Going into the final 3 of the 29 races so far completed it was going to be a battle between, #77 Kyle Ryde on the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing R1 and current BSB Champion #1 Tommy Bridewell on the Honda Racing UK CBR1000RR Fireblade for the Championship.

Glenn Irwin #2, last years runner up on the Hager PBM Ducati had a mathematical chance of claiming the crown, but it was a slim one and would need the main title contenders to not finish a race.

Qualifying

#2 Glenn Irwin has had an incident packed season which has resulted in three DNFs and a battered body which has hampered his points tally. Brands Hatch was to be no exception to the run of bad luck Glenn has endured this year.

During qualifying Irwins bike decided it would prefer to have its internal juices set free, fluids spewing from the engine onto the back wheel and all over the track, this resulted in Glenn and his brother #18 Andy going down hard which stopped the session. 

Once the track was cleared and the red flags put away there was a little over five minutes left of the session in the damp but drying conditions. It was a roller coaster of a session with the P1 spot swapping around the usual suspects until #14 Lee Jackson, out on slicks put in a spectacular lap.

As the time ticked down only #7 Vickers could best Jackson pushing him down to second place with Josh Brookes, who would start his 400th BSB race in P3.

Bridewell was in 5th next to #30 Max Cook and championship contender Kyle Ryde on the third row. Glen Irwin did not get back out in the session due to his earlier engine failure and a mandatory visit to the medical centre. He qualified well down the grid making his bid for the championship all but gone.

BSB Race 1 Saturday 12 October 

All the right team colours but not necessarily in the right order, Ryde’s OMG GRILLA team mate #7 Ryan Vickers was on pole for the first race of the weekend. It started well for Vickers until lap nine, #52 Danny Kent on the McAMS Racing Yamaha took the lead. Danny starting his 100th BSB race hasn’t won a race this year, he has been close but no cigar. 

In terribly wet conditions Kent got his head down and took the Yamaha R1 to the flag for his maiden victory. Vickers came back at him but in a mature race held his position and didn’t risk throwing it down the road.

Being ahead of his team mates main rival for the championship and therefore taking points away from him was his objective, and it worked. 

Tommy Bridewell had pushed up through the pack to claim third, while Ryde was fourth, setting up the final two races of the weekend nicely. There was now just one point between Ryde on 422 and Bridewell 421.

Glenn Irwins title chase for 2024 was officially over, 352 and 70 points adrift after he crashed out at Graham Hill Bend. Irwin started in 15th place and made a valiant effort to slice through the pack before his off, and could now only ride for honours and look forward to next season.

BSB Sprint Race Sunday 13 October 

The BSB Sprint race is pure racing, a 12 lap dash of head down throttle open action with no considerations for tyre wear. The Championship contenders had received the memo and what a race we got. The first lap was a Yamaha OMG R1 sandwich with Tommy on the Honda Fireblade as the filling in the middle. Lap two at Druids Tommy goes to the front, by lap three Ryde was on his tail in P2. 

By laps five and six both of them were sliding the back end trying to out-brake each other but there was nothing between them, the race was now between these two. On lap 7 there were five changes of the lead, with Tommy leaving a massive darkie from his rear tyre out of Clearways to keep the lead. Tommy puts in the fastest lap of the race on lap 11 at 1:24.9 and pulled out a few meters to cross the line first.

Tommy on 456 points - Ryde on 452 points, Vickers was third. What a race that was and it all comes down to the last race of the season to decide the BSB Champion, the racing on Sunday couldn’t get any better than this, could it? 

BSB Race 3 Sunday 13 October

The words I write next are not going to do this race any justice at all, it will go down as one of the best races in BSB history and will be commented on for years to come its was that good. Bridewell on 456 points and Ryde on 452 meant that who ever finished ahead of the other would win the championship, simple, both riders knew it and so did the rest of the pack.

Why were the rest of the pack important? Well most weren’t they were out to do the best they could but they didn’t have much to fight for so you would hope they would keep out of the championship battle. Four riders were however, determined to have an effect on the outcome of the race, the heat was on!

Ryde’s team mate Ryan Vickers said on the grid before the race he would help Kyle go all the way by getting in-between Ryde and Bridewell. #18 Andrew Irwin, Bridewells Honda team mate let his actions do the talking from the get go.

Slotting in behind Bridewell who took the lead from the start he was on a mission to stop anyone getting past him to challenge Tommy. Andrew Irwin was riding on his limit, it was a pleasure to watch, some of the best I have seen of his skills he has on a motorcycle. 

However, his brother Glenn Irwin on the PBM Ducati wanted this final race of the season win and managed to get past his brother on lap six, and the took the lead from Bridewell. Did this bother Bridewell, probably as there is no love lost between them but as long as Bridewell was in front of Ryde the championship was in the bag and Tommy was keeping his eye on the prize.

Ryde was not having any of that, he put the hammer down and went for it making some great moves to take the lead. Tommy, behind him seemed to take a breather then all hell let loose. Bridewell started to set faster and faster sector times as he wound up the wick on the Fireblade, breaking the Brands Hatch lap record in the process.

Bridewells signature move at Stirlings saw him take the lead but Ryde was not having it, fighting back at Hawthorns. Attack, corners defended, fairing paint swapped, the pair disappeared from the pack, it was now a good clean scrap to the finish line between these two.

