Snetterton Sunday British Superbike recap, results, points

2023 British Superbike Championship
Round Five – Snetterton
Superbike Sunday

Images by David Yeomans Photography

Superbike Race Two

Sunday morning’s race began with Josh Brookes leading the pack from Glenn Irwin and Bridewell, with the leading pair trading blows on the opening lap, but the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team rider had the edge.

Brookes led until lap four when Jason O’Halloran grabbed the advantage at Coram with a move down the inside. His Australian rival had moved ahead into Riches, but O’Halloran regained the position into Wilsons.

As O’Halloran led, Irwin moved into second with a move at Wilson on lap five, with the leading trio then the McAMS Yamaha, Irwin and Brookes, but the race was red flagged when Peter Hickman and Danny Buchan crashed out at Hamilton on lap seven. Buchan has been taken to Norfolk and Norwich hospital for further scans and assessment after suffering a concussion.

On the restart, Brookes took the initial advantage before Bridewell grabbed the lead on lap three with a move at Agostini. The BeerMonster Ducati rider then pulled the pin as he edged out his advantage over the closing stages.

The battle for the remaining podium positions was a four-way tussle on the final lap with Brookes emerging ahead to claim second place after holding off Haslam, who had been piling the pressure on his rival as he returned to the podium for ROKiT BMW Motorrad.

Irwin and O’Halloran went head-to-head for fourth place but the second BeerMonster Ducati rider was able to hold off the Yamaha after a series of passes on the final lap with positions changing three times.

Danny Kent had a strong move through the field on the Lovell Kent Racing Honda to claim sixth place, as he held off a closing Lee Jackson on the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki and Christian Iddon on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati.

Ryan Vickers salvaged a ninth place on the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha with Jack Kennedy completing the top ten for the Mar-Train Racing Yamaha Team.

Superbike Race Two Results

Superbike Race Three

The final race went down to the wire, but at the start, home contender Ryan Vickers launched into the lead from Bridewell, Brookes and Irwin with Haslam and Danny Kent in close contention.

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Brookes was instantly on the attack and grabbed second at Brundle, before fighting for the lead. Initially he made a move into Riches on the second lap before Vickers reclaimed the position.

It was another disappointing race for Peter Hickman as he crashed out with Franco Bourne at Wilson on the second lap, but at the front, his FHO Racing BMW Motorrad teammate grabbed the lead at Nelson on the same lap.

Bridewell was carving his way up the order and he moved into second on lap three, but his BeerMonster Ducati teammate was soon behind him as he dived into third at Brundle ahead of Vickers.

Brookes continued to lead the pack as Irwin moved into second on lap at Agostini on lap four, easing his teammate back into third. However, the pair had Haslam for company and the ‘Pocket Rocket’ moved into third a lap later, launching ahead of Bridewell at Riches.

Irwin and Haslam were then dicing for second but after swapping places on the seventh lap, the BeerMonster Ducati rider remained ahead.

There was heartbreak for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team when Brookes was forced to retire on lap ten from the lead with a technical problem and that handed the position to Irwin, who was holding position ahead of Haslam, Bridewell and Vickers who completed the first pack on track but Christian Iddon was also pushing to close in.

As Irwin led, Bridewell was pushing Haslam for second and he made a pass on the brakes into Murrays on lap 12, but the ROKiT BMW Motorrad rider regained second into Riches. The BeerMonster Ducati rider wasn’t giving up though and as they approached Wilson, Bridewell was back ahead.

The BeerMonster Ducati teammates then duelled at the front with the battle for the podium finishes going all the way down to the wire, but Irwin had made a mistake at Wilson and after running wide he dropped to fourth and then had to regain the ground.

Irwin was hassling Bridewell all the way to the finish as the BeerMonster Ducati teammates ended the race separated by just 0.032s at the chequered flag.

Haslam and Vickers were also in close formation, but the ROKiT BMW Motorrad rider denied the Thetford contender a home round podium at the finish.

Iddon held onto fifth ahead of O’Halloran who worked his way back up the order to finish sixth ahead of Lee Jackson and Kyle Ryde. Kent held ninth ahead of Tito Rabat who claimed a second Bennetts BSB top ten finish.

Superbike Race Three Results

BSB Rider Quotes

Tommy Bridewell

“It’s so hard to make a game plan in general in any form of racing, because you never know what can happen and what hurdles you get and so on. I had an idea that if I could make the start and get away, fantastic, that wasn’t obviously the plan.

