British superbikes - Brands Hatch - Round 6

Report by Michael Clarke 

20th - 21st July 

Round 6 of the British Superbikes saw the paddock head to one of the most Iconic tracks on the calendar, Brands Hatch! The weather was typically British with baking hot conditions with a few showers thrown in for good measure. As always with a BSB round at brands the circuit was packed with spectators.

A hint of things to come, Ryan Vickers claimed pole position with Danny Kent and Glenn Irwin rounding up the front row. 

BSB Round 6 race One

In the first BSB race of the round, Ryan Vickers conducted a demolition job as lap by lap he gapped the rest of the field never putting a foot wrong. Behind him, however, things were much closer as it was a four-way battle for the remaining podium places.

Danny Kent got off to a good start however this was short-lived as on the third lap he crashed out at Stirlings. The four riders that were battling to the end for the final two positions were Glenn Irwin, Tommy Bridewell, Christian Iddon, and the fast-charging Andrew Irwin! who had carved his way through the pack.

After multiple overtakes between the two rivals Bridewell got the better of Glenn Irwin, with five laps to go Andrew Irwin was able to put a move on his brother to secure third and the final place on the podium.

It was an impressive performance by Vickers and the first time he won a race since the first race of the season in Navarra, and he absolutely ran away with it finishing 7.334s in front of second place Bridewell.

Equally impressive was Bridewell not just in this race but his season as a whole, I don't think anyone thought Tommy was going to jump on that Honda and have the season he's having, well…. except maybe himself. Standing on the podium and pointing skywards it was an emotional second place for Bridewell, it was also the anniversary of the passing of his brother Ollie.



Third place went to Andrew Irwin who has had a difficult year but equalled his best finish of the year and with that also gave Honda a double podium

BSB Round 6 race two

Ryan Vickers got off to a great start again onboard the OMG GRILLA Yamaha but unfortunately, there was an incident going into Paddock Hill bend which resulted in Glenn Irwin, Danny Kent, and Danny Buchan crashing out. Irwin came out the worst clutching his neck and being stretchered off to the medical centre. Irwin was subsequently passed fit for the final race.

This incident brought out the safety car which bunched up the field, once the safety car pitted and the race resumed Tommy Bridewell wasted little time putting a move onto Vickers and passing him for the lead only for Vickers to swiftly retake the lead a few corners later.

After a few more laps the race was then red-flagged after Luke Hedger had a horrific crash at Hawthorns, His bike was literally snapped in half. Luke was subsequently declared unfit for the remainder of the round with a soft tissue injury to his neck and forearm.

BSB Round 6 race three

In the final race of the weekend, Ryan Vickers stormed into the lead as soon as the lights went out and normal service was resumed as he put in an incredible pace to break away from the field just like he had done in the previous days long race, leaving the rest to dice it out for the final two places on the podium.

Leon Haslam had a great launch of the line taking a wider line at Paddock Hill and moving into third although shortly after Kylde Ryde fought back taking third position and making it stick.

After the first lap, it was Vickers followed by Andrew Irwin, Kyle Ryde, and Tommy Bridewell.

Lap 4 saw Ryde move past Irwin into second making his move at Paddock Hill but behind him, the man on the move was Christian Iddon, within a few laps taking Leon Haslam then Bridewell on lap 6, finally moving into 3rd position past Andrew Irwin.

In the last few laps of the race, Tommy Bridewell looked menacing as he latched on to Iddon and Ryde for the fight for second and third. Iddon and Ryde then proceeded to dual it out putting passes on each other as they could see Bridewell was closing in and neither wanted to lose their place on the podium, However, they managed to keep Bridewell at bay until the end and the final results are as follows.

With Ryan Vickers being so dominant and completing the treble win at Brands he was crowned the new Monster Energy King of Brands and becoming only the third rider to take the treble at Brands Hatch.

It was a bit of a disappointing weekend for Danny Kent as he looked to have the pace to fight for the podium during the early sessions and qualifying however was off the pace due to his crash in race one finishing 15th in race three, 33.196s off Ryan Vickers.