2023 British Superbikes Brands Hatch Race Results (3)
Results from race three, round six of the 2023 Bennetts Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.
Race three brought another win for Tommy Bridewell, this time under pressure all the way to the line to close round six at Brands Hatch.
Starting from pole, Tommy Bridewell had no need to play catch-up, but was not clean away either with early competition for the lead coming from Danny Kent, Christian Iddon, with Kyle Ryde back in contention after a great start.
With a lot of changes of position the BeerMonster Ducati rider made his move with a then fastest lap on lap nine showing his intention, with a few more laps behind Iddon before making his move at the popular overtaking spot, Hawthorns.
From there the #46 held on out front - but was put under pressure all the way.
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Podium battle goes to the chequered flag
A lot of the late pressure came from his teammate Glenn Irwin, who was far from smooth, making shapes all the way to second after needing to come back from some early contact with Jason O’Halloran. A firm block style pass saw him past Ryan Vickers after a long battle for second, though he did not have enough to catch Bridewell, the gap too huge for a final lunge, finishing 0.133s behind.
Vickers had to stage a comeback of his own after starting from seventh on the grid. A feature in the lead five and holding on as it broke to a top three, he in turn was still looking for a way past Irwin, with not even a fastest lap on the final run around the track quite enough, leaving the LAMI OMG Yamaha rider third.
It is just Vickers fourth podium and cements a strong comeback as the top Yamaha once again.
The trio dropped early leader Iddon, leaving the Oxford Products Ducati rider fourth, with early contender Danny Kent holding on to fifth for Lovell Kent Racing on his Honda.
Jason O’Halloran spent much of the race at the front of the chasing group, leading them over the line in sixth for McAMS Yamaha, his attempt to catch the riders in front causing gaps behind.
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Lee Jackson was the top Kawasaki over the line in seventh for Cheshire Mouldings before another small wait for Leon Haslam in eighth, after an overhaul of his Rokit BMW after his DNFs in the first two races.
He enjoyed his own clear track back to Charlie Nesbitt in ninth, the best of the rookies in their first full season on his MasterMac Honda. Fellow rookie Max Cook equalled his best finish in tenth on the second Cheshire Holdings machine.
The Kawasaki rider had pressure all the way down the finishing straight from Storm Stacey (Starline Kawasaki) in eleventh and Danny Buchan ( SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad), who put his bike gremlins behind him for twelfth.
The remaining points on offer went to Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Yamaha)in 13th, Tom Neave, who made up made up a huge ten places on his Honda for 14th and Tito Rabat who finishes his McAMS run with 15th after getting to grips with the tricky twisting track.
Andrew Irwin’s replacement on the second Honda Racing UK entry,Franco Bourne, just missed out in 16th.
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
Josh Brookes was squeezed out of contention of the first corner of the first lap, his good start immediately eroded as Vickers tipped in next to him - avoiding Haslam saw him fly into the gravel.
It was a tough end to a hard weekend for the FHO Racing team with Peter Hickman also failing to go the distance after retiring to the pits.
Kyle Ryde was in the podium hunt when his gear lever broke off, a usually rare issue which has occurred twice in one day after it also ended Haslam’s race two run.
Luke Mossey and Josh Owens both also pulled into the pits.
Where does that leave the championship?
Tommy Bridewell was due to come away with a lead before the race started the question was how big it would be. Taking the maximum on offer again the #46 now has 258 points to his credit - a lead of 34.5 over Irwin despite his efforts to reach second.
Kyle Ryde is an ever more distant third after his DNF on 181, with Josh Brookes also unchanged on 177. Leon Haslam is fifth overall on a total of 172.
