2023 British Superbikes Brands Hatch- Qualifying Results
Tommy Bridewell was untouchable in the wet as rain cancelled superpole rules ahead of qualifying for round six of the British Superbike championship at Brands Hatch.
The Championship leader, fresh from career best triple success in Snetterton, was back in dominant form. With mist just opting for wet weather tyres as late changes saw superpole scrapped, his BeerMonster Ducati team sent him out on a full wet set up.
Confident on the damp track - in the first full wet session of the season - but experiencing a few wobbles and near misses, the fearless #46 was unmatched giving the rest of the field a wet weather masterclass as he pulled out a lap of 1m 37.523s for just his second pole of the year so far.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ryan Vickers was fastest on Friday and worked hard to compete with the flurry of purple sectors Bridewell was putting on show lap after lap. The LAMI OMG Yamaha rider, also riding solo, pulled closer, swapping the lead in the early stages until the Ducati rider pushed even closer to the limit, finishing 0.643s behind for second on the grid.
Josh Brookes had different tactics in play. The Australian was circulating with Christian Iddon and fellow countryman Jason O’Halloran, particularly using the latter as a marker to claim the final front row slot for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad.
Jack Kennedy made the most of already being out in the wet Q1 to move on to fourth overall for Mar-Train Racing Yamaha - his best qualifying result to date.
Leon Haslam would have been the rider to set the pace but instead pulled into the pits. Not returning to track until the final minutes, the Rokit BMW rider went hard to make up for lost time, setting a banker on his return then climbing from ninth to fifth at the chequered flag.
Another rider in their own team, Danny Kent, also made late improvements to climb to sixth for Lovell Kent Racing.
- Hamilton heads Verstappen and Perez in final practice
- Stoner’s verdict on whether Marquez should stay at Honda
- British Superbikes: Triple triumph hands advantage to Bridewell
Rain spolis Irwin’s day
Glenn Irwin arrived fastest in the dry, thanks to his FP3 lap of the Kent track, but was not as domineering in the wet as his timesheet topping teammate.
The rain looked to hamper the progress of Irwin, while Bridewell was risking it all with confidence, the Northern Irish rider looked far less confident in his bike set up.
Knuckling down in the final minutes as he continued to chip away at his time the #2 plate will sit in seventh, shuffled back by improvements from Haslam and Kennedy.
Kyle Ryde, had smashed the lap record last time we saw superpole used at Donington park but arrived having picked up just sixteen points over all three races at Snetterton.
It was crucial for the LAMI OMG Yamaha rider to get a strong start to prevent another round of climbing through the pack. Although the late format change may not have been in his favour the #77 left enough on the tack flying solo for eighth.
O’Halloran placed ninth for McAMS Yamaha, while Peter Hickman was much improved after struggling on his return from the Isle of Man for the last few races, completing the top ten for FHO Racing.
Iddon finished eleventh for Oxford Products Ducati, ahead of rookie Charlie Nesbitt, who came through Q1 with the top time to claim twelfth.
Rookie Max Cook out qualified his experienced Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki teammate Lee Jackson last time out - and came close to doing so again, with the #14 only just faster for 13th.
Danny Buchan was a distant 15th on the Synetiq BMW Motorrad entry.
Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:
Lap Record: Josh Brookes (Yamaha) 1m 24.873s (2017)
2022 at Brands Hatch:
Round Five- pole: Jason OHalloran (2ndTarran Mackenzie, 3rd Bradley Ray)
Race One:
1:Jason O’Halloran
2:Tarran Mackenzie
3:Tommy Bridewell
Race Two:
1:Tarran Mackenzie
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Tommy Bridewell
Race Three:
1:Tarran Mackenzie
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Glenn Irwin
Round 11 (Showdown) pole: Bradley Ray (2nd Jason O’Halloran, 3rd Danny Buchan)
Race One:
1:Glenn Irwin
2:Peter Hickman
3:Andrew Irwin
Race Two:
1:Peter Hickman
2:Danny Buchan
3:Glenn Irwin
Race Three:
1:Glenn Irwin
2:Andrew Irwin
3:Danny Buchan
Last Round - Snetterton:
Pole: Jason O’Halloran (2nd Glenn Irwin, 3rd Tito Rabat)
Race One:
1:Tommy Bridewell
2:Josh Brookes
3:Jason O’Halloran
Race Two:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2:Josh Brookes
3:Leon Haslam
Race Three
1:Tommy Bridewell
2:Glenn Irwin
3:Leon Haslam
What happened in Q1?
With the superpole format due to be in play those who did not make the top fifteen fought it out to fill the places behind on the grid.
Charlie Nesbitt topped the session, with Max Cook and Jack Kennedy also moving on.
Dean Harrison was was best of the rest, for fourth in the session and sixteenth on the grid just ahead of Josh Owens and Luke Mossey, who had narrowly missed out on a top twelve placing after practice.
Absentees and Injuries
Tito Rabat returned for the second race in a row, in at McAMS Yamaha. After getting used to the grass being near the edge of the track and the blind parts of the track the Spanish rider elevated himself to 14th by FP4 but fell at the start of Q1 so will line up last on the grid.
Liam Delves (24th) has just parted company with Rapid CDH Kawasaki by mutual consent, but has found himself immediately back in BSB action as he replaces the injured Hector Barbera at TAG Honda
Andrew Irwin remains absent and is again replaced for the Brands Hatch round by Franco Bourne (23rd) at Honda Racing UK.
