Iddon breaks BSB duck after ten years of trying at Snetterton

BSB Snetterton – Race Results (1)

More than a decade after he made his debut in the British Superbike Championship, Christian Iddon can now finally call himself a race winner after prevailing in a hard-fought tussle with team-mate Josh Brookes to win the first race of the weekend at Snetterton.

Though regarded as one of BSB’s seasoned front runners with multiple BSB podiums to his name, remarkably Iddon has not made his way to the top step in the years following his debut on the SMT Honda way back in 2010.

That is until today that is as Iddon was rewarded for his robust defence of the lead from VisionTrack Ducati team-mate Brookes until a critical moment with five laps remaining gave him the breathing room he needed to sprint clear for a comfortable victory.

With pole sitter Danny Buchan crashing out on the opening lap to deal another blow to his title hopes, Iddon assumed the advantage and protected it initially until he came under increasing pressure from Brookes on the sister Ducati Panigale V4 R.

With Brookes feigning moves ahead of hiss attack, when it came he’d scythe past into the Turn 1 right-hander. Undeterred though, Iddon fought right back, slotting the Ducati back up the inside at Turn 2 in a firm but fair overtake.

Catching Brookes unawares, the Aussie was forced to sit up and run out wide, which in turn allowed Bradley Ray into second position. With Brookes working hard to get back past Ray, while also keeping Tommy Bridewell and Glenn Irwin behind him, Iddon was left to cruise home for a long awaited first victory.

Behind him, Brookes completed a 1-2 finish for VisionTrack, with Bridewell sneaking into third place to complete a familiar Ducati 1-2-3, the duo – along with fourth place Irwin on the Honda – making the most of Ray’s mistake exiting the final corner on the penultimate lap as the Briton missed out on a first BSB podium in BMW colours.

Lee Jackson gave the Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki team something to be pleased about with a solid run to sixth place, ahead of McAMS Yamaha pair Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran, while Ryan Vickers and Kyle Ryde – having started second – completed the top ten.