BSB Brands Hatch results (2), Race 3 - Title decided

The 11th, final, and title deciding round of the 2023 British Superbike Championship takes place at Brands Hatch this weekend. This page will be updated with BSB Brands Hatch results throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Overview

Race 3 - Irwin takes Race 3 win but second place for Birdewell seals the championship

Race 2 - Irwin beats Bridewell to cut points lead with one race to go

Race 1 - Ryde wins out in Yamaha duel, Bridewell beats Irwin to third

Qualifying - O'Halloran takes pole as Irwin mired in 17th

Race 3

Title deciders have an inherent tension, but a margin as small as 5.5 points with one race to go guarantees an intense affair. BSB Race 3 at Brands Hatch lived up to this, as Glenn Irwin took the victory but Tommy Bridewell secured the title with a second place.

Tommy Bridewell started from pole position, but he made a poor launch and Ryan Vickers took the holeshot, while Bridewell slotted into second place. But a pass from the #46 at Hawthorn meant it was he who led over the line for the first time.

Kyle Ryde was the third player in the title fight, albeit 30 points adrift at the beginning of the race. He made his way to the front by the beginning of lap three. By now, Glenn Irwin had made his way up to fourth having started in sixth.

Irwin was able to make his way up to second place on lap seven with a block pass in Surtees. It was clean enough, but it pushed Bridewell wide enough to allow Vickers through into third place, pushing Bridewell back to fourth. At this point, Irwin was champion.

But Ryde still led, something that Irwin needed to change once Bridewell reclaimed third place from Vickers on lap nine.

Irwin took the lead on lap 11, but Bridewell once again made a points-swinging move on lap 13 past Ryde for second place.

By lap 16, the two Ducatis and Ryde had dropped Vickers, and a mistake by Irwin allowed Ryde to the front. 

Credit: OMG Racing.

Irwin got back to the front at Hawthorn on lap 19. Bridewell had a lap to respond in order to clinch the title, and he did so with a pass at Druids. Ryde tried to pass back, but his only real chance was at Stirlings, which he had executed on Bridewell already earlier in the race. Bridewell therefore knew what to expect, and defended expertly against Ryde in the penultimate corner to ultimately secure himself second place in the race, and the 2023 British Superbike Championship title by the margin of half-a-point.

Glenn Irwin’s victory, therefore, made no difference to the championship outcome, but there is little doubt that the #2 did precisely all he could during the 20 laps of Race 3 to try to clinch the title.

Kyle Ryde’s second third place of the day secured him third in the championship.

Ryan Vickers was fourth, ahead of Leon Haslam (5th, top BMW); Christian Iddon (6th), which was a relief after he was stretchered off in Race 2; Jason O’Halloran who took seventh Raceways’ (McAMS Yamaha) final BSB race; Lee Jackson, who was eighth (and top Kawasaki) in his final ride for FS-3 Kawasaki; Josh Brookes (9th); and Charlie Nesbitt (10th, top Honda) who rounded out the top 10.

Full BSB results from Race 3 in Brands Hatch are below.

2023 BSB Brands Hatch Results | Race 2

Race 2

Dry weather and sunshine replaced the rain of Saturday for Sunday’s first race, Race 2 of the weekend, of the BSB finale at Brands Hatch. With only one race remaining after this one, Glenn Irwin had to maximise his points haul to give himself a decent chance of the title in Race 3, and that he did by narrowly beating Tommy Bridewell in a late race duel.

Jason O’Halloran started from pole position, and he made a strong launch to secure the holeshot ahead of Glenn Irwin and Kyle Ryde. Irwin managed to pass at Druids, and then Ryde took second from O’Halloran at Graham Hill Bend.

Credit: Mar-Train Racing

The first laps went more or less to plan for Irwin, leading relatively unchallenged from the Yamahas of Ryde and O’Halloran, while Tommy Bridewell lurked in fourth place. 
The four had pulled away in the first seven laps from Christian Iddon in fifth place. But Iddon crashed on the exit of Druids on lap eight, and his positioning, as he lay on the side of the track awaiting a stretcher to be carried away, meant a safety car was required.

The lights on the safety car went out at the beginning of lap 10, which left Irwin with essentially a full lap of looking over his shoulder as the pace-setter. It was a curious situation but one Irwin managed well. It was certainly a cleaner restart than the controversial one in Oulton Park a few weeks ago, and also a good one for Glenn Irwin, as he maintained the lead.

Jason O’Halloran did not fair as well, crashing out on lap 11 at Surtees.

O’Halloran’s crash did not relieve the pressure on Irwin, as Ryde immediate resumed the position on the rear tyre of the #2 Ducati. Then, Bridewell took that position from Ryde on lap 15 as Ryan Vickers - who had started further down on the grid after a bad qualifying limited his capabilities of setting a good lap time in Race 1 - began to close in.

The two PBM Ducatis became detached at the front of the pack when Ryde made a mistake at Druids on lap 17. Bridewell now had the luxury of being able to focus on attacking Irwin without having to be concerned about an attack from behind.

Credit: FHO Racing.

But, Bridewell was unable to take advantage of the situation. Had the points situation coming into the race been reversed, with Irwin leading Bridewell by 10.5 points, perhaps the #46 would have taken a risk, but his knowing that finishing directly behind his teammate in both of today’s races would guarantee him the title brought some perspective for him. 

