British Superbikes, Brands Hatch: Iddon: ‘ I thought I was going to highside down Paddock!’

Christian Iddon had been a nearly man all weekend before a final overtake brought him second for Oxford Products Ducati in the final BSB race at Brands Hatch.

Having finished fifth on Saturday, the unlucky Iddon had manoeuvred himself into a comfortable third in race two, before the red flag in the sprint lead to a restart, where he was sat up by Andrew Irwin, fighting back for sixth.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch - Race Results (3)
• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch - Race Results (2)

Aware of his potential, Iddon had been hoping for his pace to yield better results on track:

“I feel like we could have had more out of this weekend, we’ve had a good pace the whole weekend, the bikes worked really good and the teams worked really well - so it’s a shame that this is the only time we’ve made it to the podium”.

The #21 revealed why he went backwards at the start of the third and final race - delivering a huge save at Paddock Hill Bend:

“I set off, and actually, the first lap, coming down Paddock, I lost the rear and I pretty much thought I was down! It was really bad. I thought I was going to highside down Paddock, which is never a nice thing - managed to stay on but it dropped me down a few places”.

Iddon calmly worked his way back into the race to become part of the three way battle for the remaining podium places behind runaway winner Ryan Vickers:

“Picked my way forward and then got in behind Kyle and he was setting a really good pace, but my board at that point had, like, plus one and a half to Bridewell, and then that started to come down a little bit so obviously Tommy was pulling a really good pace.

I kept trying to pass Kyle but to be fair I probably couldn’t have gone much faster even if I’d got in front”.

It was a close battle for all involved with no room for error - Tommy Bridewell was ready to pounce behind, with the #1 plate closing in being the push Iddon needed to go for second:

“We were running really good lap times, better than what we’ve done all weekend, deep into the race, so I felt good. Then my board said plus nought - and I knew I had to sort of make it count, Kyle got a little bit of a hook a book onto the back straight and it was my only opportunity to pounce and I managed to make it stick and then I just had two and a half laps of just sort of defending hard - he actually came back past me at Paddock, but then we had a good race and I always enjoy battling with Kyle and the boys.

It’s been a good weekend, probably one of the most enjoyable races I’ve ever had - I definitely wouldn’t have said that if I finished fourth! But it was good fun”.