MOTORCYCLE SPORTS

The Bennetts British Superbike Championship rolled into Brands Hatch over the weekend of the 21st – 23rd of July. The championship standings arriving in Kent were headed by Beer Monster PBM Ducati rider Tommy Bridewell, who held a lead of 25 points over team-mate Glenn Irwin. The spots of water that began to fall in the first part of qualifying had turned to steady rainfall as the pole-setting Q2 session was due to go green. A see-sawing contest for the top spot between Bridewell and OMG Yamaha’s Ryan Vickers saw each bettering the others time as they crossed the line. As the clock ticked down, Bridewell improved once more with twenty seconds to go before going quicker again on his last lap to cement pole by 0.643 seconds from Vickers, who needed a late improvement to bump Josh Brookes back to third. A sodden circuit greeted the field for the twelve-lap Sprint Race later on Saturday afternoon. Bridewell headed the pack into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time from Vickers but the Yamaha was jumped by Danny Kent on the climb to Druids. Vickers was back in second before the first lap was completed and then took the lead when Bridewell had a slide at Hawthorn on lap two. Kent also got ahead of the PBM Ducati at Clearways, with Bridewell falling into clutches of the following four riders as he dealt with a misting visor. As the front pair moved away, the rider on the move was Christian Iddon and the Ducati man took both Leon Haslam and Bridewell to climb to third on lap four. Bridewell’s visibility issues saw him slip behind Haslam, qualifying star Jack Kennedy and Jason O’Halloran by lap seven. At the end of the lap, the black and orange mechanical warning flag was displayed to Haslam as smoke was emanating from his BMW. The red flag quickly followed to clean the circuit of the dropped fluid and the race was called, giving a jubilant Vickers his first British Superbike victory from Kent and Iddon. Sunday dawned dry and bright and the Oxford Products Ducati of Iddon sat on pole position having set the fastest lap in the wet Sprint Race, with Kent and Vickers making up the front row. Iddon and Kent both got away well and it was the 2015 Moto 3 world champion who took the initiative into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Kent’s tenure of the lead lasted a single lap as Iddon charged back to the front starting lap two. Iddon couldn’t shake off the Honda though and Kent briefly retakes the lead on the third lap before Iddon immediately bellows back through on the following straight. The top five are still within a second of each other when the Safety Car is deployed on lap eight after Dean Harrison fell at Paddock Hill Bend. Kent headed the queue for the restart from Iddon, Vickers, O’Halloran and Bridewell up from seventh, the Honda having hit the front at Hawthorn just prior to the interruption. Both PBM Ducatis were on the rise when racing resumed, an aggressive lap from Bridewell saw him up to second behind Iddon, who had removed Kent from the lead at Hawthorn. Hawthorn was the scene of Bridewell’s pass for the lead two laps later and the Wiltshireman sped clear to a 2.406-second victory after twenty laps. A blanket covered Iddon, Kent, Glenn Irwin, Vickers, Jason O’Halloran and Kyle Ryde in the battle for the podium places as they took the flag. Bridewell’s late-race pace came with the bout’s fastest lap so would start the final encounter from pole ahead of Kent and Iddon. The front row got away evenly but it was that man Kent again who led the way into Paddock Hill Bend from the poleman. A fired-up Iddon took second from Bridewell starting lap two before usurping Kent for the lead on the GP loop. In the line behind, Ryde lunged ahead of Bridewell at Stirlings for the second time and the steady-away Ducati also momentarily slipped to fifth behind Leon Haslam’s BMW on the third tour. Ryde’s time in third would be short-lived as a broken gear linkage forces the Yamaha out on the fourth lap, which moves the PBM Ducatis of Bridewell and Irwin into a menacing third and fourth. Bridewell takes second from Kent out the back for the seventh time before taking the lead from Iddon into Hawthorn on lap twelve but, unlike earlier, the Ducati couldn’t escape the pack. Bridewell’s PBM partner Irwin forced his way into second at Surtees on lap fifteen and Vickers took advantage to further demote Iddon to fourth. The Ducati moved back up to third at Westfield on the following tour before the Yamaha rider made the place his own at Stirlings on lap seventeen. The squabble had cost Vickers ground to the PBM pair ahead but a fastest lap brought the Yamaha onto their tail heading onto the final lap but Bridewell doesn’t let the win slip and takes his second win of the day from Irwin and Vickers as 0.237 seconds covered the trio. Bridewell leaves Kent with an extended margin of 34.5 points at the top of the championship tree from team-mate Irwin in second. The championship now moves on to the fastest circuit of the year at Thruxton on the 11th -13th of August, the scene of three of the best races of the 2022 championship season. Words and Pics Stephen Carpenter.