“I was conserving my tyre and it’s something me and the team have been working really hard on and its paying off. I knew I had some tyre left, I could remember looking at my pit board with seven laps to go thinking ‘I really could do with pushing on’.

“It came a bit late, it was a little bit too tight for comfort I must be honest. But credit to everyone out there. I think Glenn is a phenomenal rider and a very fierce competitor. But I’ve been around the block a few years and I’ve been there and seen it all, and I just keep my head down and just focus on what I’m doing.

“The fans have wanted to see me and Glenn go toe to toe for a few rounds now, he outrode me at Knockhill and did a phenomenal job and I was just happy to pick up the podiums there because it’s not somewhere I’m that confident and comfortable on the bike.

“So coming into this weekend I knew my target, as always, was to win. To get my first ever triple win is something that I’ve dreamt of for a long time. We most definitely do not get complacent on my side of the garage, I said to Paolo my Crew Chief that we’ve won two races on the trot, I feel brilliant, the bike’s working phenomenal, but let’s keep our feet on the ground. If I can win this race I will, if I’m second, third, fourth and that’s all that’s there, we need to accept it.

“I just want to enjoy the moment we’re in, fortunately the way the sport is, I save this moment and then when I’m driving home tonight, I’ll get up tomorrow morning, collect the dogs, check that all the sheep are alive and not got their head stuck in a fence, and then I’m preparing for Brands Hatch already!”

Glenn Irwin

“We could have come away with three second place finishes this weekend but have had to settle for a second and two fourths, so it hurt us in the points although we’ve managed to consolidate second in the standings. I lost time in the first race battling with Jason and it would have been better if we’d have worked together but I was finally able to take a podium in the final race. I stayed patient when Josh was leading and when he went out, I tried to keep a little in reserve but when Tommy came by, I wanted to get back into the lead straight away. It was a good battle with Tommy so hats off to him; I never gave up and am happy with the result.”

Josh Brookes

“Where do I start! It’s hard because everything was going so well. Earlier in the weekend we had some setbacks, but we worked hard and got past those. We qualified good and then race one we had a podium, race two we had another second place, so we kind of felt like we were building more and more momentum as we went through the weekend. We made a small change for the final race, and it felt like we’d really improved, maybe found that sweet spot and made it a littler sweeter. I was in the perfect position leading the race and then we had a sensor failure and was forced to stop. I’ve said it’s better to have been in the lead and lost it, than never to have been in the lead at all, so I think that’s the most positive way to look at it. We now move to Brands Hatch, we’re fit, healthy and everyone will be motivated to try and bounce back and get us back at the front again where we have been this weekend.”

Jason O’Halloran

“It’s been a good weekend and I feel like I’m riding really well and I’m happy enough but I’m disappointed as I don’t feel like I can do any more than I’m doing in the race situation, which is frustrating. We knew this round was going to be difficult so to pick up a podium and qualify on pole is good, so we can move on from here and look forward to Brands Hatch.”

Tito Rabat

“I enjoy my first weekend with McAMS Yamaha a lot, there has been a lot to learn. The first laps are very exciting here and the front riders have a super strong pace. You need to keep the consistency and push 100%. We tried our best and we were able to improve. I am happy to have achieved two top tens, a front row and gain a lot of experience and information before Brands Hatch. I want to thank the team for the opportunity and the welcome!”

Peter Hickman

“That’s probably the worst race weekend I think I’ve had in my entire career; I’ve never been as far back on the grid I don’t think even when I started! I had three crashes, obviously one of them wasn’t my fault, we’ve struggled all weekend and it’s been super tough. It’s been hard on the team as much as me, they’ve all been trying 110% as always and unfortunately I just wasn’t able to give them what they deserve. The only real positive is in the first race today, as much as I crashed I was a lot closer than I had been all weekend. I had been well over a second off the pace the majority of the time, even nearly two seconds off what I did here last year, which is mental to think, but in that second race I actually closed the gap to the leaders to about half a second, so was more in the ballpark. Starting way back of course doesn’t help, but at least to only be half a second away was a step in the right direction. It was great to see Josh on the podium, he’s proven how good the bike and the team is again and it was a real shame for him to have pulled out of the final race, it seems to have been a sensor issue, which isn’t anyone’s fault. This weekend has been what is it, we’ll move on and now look forward to Brands Hatch.”

British Superbike Championship Points

The next round of the BSB series takes place at Brands Hatch, July 21-23.