2023 British Superbikes Brands Hatch Showdown - Qualifying Results

In the rain Jason O’Halloran’s BSB championship hopes sparked back into life as he secured pole for the final Saturday sprint race as the final round of the British Superbikes championship Showdown got underway at Brands Hatch.

The BSB start was delayed after heavy rain and hail arrived right at the scheduled start time.

Jason O’Halloran excelled in the wet, a constant feature at the top of the timesheets as all the riders dropped their times as they felt their way around the track.

The Australian saved his best for last - tucked in behind Ryan Vickers, he added a slipstream boost to his own purple sectors to score a best lap of 1m 36.097s.

That places the #22 well to cut his 50.5 point deficit with his title rivals all behind him, while also bringing the McAMS Yamaha team the final pole of the season as they bow out of the championship.

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Q1 proves useful for Haslam and Nesbitt

A slow start to the weekend saw Leon Haslam go the long way through qualifying - only 17th in the first session, the Rokit BMW Motorrad rider struggled to meet the speed of the leaders again in FP2, which saw him 22nd and over two seconds away from Ryde’s timesheet topper - so a trip through Q1 was needed.

That gave valuable time in the wet, where he moved through with ease after a tyre change fixed his rear grip issues.

In Q2 Haslam was ready to race past his rivals if necessary, first moving into second after passing Peter Hickman, before ending up in a group of seven with no clear track, which saw his time drop.

After another pass, this time on Max Cook, the #91 powered around to finish 0.046s behind O’Halloran, to claim second on the grid.

Charlie Nesbitt’s qualifying had a similar story he too pulled back into the pits in Q1 and came back out in much better shape - taking his Hawk Racing MasterMac Honda through to Q2.

Once there he too was fighting for pole and sat in the provisional slot for much of the session after an early fast lap before returning to secure third, making the top rookie title look certain.

Jack Kennedy also impressed, his late run moving him into fourth as he got to grips with the damp conditions for Mar-Train Yamaha.

Peter Hickman also made late moves up from 16th to fourth before being pushed back to fifth for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad.

Kyle Ryde shuffled back to sixth

Ryde had started the weekend perfectly, topping the drying FP1 session and continuing his pace into the second practice, where he again finished with the top time on his final lap.

Going on take first the morning FP3 session too, his dominance didn’t continue into qualifying.

Unable to match the pace around him, although the #77 put in one of his best wet performances, it was only good enough for sixth overall for the Lami OMG Yamaha rider.

Imperfect seven for Bridwell, Irwin 17th.

Championship leader Tommy Bridewell was able to pick up places every time his time dropped backwards, but his final effort on the BeerMonster Ducati was only good enough to place him seventh.

The #46 was quite relaxed in his predicament, a lot of which was due to the other side of the garage at PBM enduring larger dramas.

Glenn Irwin came straight back into the pits after one lap - the wet revealing a mechanincal issue with his bike which he came in to have fixed.

The #2 only had six minutes left on the clock on his return to track, so was unable to build into the session and acclimatise to the conditions like his rivals.

Pushing to the very end as one of the last to take the chequered flag, his lat lap was his best - and placed him 17th.

Ryan Vickers will fill eighth on the grid on the second Lami OMG entry, with Christian Iddon, a rider considered to have strong wet waether ability slipping into ninth for Oxford Products Ducati.

Storm Stacey was another rider who came through Q1 and continued to see progress, completing the top ten for Starline Racing Kawasaki.

Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:

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

2023 at Brands Hatch:

Round Six - pole: Tommy Bridewell (2nd Ryan Vickers, 3rd Josh Brookes)

Race One:

1:Ryan Vickers

2:Danny Kent

3:Christian Iddon

Race Two:

1:Tommy Bridewell

2:Christian Iddon

3:Danny Kent

Race Three:

1:Tommy Bridewell

2:Glenn Irwin

3:Ryan Vickers

2022 Showdown finale results:

Pole:Glenn Irwin (2nd Peter Hickman , 3rd Tommy Bridewell)

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

The Last Round (ten) at Donington Park:

Pole: Jason O’Halloran (2nd Tommy Bridewell 3rd Leon Haslam)

Race One:

1: Ryan Vickers

2: Leon Haslam

3: Luke Mossey

Race Two:

1: Ryan Vickers

2: Leon Haslam

3: Christian Iddon

Race Three:

1: Jason O’Halloran

2: Christian Iddon

3: Josh Brookes

Tom Booth-Amos, who makes his Superbikes debut for TAG Honda in place of Hector Barbera, was twelfth but crashed at Clark Curve after the chequered flag.

The #69 arrives having had a double workload all season, competing in both British and World Supersport classes.

There was immediate disaster for Josh Brookes who had a mechanical issue as soon as he let the pits, immediately pulling back of track as he desperately tried to restart his bike. That left the FHO Racing rider 18th with no time set.

What Happened in Q1?

After his grip issues, Leon Haslam set the top time, almost a second clear of Storm Stacey. They were joined in Q2 by Bradley Perie(13th), Fraser Rogers, the best of the pathway riders in 15thafter Q2, Tom Booth-Amos and Charlie Nesbitt.

A late flurry of laps saw Alex Olsen, also on ‘Pathway’ machinery, shuffled out to seventh in the session, for 19th on the grid.

Louis Valleley crashed in the treacherous conditions, with Olsen having to take evasive action, effecting his lap.

Absentees and Injuries

Niccolo Canepa continued his spell on the second McAMS Yamaha bike.

Booth-Amos is joined by a second TAG Honda - with Shaun Winfield on a ‘Pathway’ entry bike, joining Franco Bourne (22nd), Alex Olsen and Aprilia rider Fraser Rogers on the machinery at Brands Hatch.

Josh Owens had been planning a comeback with Hawk Racing and competed in a race last weekend at Darley Moor racing circuit. An accident left him needing to be airlifted to hospital, with chest injuries and liver damage. Following successful surgery on his ribs Owens is on the mend, but understandably absent from the Brands Hatch BSB showdown as he begins his long road to recovery.