BSB Brands Hatch, Race 1: Vickers Victorious in Brands Blitz

Brands Hatch hosts the sixth round of the 2024 British Superbike Championship, with Glenn Irwin having reclaimed the championship lead at the most recent Snetterton BSB. On Friday, Ryan Vickers was fastest in FP1 on Friday, and backed that early speed up on Saturday by taking pole position, before converting that to victory in both Race 1 and Race 2.

Race 2

The first start was first put under safety car when Danny Buchan low-sided at the first corner, taking Danny Kent and Glenn Irwin with him. Buchan and Kent both seemed unharmed, but Irwin had to be carried away on a stretcher, and seemed to be in pain with his left shoulder. After the restart, Luke Hedger crashed out at Hawthorn’s, which resulted in a red flag.

The restart was run over five laps, with grid positions determined by positions as of lap six on the initial start, meaning Ryan Vickers was back on pole position.

It was Vickers who made the restart, leading the first lap ahead of Tommy Bridewell. In between the disruptions, the first start had been characterised by a hectic battle at the front between Vickers, Tommy Bridewell, Christian Iddon, and Andrew Irwin. In comparison, the second start was much more similar to Race 1.

Vickers was almost a full second clear by the end of the third lap, while the battle for second was a two-way fight between Bridewell and Kyle Ryde, who was much improved over Saturday. Bridewell won out in the end, Ryde unable to find a way through and taking third place.

Andrew Irwin was fourth, ahead of Leon Haslam, Christian Iddon, Lee Jackson, Josh Brookes, Franco Bourne, and Charlie Nesbitt who completed the top 10.

Race 1

Ryan Vickers took a dominant win in BSB Race 1 at Brands Hatch, with peerless pace that left him without challenge by the chequered flag.

Vickers’ main rival seemed to be Danny Kent, who was going away with the #7 in the opening stages. But a crash for the #52 on lap three reduced some of the pressure on the OMG Yamaha rider, and he went unchallenged from there. By lap six his advantage was one second, by lap 10 it was over three, and by the end it was over seven, despite cruising it in on the final lap.

Vickers was one of only two riders capable of doing 1:25s in the final five or six laps, the other being Andrew Irwin. He’d started 10th, but by the final third of the race he had been able to use that impressive late race pace to bring himself into podium contention with Glenn Irwin, Tommy Bridewell, and Christian Iddon.

Initially, it was Bridewell who seemed like he would be able to take off in second, but then Irwin passed him on lap 13, and this set up a four-rider battle for the final two podium spots.

In the end, Bridewell was able to get back around the Ducati rider, and in doing so he opened the door for his teammate, Andrew Irwin, to get by and into second.

Irwin probably had the better pace of the two Honda riders, but was unable to fashion himself an overtaking opportunity, meaning he had to accept third place, while Bridewell secured second.

Glenn Irwin and Christian Iddon were detached slightly from the two Hondas in the final laps, with Irwin finishing fourth ahead of Iddon in the end. Behind, Kyle Ryde beat Leon Haslam to sixth, while Lee Jackson, Jason O’Halloran, and Danny Buchan completed the top 10.

Qualifying

Ryan Vickers secured pole position for BSB Race 1 at Brands Hatch by setting the fastest in time in qualifying at his home circuit.

The #7 was just under 0.1 seconds clear of Danny Kent in second place, the #52 ensuring a Yamaha 1-2, while Glenn Irwin completed the front row.

Tommy Bridewell looked capable of getting on that first row, but a big slide out of the final corner on his final flying lap meant the best he could do was fifth. The reigning champion will start between Josh Brookes and Leon Haslam on row two in Race 1, while Jason O’Halloran will head up row three from Kyle Ryde and Christian Iddon.

Danny Buchan rounded out the qualifying top 10, ahead of Andrew Irwin and Lee Jackson who will join him on the fourth row, while Franco Bourne, Charlie Nesbitt, and Peter Hickman will start on the fifth row.

FP2

Glenn Irwin was fastest in BSB FP2 at Brands Hatch, the Northern Irishman dipping into the 1:25s on Friday afternoon.

Irwin was not the only one to go sub-1:26, as Tommy Bridewell and Ryan Vickers joined the PBM Ducati rider.

Behind, Leon Haslam improved drastically from FP1, when he was 14th, to finish fourth in FP2, ahead of Danny Kent who rounded out the top five.

Jason O’Halloran was sixth-fastest, ahead of Andrew Irwin, Christian Iddon, Lee Jackson, and Josh Brookes, who completed the top 10. Peter Hickman and Charlie Nesbitt took the final two automatic Q2 positions, meaning that Kyle Ryde, who finished FP2 in 13th, will have to go through Q1 tomorrow.

FP1

Ryan Vickers was fastest in BSB FP1 at Brands Hatch, beating Christian Iddon to the top time by 0.066 seconds.

Iddon was the best Ducati rider for the Oxford Products team, while PBM’s Glenn Irwin was just under 0.3 seconds back in fourth place, the two split by Honda’s Tommy Bridewell. Kyle Ryde in fifth was the final rider to join Vickers in the 1:26s.

The top 13 riders were within a second of each other, with Andrew Irwin the last of those. Charlie Nesbitt and Peter Hickman also missed out on the top 10.

Making it, though, were Lee Jackson, Franco Bourne, Danny Kent, Danny Buchan, and Jason O’Halloran. Q2 positions, which go down to 12th, will be decided in FP2.