He remained resolutely on Irwin’s rear tyre, but never tried to pass, and in truth was never really close enough in the right areas of the track in order to make an attempt.

Bridewell’s inability and/or reluctance to pass his teammate meant Irwin took the full 35 points for the race win, closing in by five points over Bridewell, The two head into the 33rd and final race of the season later today separated by 5.5 points - that half-point really could make all the difference.

Kyle Ryde was perhaps fortunate that it was his OMG Racing Yamaha teammate Ryan Vickers behind him in the closing stages, as the #77 got a little ragged towards the end. Vickers played a strong support role to Ryde, whose third place means he can still win the title if he wins Race 3 and the two PBM Ducatis don’t finish.

Vickers took fourth place, ahead of Lee Jackson (5th, top Kawasaki), Leon Haslam (6th, top BMW), Max Cook (7th), Josh Brookes (8th), Peter Hickman (9th), and Storm Stacey (10th) who completed the top 10.

Full BSB results from Race 2 in Brands Hatch are below.

2023 BSB Brands Hatch Results | Race 2

Race 1

Damp conditions made BSB Race 1 significantly more complicated than presumably the title contenders would have liked, and as they battled it was Kyle Ryde who took victory.

Although everyone started Race 1 on dry tyres, the track was affirmatively damp; the line was dry, but mistakes would be costly due to low ambient and track temperatures combined with the off-line dampness.

At the start, it was Jason O’Halloran who made a convincing holeshot from pole position ahead of Leon Haslam and Tommy Bridewell, who had climbed from seventh on the grid.

Glenn Irwin had also made a decent start. Having started from 17th, Irwin was seventh by the mid-point of lap three.

Credit: FHO Racing.

Kyle Ryde, meanwhile, had been pushing forwards himself, and was able to take the lead from O’Halloran towards the end of the third lap. The #77’s pace was strong, but O’Halloran was able to go with him. By lap five, they were over one second clear of Bridewell, who was now directly ahead of his teammate and title rival Irwin, who had passed Jack Kennedy for fifth.

The battle for the lead between Ryde and O’Halloran would have defined the race on any other weekend, but the proximity of Irwin and Bridewell relative to each other took priority. 

Irwin was unable to find his way past Bridewell, and in the end made a fairly desperate move in Stirling’s on the penultimate lap. It didn’t pay off, and he had to settle for fourth.

O’Halloran made his move on Ryde in turn one at the beginning of the final lap, but Ryde immediately responded at Druids. The #77 then held firm to the final corner, where O’Halloran tried to set him up for the run to the line. 0.015 seconds were all that separated Ryde and O’Halloran at the line, but it was in the favour of the OMG Racing rider.
O’Halloran confirmed a Yamaha 1-2, of course, while Tommy Bridewell’s third place tightened his grip on the championship.

Glenn Irwin was forced to settle for fourth place after his penultimate lap pass attempt, while Christian Iddon completed a formation of Ducatis in third, fourth, and fifth. Peter Hickman (top BMW) rounded out the top six, ahead of Josh Brookes (7th), Jack Kennedy (8th), Lee Jackson (9th, top Kawasaki), and Ryan Vickers (10th), who rounded out the top 10.

Leon Haslam's title chances were more or less ended when he crashed out unharmed at Surtees.

Full BSB results from Race 1 in Brands Hatch are below.

2023 BSB Brands Hatch Results | Race 1

Qualifying

BSB qualilfying at the season finale in Brands Hatch was dominated by rain, which first delayed the start of qualifying before intensifying the demands on the riders once it got underway. As he did in Donington, Jason O’Halloran proved the master of Brands Hatch’s rainfall by taking pole position.

An intense rain storm before the session meant that qualifying was delayed by around 30 minutes; but when it did get underway, qualifying of course began with Q1, which saw Leon Haslam set the fastest time, and move through along with Storm Stacey, Bradley Perie, Fraser Rogers, Tom Booth-Amos on his Superbike debut, and Charlie Nesbitt.

The track had been wet-but-drying for much of Q1, but more rain towards the end of the session meant any drying that had taken place was more or less reset by the time Q2 rolled around.

Credit: Mar-Train Racing.

The session was a case of scrolling times throughout, as you might expect from such conditions, and more or less everyone had a reasonable shot at a start from the front two rows at least for Race 1.

In the end Jason O’Halloran wound out the fastest time, taking pole position by the slenderest of margins: 0.046 seconds. It means he takes pole position on the final weekend of racing for the McAMS Yamaha team, who will leave BSB at the end of this season.

The Australian’s margin was over Leon Haslam (top BMW), while Charlie Nesbitt (top Honda) rounded out the top three.

Jack Kennedy was fourth, ahead of Peter Hickman (5th) and Kyle Ryde (6th) who complete the second row; while Tommy Bridewell (top Ducati) will head up the third row in seventh, ahead of Ryan Vickers (8th) and Christian Iddon (9th).

The qualifying top 10 was rounded out by Storm Stacey (top Kawasaki), who will be joined on the fourth row of the grid by Luke Mossey (11th) and Tom Booth-Amos (12th).

Title contender Glenn Irwin, who comes into this weekend 7.5 points behind his PBM Ducati teammate, Bridewell, had some issues at the start of Q2, but despite getting out late on was unable to qualify better than 17th.

Full BSB results from qualifying at the Brands Hatch finale are below.

2023 BSB Brands Hatch Results | Qualifying

Lead image credit: Mar-Train Racing.