2023 British Superbikes Brands Hatch Showdown Race Results (1)
Results from race one, round eleven of the 2023 Bennetts Superbike Championship as the Showdown Sprint race concluded Saturday at Brands Hatch.
Kyle Ryde turned qualifying into a blip as he returned to the pace he had showed all weekend to lead polesitter Jason O’Halloran over the line and win the final Saturday BSB Sprint race of the season.
Ryde started from sixth on the grid and was up to fourth by lap two.
Two brave moves where he had to move off the racing line to pass first on Tommy Bridewell and then on Jason O’Halloran to take the lead , each time at Dingle Dell, saw him able to make the progress needed.
The LAMI OMG Yamaha rider saw his bravery pay off as he got to lead the way and control the race, but O’Halloran never let go behind.
A final attempt at a slipstream saw a photo finish, with Ryde just 0.015s ahead ,not much more than a tyre separating the pair after 12 laps.
That gave the #77 his sixth win of the season and the maximum increased 35 points to aid his title hopes.
Ryde credited his FP3 run with his success in parc ferme - running in similar conditions where several frontrunners did less laps helped him understand the track condition and tyre wear.
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As the sun moved down and turned Brands Hatch golden McAMS rider O’Halloran collected second, not the first he wanted but enough points to keep him in the title mix the next race.
Bridewell wins Ducati battle
They started from very different places but the BeerMonster riders still ended up duelling it out right next to each other in the BSB sprint.
Bridewell started seventh and was as high as second as Glenn Irwin scrambled up from 17th on the grid after his qualifying front brake issue. They soon met each other in what became the battle for third.
Glenn Irwin rehearsed his move at Stirling Bend and knew it wasn’t without risk with a thin dry line. The #2 launched his effort on the penultimate lap but couldn’t get his PBM bike stopped, leaving Bridewell a bigger gap ahead.
Irwin had made it up by the line but was not close enough for another challenge leaving him fourth.
Christian Iddon inherited fifth when Leon Haslam crashed out at Surtees on lap nine and finished there for Oxford Products Ducati, also making up several places of his own from ninth on the grid.
Peter Hickman was a distant sixth for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad, just ahead of his teammate Josh Brookes who fought back from 18th after his bike issue in qualifying.
He moved through the pack with Leon Jackson for company, the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki rider claiming ninth.
Ryan Vickers was right behind the green bike to complete the top ten on the second OMG Yamaha entry.
There was not much of a gap before Storm Stacey took the chequered flag in eleventh for Starline Kawasaki, three seconds clear of twelfth placed Luke Mossey for Tactix by Lloyd & Jones BMW.
The remaining points went to rookie Max Cook on the second Cheshire Mouldings bike in 13th, Tom Neave, coming through from 23rd for 14th for Honda and Bradley Perie (Lee Hardy Racing) in 15th.
Andrew Irwin just missed out in 16th for Honda Racing, with Fraser Rogers finishing 17th on the pathway IN Competition Aprilia pathway bike on his debut.
With British Supersport just moments before due to the weather Tom Booth-Amos was working overtime going straight from that bike to his TAG Honda Superbike, which played a part in his drop to 20th.
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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
Crashes, Injuries and Replacements
Charlie Nesbitt was the last to exit , falling on the penultimate lap from a battle for sixth.
Leon Haslam had the most significant exit due to it effecting his title hopes.
Niccolo Canepa, Franco Bourne, Alex Olsen and Louis Valleley also failed to finish.
Where does that leave the championship?
Third in the race allowed Tommy Bridewell to extend his title lead form 7.5 points to 10.5. The result also means that between the teammates at least, Bridewell can finish second to Glenn Irwin in the final two races and still win.
Kyle Ryde will be hoping to have a say and prevent that from happening with a win already registered. That took him to within 27points, his gap down from 35 points.
Jason O’Halloran’s second moves him to fourth overall on 347.5.
Lee Jackson and Leon Haslam still can mathematically win in fifth and sixth.
Josh Brookes and Christian Iddon both fell out of contention.
