2024 British Superbikes: Knockhill - Race Results (1)

After a long delay to allow the weather to clear and standing water to be moved for race one at Knockhill, Tommy Bridewell was in no mood to hang around, vanishing from the pack for a dominant start to round four.

The race, shortened by five laps, was declared wet on the grid, but saw the track drying rapidly, with all riders heading out on slick tyres. The close nature of qualifying gave no hint of the dominant performance to come, a rarity in BSB.

From his first time filling pole position for Honda the reigning champion got the best start and the holeshot and never looked back, putting together a string of fastest laps out front which earned him pole for Sunday’s sprint.

With the gap increasing all the time it hit over six seconds before Rory Skinner took up the chase, catching while the #1 remained in control out front, arriving a final 2.572s ahead.

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It is the first win for Bridewell since making the move to Honda UK and his first ever at Knockhill.

It also marks the first Honda win since Glenn Irwin stood on the top step for the outfit back at Brands Hatch in 2022.

An expert at his local track, Skinner had work to to from eighth on the grid. With a different line to his rivals the Scottish rider was able to pull his lines tighter and neater than his rivals at the Fife track, with the hairpin his favourite place to commit to the overtake. 

His final lunge forward came to pass Andrew Irwin at that very corner on lap seventeen, leaving limited time to eat into the lead Bridewell had been able to build.

Able to go fast with clear air the Scottish rider made huge gains but could not catch the #1 bike. It is the Cheshire Mouldings rider’s first podium visit since returning from Moto2, his first as a BMW rider and his fifth time on the rostrum at home.

It was a day of podium returns with Andrew Irwin putting a second Honda on the rostrum behind his race winning teammate. His story began with a no holds barred battle with his brother Glenn, with Andrew getting the better of the Ducati with errors creeping in under pressure.

Irwin ran as high as second before having to give best to a supreme move from Skinner, but still secured his first podium visit since 2022 after a season plagued by injury.

Ryde bounces back for fourth

The comeback theme continued into the places below with Kyle Ryde bouncing back for a fourth place finish.

The OMG Grila Yamaha rider had started the weekend with food poisoning and on a drip. His issues were compounded after he suffered a crash in qualifying, which saw him down in tenth and caused a red flag. Not as injured as he may have initially appeared, the OMG Grilla Yamaha rider was back in the seat after a check up and ice bath.

From tenth on the grid, the #77 was immediately in the thick of the action, with his warring with teammate Ryan Vickers a race highlight on his way to fourth, five seconds behind the winner.

Jason O’Halloran was victim to a series of overtakes started by Andrew Irwin, with his brother Glenn and Skinner both taking an advantage to also pass while he was disturbed.

The Completely Motorbikes rider was sensible behind the smoke billowing from the #2 bike, cooling off and giving space while waiting for the Northern Irish rider to note the black and orange flag and pull into the pits on his way to fifth on the Kawasaki.

He held enough of an advantage over fellow Australian Josh Brookes to hold position. The FHO Racing rider had been on the front row, but slipped back rapidly from the start in the tricky conditions.

Danny Kent was next to see the chequered flag in a solid seventh, the same position he held on the grid for McAMS Yamaha.

Lee Jackson finished eighth for MasterMac Honda, ahead of his teammate Charlie Nesbitt in ninth. Leon Haslam picked off several riders despite his injuries from an earlier fall to claim a top ten finish for ROKiT Haslam BMW Motorrad.

Danny Buchan placed an improved eleventh, not quite the leap he and the DAO Racing team had hoped for, but a step in the right direction.

Storm Stacey raced his way into the points for twelfth from 17th on the grid.

The remaining points went to Fraser Rogers (TAG Honda) in 13th, Luke Hedger (Whitecliffe CDH Racing) in 14th and Franco Bourne, who put his troubled qualifying for Rapid Honda behind him for 15th.

Home rider Lewis Rollo was again the top Pathway rider for Aprilia, taking that honour for the seventh time in succession.

Official British Superbike Knockhill Records:

Lap record: Rory Skinner (Kawasaki, 2022) 47.126s

Knockhill in 2023:

Round 4
Qualifying: 
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Ryan Vickers
3: Jason O’Halloran

Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Kyle Ryde
3: Jason O’Halloran

Race 2:
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Jason O’Halloran

Race 3:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Ryan Vickers

Crashes, injuries and replacements

The smoking Glenn Irwin was not the only rider to fail to see the end of the race.

Peter Hickman continued to endure a tough return from road racing again and was the first to exit.

Max Cook had it all to do after his FP3 fall left him without a time to his name, missing qualifying entirely. After a huge effort from the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki team he retired on lap 18.

At almost the same time both Ryan Vickers and Christian Iddon crashed out while battling for sixth, handing a positional advantage to the riders behind.

Brayden Elliott and Louis Valleley also failed to go the distance.

Tom Neave was the only outlier with tyres, the track dried so fast that he was wheeled off the grid before the warm-up lap to change his intermediate front and wet rear with further work to his bike needed in the pits, which lead to him not starting the race.

Championship Standings

A win for Bridewell sees Glenn Irwin still hold the overall lead - but only just.

Irwin’s DNF leaves him on 115, with a maximum points haul taking the #1 to 111. Also just four points behind is Danny Kent with the same tally, but less wins.

Ryde’s comeback sees him stay in close contention, eight adrift on 107. Leon Haslam completes the top five on 88 points.