Showdown place on the line for Brookes this weekend

2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round 8 – Silverstone National

The Bennetts British Superbike Championship will be decided between eight riders when the Showdown gets underway later this month, but with four Title Fighters confirmed, there are still four places to be claimed at Silverstone this weekend (September 10/11/12).

The McAMS Yamaha pairing of Jason O’Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie were the first riders confirmed with Title Fighter status, and after sharing the victories at Snetterton, the teammates will be eager to carry the momentum into this weekend. However, they will be conscious of not letting history repeat itself too much; Silverstone was previously the scene in 2019 where they dramatically clashed in their fight for the win.

Tommy Bridewell secured his place last time out at Snetterton; the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider has been gathering pace in his quest for a first title, celebrating podium finishes in the past seven races and is determined to halt the boys in blue’s winning streak.

VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon is the final rider currently to have his Title Fighter status locked in ahead of the Showdown. A double race winner so far in 2021, he is looking to turn around a challenging run at recent events to fire himself back into podium contention.

Conversely, Iddon’s team-mate and defending champion Josh Brookes is only now starting to find his true form after a poor season which has yet to see him stand on the podium. The Bedfordshire-based Aussie has put together a consistent run over the past couple of meetings, including a hat-trick of fourth place finishes to give him a fighting chance of claiming one of the final four Showdown places.

Brookes is just 13 points behind Lee Jackson who occupies the eighth and final Showdown place but having outscored virtually all his rivals over the past seven races, is well poised to continue his run. But without any Podium Points which have been accrued by riders finishing on the podium all season, Josh needs to start racking up some silverware if he’s to harbour any hopes of hanging onto his title.

Josh Brookes

“Without putting too fine a point on it, I’ve been dreading Silverstone coming round as it’s a circuit which hasn’t been too kind to us over my time on the PBM Ducati there. My favoured SC0 tyre is the only option available for this weekend so maybe that puts me in a stronger position as I used it all weekend at Snetterton when others were using the SCX option. So, I’m hoping there may be a silver lining and with it being a pivotal round as it’s my last chance of getting into the Showdown, which I’ve done every year I’ve raced in BSB, I’ll do my best.”

Another rider determined to cement his position in the opening race at Silverstone, is FHO Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman. He missed out on securing his place by a single point at Snetterton last weekend and if Bradley Ray doesn’t win the opening race at Silverstone, his place is confirmed.

Peter Hickman – FHO Racing BMW

“Heading to Silverstone, I think it’s going to be a good weekend – I can feel it already! We only need a point to secure our Title Fighter position in the Showdown in the first race, so for me, it shouldn’t go down to the final race of the weekend like it has in the past! I feel that we are in a good place ahead of the races this weekend, and after a really unusual Snetterton, we want to come to Silverstone to try and beat our rivals for the Podium Points for a leg up ahead of the Showdown.”

Danny Buchan is clawing back the ground lost after he missed Cadwell Park; the SYNETIQ BMW rider holds sixth place in the standings ahead of the three Silverstone races, and needs a consistent weekend to continue his bid for a debut title.

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Glenn Irwin was the fastest rider in the pre-season test at Silverstone and the Honda Racing rider arrives at Silverstone holding seventh in the standings. He needs to bounce back from his difficult weekend at Snetterton and defend from the chasing pack, who all want to steal his coveted place in the top eight.

Lee Jackson holds eighth in the standings ahead of the Silverstone decider. It is crucial that the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider scores consistently this weekend, as he is only five points ahead of Bradley Ray, who remains the first rider bidding to snatch a position at the final stage of the Main Season. Ryan Vickers, Rory Skinner, Andrew Irwin and Gino Rea can all still mathematically make the cut to become a Title Fighter after the decisive three races at Silverstone this weekend.

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