Sunday round-up from BSB season opener in Spain

2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round One – Navarra – Sunday

The opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Circuito de Navarra was a weekend of momentous firsts as Ryan Vickers claimed a debut double victory to stamp his authority on the first visit to the circuit in Northern Spain.

In the opening race of the day, the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider had been embroiled in an early five-way freight train including his teammate Kyle Ryde, Danny Kent on the McAMS Racing Yamaha, Hager PBM Ducati’s Glenn Irwin and Rory Skinner for the Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad team.

Vickers made a brave move on his teammate Ryde at turn one, the fastest corner on the calendar, with three laps to go and then pulled the pin to break away with a margin of 1.364s at the chequered flag to take the first ever Bennetts BSB victory at the Spanish circuit. Ryde held off Kent for second with Irwin and Skinner maintaining their positions inside the top five.

Vickers had his sights firmly set on a repeat performance in race two and he managed to deliver a first double win after overcoming a huge last lap moment at the final corner, crossing the line 0.277s ahead of Kent and Ryde.

At the start of race two, Ryde had launched to the front from Kent and Vickers, but by the fifth lap, the McAMS Racing Yamaha rider had made a decisive move into turn one to take the lead.

Kent was able to hold off his rivals until lap nine when Vickers stormed back ahead and despite Kent and Ryde pushing him hard, the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider was determined and maintained his advantage to lead the standings ahead of Oulton Park.

His Yamaha rivals Kent and Ryde completed the podium line-up, the first time that Kent has scored a double podium finish.

Reigning champion Tommy Bridewell scored a seventh place in the opening race as he got his title defence underway with Honda Racing UK, but it was disappointment in race two when he was forced to retire from the podium fight on the ninth lap. The Honda Racing UK rider had carved his way through to third from his row three start, proving his pace on the new Fireblade.

Ryan Vickers – 1st in championship – 36 points

“What a day! I’ve gone from having no dry wins to having two in a day! The bike felt so good in race one and we decided to keep it the same for race two, which paid off. When I was behind Danny in the first race I knew that I couldn’t let him pass Kyle first in case he got away, so I wanted to get by as quick as I could, which is what we did and managed to get the win. The second race was more of the same. Made a good start and got to the front but on the last lap my pit board said +0, so I kept pushing on the last lap and defended the last corner. I went in tighter but at the same pace and lost the front but thankfully it popped back which was the main thing.  I had a few glances behind but Danny wasn’t close enough thankfully to steal the win from us. Huge thanks to the OMG GRILLA Yamaha team, as it’s a huge credit to them for giving me that little bit extra this weekend.”

Glenn Irwin – 5th in championship – 20 points

“A tough weekend. We had a great test during the week but after putting a new motor in afterwards, the whole dynamic of the bike changed. It did not feel like my bike whatsoever but all in all it’s solid points on the board and we know how to solve it which is an easy fix. We always knew the Yamahas would be strong in the races here, and so it proved, but I’m still disappointed we couldn’t get on the podium in race one and eighth in race two was the best I could do. It’s been a frustrating weekend but thanks to the team and it’s great to get the new era for PBM underway.”

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Peter Hickman – 11th in championship – 10 points

“I had a really good start in the first race, in fact both starts today have been pretty good. But in the opening laps of the first race I developed arm pump, which I don’t normally struggle with, so I changed my riding style and tried to calm myself down to be able to get rid of it, but it’s really hard to get rid of once it’s started. By the end of the race I’d managed to calm myself down and I did get rid of it and I was fast again, but by then I’d already lost time and we finished poorly in 12th. We’ve got a lot of positives from that race and what we did at the Donington test and here in the week, we are going in the right direction.  Something I have always complained about is stopping and at the moment I’m not complaining about that, it’s now some other things that are causing us issues.  For the second race I got caught up in a few things early on, which meant I couldn’t make the use of the good start I had. But overall the BMW was really good and I had no arm pump, we were just weak in a few areas. Although the results are not brilliant with a 12th and a 10th, it’s quite a positive first round from where we have been and we’re leaving Spain in high spirits”.

Tommy Bridewell – 12th in championship – 9 points

“Look I know there are some frustrations with the results of the weekend, I think a seventh place in race one was the best we could get from thirteenth on the grid, but to tell the truth, I take a hell of a lot of positives from this weekend. We have come here with a new bike and with lessons to be learned. Yes, we’ve had some technical issues and some teething problems but we have a  great package underneath us. When I got through to the front group in race two I had a smile on my face and I said to myself ‘You guys are in trouble now!’ We are going to get stronger and stronger and heading to Oulton, which is a bit more of a track for me, I think the bike with the split throttles is going to be really good there. I’ll keep my feet on the ground, I’m not getting too giddy and we will keep chipping away.”

