work we’re doing on Friday and Saturday that I could hold him off and it’s all about maintaining the good momentum we have. To be crowned the Monster Energy King of Brands is great!”

Glenn Irwin

“I felt good with the bike in the dry on Friday and although we had a few issues in PBMthe wet in Saturday’s race, we were able to convert that into two good rides and results today. Coming through from 14th to fourth in the first race was a good effort although the bike didn’t quite feel like mine, but the final race was really enjoyable and it’s good to show your pace here as it’s where the final round will be and where a lot of points will be on offer. I thought about having a go at Tommy on more than one occasion and perhaps should have done so as the level’s so high now you have to take the chance when you get it. I’m happy with second though and fair play to Tommy and Ryan. It’s great to give the team another 1-2 as they really deserve it.”

Josh Brookes

“The weekend started out well and it was looking promising, we topped the first practice, the pace and everything was consistent throughout practice and even in qualifying we had a last-minute shower and we were on the front row for the first race. But then it seemed everything turned bad and sour. The first race, I can only imagine we had a bad tyre or something as the bike just didn’t perform in wet conditions, we got a poor result, which meant I had a bad position on the gird for the dry race today. I made up a couple of places, but not enough to be satisfied. We tried to make something of the final race, but I got squeezed in the first turn, which ended up in a crash – so I have nothing really good to take away from the weekend. We’re frustrated, annoyed all the emotions you can have. We’ll now regroup ahead of Thruxton and hope we can turn it around there.”

Jason O’Halloran

“It’s been a tough weekend to be honest. I’d be lying if I said I was happy about it. I’m getting quite frustrated at the minute but that’s life you’ve got to keep fighting with what you’ve got. I thought Brands would be good for us, but it was just a difficult weekend. We don’t really seem to have any strong points at the moment which is hard to believe really. We need to put our heads together for Thruxton, I’ve won five of the last six races at Thruxton and if I get beaten there it’ll be tough. It’s not ideal but we’ll work through it and find a solution.”

Peter Hickman

“Coming off the back of the last few rounds, the aim this weekend was to not crash the bike, finish all the races and to be inside the top 10 – we almost did it! We were ninth on combined times after practice which was fine and I was quite happy with that, I was only 0.4s off my best time here, so was somewhere near to where we should be. When the rain came, we had an okay wet setting and ended up 10th on the grid. The first race was completely wet and apart from one major moment, which I managed to stay on somehow, we finished eighth which was decent enough and I was content with that. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I needed to build on racing as Snetterton was just a disaster. Coming into today, we started the first race but struggled with rear grip and very quickly went backwards to 15th and I managed to claw my way back to 12th at the end. For the last race we made a change, and the BMW was a lot better for the race, but unfortunately we had a brake problem, a different one this time, which is no one’s fault, it is just what it is. It was there from lap one and just got worse and it meant I couldn’t hold the front brake, so I had to pull in. It’s a real shame as I was a bit faster in that race, and everyone was a bit slower, and we weren’t too back from that group in front.”

Tito Rabat

“I gave 100% but it’s been a very hard weekend. I’ve not managed to do a lot of laps, I’ve had three crashes, including two quite big ones, and it is hard because the level is very high here and you need laps to improve. In the end I made some good lap times and I was happy as there were positive times, so I look forward to Thruxton where hopefully we can have a clean weekend and improve.”

British Superbike Championship Points

The next round of the BSB series takes place at Thruxton, August 11-12