2023 British Superbikes Brands Hatch Race Results (1)

An oil spill saw the race result declared after a red flag with Ryan Vickers collecting his first win in the Sprint race on Saturday at Brands Hatch.

UPDATE: On Sunday morning Haslam was removed from the race result for race one, having been declared inactive in the race due to already being showm the black/orange flag which lead to the red flag situation.

Ryan Vickers was declared the winner from pitlane after the race was declared finished and half points awarded when an oil spill proved troublesome to clean up in the first race of the weekend, the Brands Hatch sprint.

Already at just twelve laps, Ryan Vickers had wasted no time in hitting the front after recovering from a start which saw him drop to third from second on the grid.

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It was Danny Kent whose great launch saw him go with the LAMI OMG Yamaha rider from sixth, stalking behind and learning where his race win rival was struggling.

Also making a superb start, Christian Iddon was showing his proficiency in the treacherous conditions - and was the first to raise the alarm and try and alert the marshals to the oil dump.

Oil spill brings out red flag

On the seventh lap Leon Haslam had smoke billowing from the back of his Rokit BMW Motorrad. Shown the ‘meatball’ flag, there was oil visible on the track around Surtees Corner, even in the wet, so the red flag was brought out instead to get the #91 off track so a clean up could commence.

When the race was halted the battle at the front was still raging between Vickers and Kent, with Iddon close behind until he began furiously waving his hand pointing down at the track at turn four, almost hitting the oil after spotting the rainbow-like mark on the ground.

The clean up job was huge given the weather so the race was instead declared complete - handing Vickers his first BSB race win.

Kent was also in the hunt for a first win so instead picked up his first podium finish in second for his own Lovell Kent Racing Team, just 0.152s behind.

Iddon, despite risking his own result to try to pause the race, held on to third on the Oxford Products Ducati, for his first rostrum visit of the season.

Rain, often considered one of the great ‘levellers’ in sport was allowing many riders a chance to shine, with Jack Kennedy translating his best ever qualifying of fourth on the grid to a career first fourth in the race with Mar-Train Yamaha.

Jason O’Halloran was declared fifth for McAMS Yamaha, while Leon Haslam, who was frustrated that someone was dropping oil and not exiting the race, only to be astounded to find out it was from his BMW on getting the ‘meatball’ flag - was in sixth when the race was ended.

Starting from pole Tommy Bridewell began lights out with pace before being caught and passed several times over leaving him seventh at the red flag. The BeerMonster Ducati rider appeared to have an issue with his visor in the race.

Stacey storms though for eighth

Kent impressed picking up four places and Iddon made up eight, but neither made the most progress in the race.

That honour went to Storm Stacey, who picked up an incredible twelve places from his grid position of 20th to finish eighth for Starline Racing Kawasaki to lead the chasing group when the race was declared after having just seen off both Peter Hickman (ninth, FHO Racing) and Glenn Irwin (tenth, BeerMonster Ducati).

Rookie Max Cook may have finished just behind his more experienced Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki teammate Lee Jackson in qualifying, but got the better of him in race trim, placing just outside the top ten in the same group in eleventh, with Jackson fourteenth.

They were split on track by Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing) and Josh Brookes, who dropped like a stone from his front row start on the FHO Racing bike to 13th.

The final points place went to Kyle Ryde as his difficult run of form continued on the second LAMI OMG Yamaha while his teammate lead the way.

Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:

Lap Record: Josh Brookes (Yamaha) 1m 24.873s (2017)

2022 at Brands Hatch:

Round Five- pole: Jason OHalloran (2ndTarran Mackenzie, 3rd Bradley Ray)

Race One: 
1:Jason O’Halloran
2:Tarran Mackenzie
3:Tommy Bridewell

Race Two: 
1:Tarran Mackenzie
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Tommy Bridewell

Race Three:
1:Tarran Mackenzie
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Glenn Irwin

Round 11 (Showdown) pole: Bradley Ray (2nd Jason O’Halloran, 3rd Danny Buchan)

Race One:
1:Glenn Irwin
2:Peter Hickman
3:Andrew Irwin

Race Two:
1:Peter Hickman
2:Danny Buchan
3:Glenn Irwin

Race Three:
1:Glenn Irwin
2:Andrew Irwin
3:Danny Buchan

Last Round - Snetterton:

Pole: Jason O’Halloran (2nd Glenn Irwin, 3rd Tito Rabat)

Race One:
1:Tommy Bridewell
2:Josh Brookes
3:Jason O’Halloran

Race Two:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2:Josh Brookes
3:Leon Haslam

Race Three 
1:Tommy Bridewell
2:Glenn Irwin
3:Leon Haslam

Crashes and Injuries and replacements 

Despite the conditons there were no fallers in the laps that took place. Ryan Vickers, Tommy Bridewell and Peter Hickman all made notable big saves to stay aboard their bikes.

Danny Buchan didn’t make the race start after issues on the sighting lap.

Andrew Irwin remains out of action, with Franco Bourne (21st) filling in again at Honda Racing UK.

Tito Rabat was back at McAMS Yamaha. He made progress, getting to grips with the tricky layout for 22nd.

Liam Delves was in for the injured Hector Barbera at TAG Honda and placed 23rd.

Where does that leave the championship?

A poor result did not prevent Tommy Bridewell from extending his title lead with Glenn Irwin finishing behind him. Coming into Brands Hatch with a 25 point lead the #46 now holds a 26.5 point advantage over his teammate with a total of 221.5.

Ryde also holds third with 171.5 but his nearest rivals continue to pull closer.

Josh Bookes is fourth overall on 169.5, while Leon Haslam is just half a point further back.

Early season favourite Jason O’Halloran remains sixth on 138.5 points.