Josh Brookes – 14th in championship – 5 points

“Today has been quite frustrating, the first race was very poor, I had a good start off the line but I was aggressively hit by another rider, which meant I lost a lot of places. As I tried to make up the lost places I experienced a few moments where I was close to crashing, and eventually on the sixth lap I crashed out.   For the second race we made some changes to the bike, and it’s difficult to say if they gave us major improvements, but I managed to stay on, so that’s better than the first race! During the race I was able to make passes, I started 16th and finished 11th, so we were able to push forward to make up places. But at the moment I don’t feel like I’m taking part in the race, more that I’m like a participant and trying not to crash out, which is frustrating.”

Andrew Irwin – 15th in championship – 3 points

“It’s been a trying weekend. We lost time on Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning and then didn’t ride at all on Thursday in the tests, which simply meant we lost track time and we came into the weekend on the back foot and had to play catch up. I crashed in FP1, so I put my hands up for that, and we lost more time. I didn’t come here to come thirteenth but we built as the weekend progressed. We made steps forward and the team has worked really, really hard putting in a lot of effort. It is nobody’s fault what has happened this week, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes and a lot of late nights. I want to thank the team and my crew, they have been away from home and their families for nearly a week and all of their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed by me, so thank you to them.”

Dean Harrison – 0 points

“Not the results that we wanted today, but that’s racing to be honest. This isn’t my favourite style of track with a lot of stop-starts and it’s my first race on the Fireblade. We’ve learnt a lot but I do feel frustrated with what we’ve come out with to tell the truth. I know I’ve got more potential than these results and I think we have a better understanding of how to put it all together now. Now, we look to Oulton, a track that’s familiar with some more testing to come before the race weekend.”

British Superbike Race One Results

British Superbike Race Two Results

British Superbike Championship Points

British Supersport / GP2 Sprint Race

Luke Stapleford stormed to the opening Supersport Sprint race win of the year as the season kicked off at Circuito de Navarra – as reigning champ Ben Currie was left counting the cost of an on-track altercation.

Macadam Triumph Racing’s Stapleford hit the front on lap one, passing Gearlink Kawasaki’s Brad Perie who had led into turn one before running wide, and from there wasn’t troubled as he controlled the 12-lap race to take victory.

But behind, it was far more dramatic as the rest of the pack battled for the remaining podium spots.

By Lap Six, Eugene McManus was chasing Perie for second but came under pressure from a charging Currie. The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider got ahead but McManus tried to come back underneath and as Currie turned in, they collided, McManus crashing as Currie continued.

Up front, Stapleford was holding his ground as wildcard Davey Todd and former multiple champ Jack Kennedy found their way past Perie and Currie was handed a long lap penalty for his clash with McManus.

Failing to take it, he was then hit with a 28 second drop at the line and as a result finished 11th, as Todd and Kennedy secured second and third respectively. Perie eventually took fourth place, just ahead of Astro-JJR Suzuki’s Rhys Irwin.

In the GP2 class, the only finishers were Kramer Racing team-mates Jack Nixon and Owen Jenner, Nixon crossing the line 12th overall to seal the first class win of the year as Jenner was second.

British Supersport / GP2 Sprint Race Results

British Supersport / GP2 Feature Race

Ben Currie took a shock Feature Race victory at Circuito de Navarra after leader Luke Stapleford’s bike cut out at the finish line.

Stapleford had led from the end of lap one when he put a move on Currie, but disaster struck as he approached the line and his Macadam Triumph Racing machine appeared to cut out.

Currie, who had been running in second position and more than a second down, managed to pip his rival across the line to win by 0.024secs, making up for his disappointment in the earlier Sprint.

While Stapleford and Currie had a relatively trouble free race, it was a tough 18 laps for many riders, with only 20 finishers.

Davey Todd, racing as a wildcard this weekend secured third after keeping Gearlink Kawasaki’s Brad Perie at bay as returning former champion Jack Kennedy had to make do with fifth.

There was drama in the GP2 class when Kramer Racing’s Jack Nixon – who had dominated every session of the weekend – retired on Lap 12.

As a result, team-mate and reigning Junior Superstock champ Owen Jenner took the class win, with Lucca Allen second and Owen Mellor third.

British Supersport / GP2 Feature Race Results

British Supersport / GP2 Championship Points

Talent Cup Race Two

Filip Surowiak made up for disappointment in yesterday’s race by stealing the win in a dramatic last lap dash across the line.

At the end of a shortened, restarted second BTC race, leaders Julian Correa and Amanuel Brinton were bashing bars as they headed to the line in search of the win – but Surowiak was sitting pretty just behind and made better use of the slipstream to sear past them both to take the win.

Correa emerged second with Brinton third while Lucas Brown took fourth ahead of Mason Foster in fifth.

Talent Cup Race Two Results

Talent Cup Race Three

In true BTC style, it was all about the last corner of the last lap as Brinton made an attempt to pass leader Brown, but was unable to make it stick, resulting in another drag to the line which this time went the way of Brown.

Brinton had to settle for second as rookie Mason Foster celebrated his maiden podium in the series. Race Two winner Filip Surowiak was fourth ahead of Ryan Frost.

Talent Cup Race Three Results

Talent Cup Points