British Superbikes, Thruxton: Kent second in “completely different race”

Danny Kent was in contention for a podium in the first British Superbike race at Thruxton before he was a victim of circumstance, out of the running after contact from the spiralling Andrew Irwin.

Undeterred the McAMS Yamaha rider was back on the podium in race two and was set to go one better with second in the final race on Sunday.

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

The #52 was poised to take over had Vickers not saved his late wobble from what looked to be a certain crash, the second time this has happened to the duo on the last race of the meet, with the result echoing the opening round in Navarra for the pair.

Kent noted that in the final race without tyre allocation to worry about or a second day of racing the riders were all much happier to push, despite the hotter conditions:

“It was a completely different race, race three to race one - the pace was a lot faster, race one we were dropping into the 17s and I think that race, it was constantly 16.2 - 16.3s and track temp was a lot higher as well, which makes things a lot more difficult for us.”

the #52 was keen to make sure his team got the credit they deserved, with the former Moto3 champion so happy with his package he became the first rider to confirm their destination for next season ahead of the round, re-signing with the Mar-Train Yamaha team, who took over the McAMS sponsorship from this season:

“Hats off to the team, the team gave me mega bike all weekend, it was really nice to repay them, obviously after a bad weekend in Brands , where we came away with just one point, it was nice to come away from Thruxton with two podiums so I’m happy, and of course a little disappointed with not getting a win, but you know, I’m sure it’s just around the corner at some point”.

Looking ahead, Kent is wary of Cadwell park, not a track that he historically shines at, but after improvements at Oulton Park, he is ready to make a similar leap over the next race weekend:

“Cadwell has always been a bit of a tricky circuit for me, a bit like Oulton but we improved massively this year at Oulton so the plan for me is to just go there and do as many laps throughout the Thursday or the Friday evening practice and familiarise myself with a track, and, um maybe look at a little track day during the week”.