The lead swapped many times, no one was predicting who was going to take the win and the championship it was that close. Ryde again took the lead into Hawthorns on the last lap but three corners ahead was Tommys favourite overtaking spot, Stirlings.

Ryde defended and although Bridewell attacked into the last corner it was not enough and the sprint to the line saw Ryde take the race and championship by 0.296 of a second and one championship point! The crowd went mad as the new BSB champion collapsed over his tank having given everything for the win.

As an independent spectator I don’t think racing gets much better than the final race of the 2024 British Super Bike season. Not since the Hopkins, Hill final have we seen such a dramatic, enthralling and entertaining race.

BSB seems to be going from strength to strength, last season’s Bridewell, Irwin battle was epic and now the Bridewell / Ryde race has surpassed that, what on earth will next year bring especially as you will have two BSB Champions in the OMG GRILLA team when Bradley Ray returns! Bring it on gentlemen, I for one can’t wait for the BSB 2025 season to start.

British SuperStock Championship 

It came as no surprise that Davey Todd took his second National Superstock title at Brands Hatch, first in race one, second in race two and after Joe Talbot crashed taking Luke Mossey and Josh Owens with him the Superstock championship was in Todds bag.

Todd has had his best year ever riding motorcycles, his success at the IoM TT has seen his stock rise in the road racing world and now with another sort circuit title he is sitting pretty as a recognised extremely skilful SuperBike rider. I’m looking forward to him flying past the hedges of the Isle of Man and challenging the established road racers like he did this year. 

British SuperSport Championship

Jack Kennedy claimed his fifth SuperSport title at Brands Hatch on the Honda CBR600RR. Honda have been noticeably absent from the SuperSport class as the rules, and probably more importantly sales in the middle weight class have collapsed over the last few years as joe public favoured purchasing 1000cc and Adventure bikes.

Revamped and reintroduced for the 2024 season with Kennedy astride the great looking bike has done Honda proud and should see a renewed interest in the mini blade in the show rooms. 

Honda have stated they will defend the title next year and I for one would not bet against them. The power of the Honda corporation when it shifts into gear behind a project is something to behold.

I expect there will be quite a few supported and independent teams running the flying H next season in the SuperSport class. The triple cylinder Triumphs and V twin Ducatis are no doubt going to challenge the inline four of the CBR600RR making this one hell of a competitive class next year. 

With Dean Harrison along side Kennedy in the Honda UK team it will be strong, not only on the short circuits but also on the roads. This is where Harrison excels, and if Honda UK back Dean all the way at the Isle of Man TT 2025 it’s going to be a great year for motorcycle racing spectators. 

It is likely that Honda UK will continue to run the very competitive CBR1000RR-R Fireblade in BSB with Tommy Bridewell and Probably Andrew Irwin. #3 John McGuinness MBE and Nathan Harrison will probably continue in the Superstock with an eye on the roads.

From the road side hedges to the comfort of the circuit grandstands we are going to be spoilt for competitive two wheel action as Honda re-emerge as a competitive force to challenge the Yamaha’s and Ducati’s that have dominated BSB for the last few years 

Kyle Ryde 2024 British Super Bike Champion

So there you have it the 2024 British Super Bikes completed with Kyle Ryde crowned Champion for the first time. The Nottinghamshire rider has had to battle hard to get to the top of British domestic motorcycle racing. As the youngest British 125cc Champion in 2011 the writing was on the wall for what was to come.

Adding the British National Superstock 600 Championship in 2014 the international world of motorcycle racing opened up for Ryde.

In 2016 Ryde raced in the World Supersport championship but it started to go wrong through no fault of his own. The team withdrew from the competition, for 2017 he again entered the World Supersport championship but the results didn’t come and he parted ways with his team. 

A few rides in BSB as a replacement rider came along and a stint with CF Motorsport in BSB before Ryde announced that he wouldn’t be riding again in the 2018 championship.

Ryde has alluded that he and his family, that has supported him during his racing career had to pay off the cost of racing on the world stage. His big break came when Stuart Hicken signed him to ride for Hawk racing in 2020. Ryde achieved his first two BSB wins with the Buildbase Hawk Racing team at Silverstone. 

Switching to Rich Energy OMG Racing with the BMW M1000RR for the 2021 season he finished mid table. Rich Energy OMG Racing switched to the Yamaha R1 for 2022, alongside Bradly Ray the combination proved to be a championship winning team with Ray winning the BSB 2022 title. Ray departed for the World SuperBike Championship with Junior Superstock Champion Ryan Vickers replacing Ray.

Now established in the OMG GRILLA team and still on the Yamaha R1, 2024 was to be Kyles year to shine, winning the championship in the most thrilling racing BSB spectators have seen for some time. 

For 2025 OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing will run a three man team, 2024 BSB Champion Kyle Ryde, 2022 BSB Champion Bradley Ray and 2024 National Superstock runner up Joe Talbot. British SuperBikes starts again on 6 April 2025 at the Circuito de Navarra for the first official test.

The PistonClick team will be trackside to give you our take on the racing from behind our cameras, we will be at round 1, Oulton Park 3-5 May 2025, will we see you there for what promises to be another great season of two wheel racing?   

All of our previous British Super Bike reports can be found by clicking the image.