2025 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch (Showdown) - Qualifying Results

British Superbikes qualifying for round round eleven, the Showdown finale at Brands Hatch, saw 

the ‘Battle of the Champions’ ignited, with Bradley Ray putting down a statement lap for pole position, pipping title rival Kyle Ryde.

The duo were fighting it out at the top of the timesheets all session, but it had been Ryde who lead at the chequered flag.

In second, Ray made it around for one final shot at pole on the Raceways Yamaha, with a superb final 1m 24.278s lap taking the top spot on the grid - under the old lap record but just short of the all time best lap.

That push could not be answered by Ryde, who had already taken the chequered flag on his Nitrous Competitions Yamaha, finishing just 0.151s slower, putting the both of the main title protagonists at the front of the grid.
 

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They will be joined on the front row by Christian Iddon, who continued his electric close to the season with a lap that took him to third just after Ryde had hit provisional pole, but was half a second of the lead duo for AJN Steelstock Kawasaki in the last qualifying outing for the green bikes in BSB.

Tommy Bridewell moved up eleven places, the same amount as Iddon, at the same time as the duo were together on track, bringing his Honda Racing UK bike to fourth, where h stayed by the chequered flag.

Rory Skinner just made it into Q2 directly from PQ and was rewarded with more tyres to choose from after only using one set on Friday. The Cheshire Mouldings rider topped the earlier FP2 on his return after taking a knock to the head at Oulton Park, going to to claim fifth in Q2.

Scott Redding was fastest on Friday, moving straight to Q2 with the top time, with sixth the best he could achieve in qualifying as the pace picked up for Hager PBM Ducati.

Leon Haslam’s slim, mainly mathematical  hopes hinge on wins, an uphill task at best to keep his slim title chance alive, made all the more difficult from seventh for Moto Rapido Ducati.

Danny Kent was eighth on his return with the departing McAMS Mar-Train outfit after missing the last round to recover from injury.

Lee Jackson was second with seven minutes remaining, but dropped back to ninth as the clock hit zero for DAO Racing.

Max Cook completed the top ten in qualifying on the second Kawasaki.

Glenn Irwin finished the session in the pits after picking up three places just before the chequered flag came out on the second Nitrous Competitions Yamaha, holding eleventh,

A winner in the wet at the last round, Josh Brookes was the best of the rider to move out of A1, in twelfth on the second DAO Racing bike.

There was some kind of issue for Charlie Nesbitt, who only completed two laps, leaving him last in the session.

Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:

Best BSB lap - Shane Byrne (2017, Ducati) 1m 24.406s
Official lap record - Tommy Bridewell (2024, Honda) 1m 24.709s
New lap racord - Bradley Ray (2025, Yamaha, Q2 - 1m 24.278s)

Brands Hatch in 2025:

Round 5: 
Qualifying: 1 Ray (2 Ryde, 3 Redding)
Race One: 1 Ray (2 Redding , 3 Ryde)
Race  Two: 1 Redding (2 Ryde, 3 Kent)
Race Three: 1 Ryde (2 Kent, 3 Redding)
Oulton Park in 2024:

Brands Hatch 2024:

Round 6:
Qualifying: 1 Vickers (2 Kent, 3 G Irwin)
Race One: 1 Vickers  (2 Bridewell, 3 A Irwin)
Race Two: 1 Vickers  (2 Bridewell, 3 Ryde)
Race Three: 1 Vickers  (2 Iddon, 3 Ryde)

Round 11 (Showdown):
Qualifying: 1 Vickers (2 Jackson, 3 Brookes)
Race One: 1 Kent ( 2 Vickers , 3 Bridewell)
Race Two: 1 Bridewell (2 Ryde, 3 Vickers)
Race Three: 1 Ryde (2 Bridewell, 3 Vickers)

Q1 - Storm Stacey makes changes to top the session

Storm Stacey (14th) made alterations to his bike with his team during a red flag stoppage that made all the difference to the Bathams BMW, with a late fast lap seeing him move on to Q2 with the best time, joined by Peter Hickman (13th) and Brookes.

The red flag was for Fraser Rogers crash.

Rogers had just dropped to fourth and out of the progression places, leading to a PB push lap - his bike let go through Clearways and the Clarke Curve, straight down the middle of the track, Rogers walked away but the carnage left by his shattered TAG Honda caused a red flag with just over seven minutes remaining. In his absence his time dropped to seventh, for 19th on the race one grid,

Fourth was taken over by Luke Hedger, who briefly lead before becoming the rider to just miss out , with Andrew Irwin’s replacement at Honda Racing UK, Dean Harrison fifth.

John McPhee flirted with the progression slots, but was shuffled back to sixth (18th) for MasterMac Honda, the top rookie with Scott Swann ninth in the session, for 21st on the grid.

There were further incidents with Jamie Davis running through the gravel at Druids, while Blaze Baker fell on the Cooper Straight.

Billy McConnell’s bike woes continued - he was not on track in Q1 after a fall on Friday and heading straight back to his garage in FP3.