2024 British Superbikes: Thruxton - Race Results (2)

Ryan Vickers charged through the pack from fifteenth on the grid for victory in a fast and frantic reduced lap sprint in race two, shortened by two laps after an earlier accident for Glenn Irwin brought out the red flags at round seven of the British Superbike championship at Thruxton.

A topsy turvy grid saw Max Cook on pole after his fastest lap in race one. With his teammate not in contention the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki rider was flying the flag at the front for the team, and a near identical start saw Storm Stacey briefly ahead after getting the holeshot before Cook recovered at turn one.

Laps two to five were run under a safety car after another huge incident involving Franco Bourne and Alex Olsen.

Once underway again Cook held the lead, but behind Vickers was on a charge.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Thruxton - Qualifying Results
• 2024 British Superbikes: Thruxton - Race Results (1)

Sat in twelfth under the safety car, lessons learned from the previous start saw the #77 ready to attack on the OMG Grilla bike, soon on the tail of his Yamaha teammate Ryde.

Vickers big moves came on lap seven, which he began in seventh, riding hard through his rivals to be third on lap eight, with just Cook and Josh Brookes left to pass.

The penultimate lap began with a clean move on the Australian, only to find himself gifted a run at the lead straight away as Cook was forced into a save after a huge moment for the #30.

Once ahead Vickers was able to pull clear on the final lap to win by a gap of 0.531s.

Cook stayed upright and regrouped for a final push on his way to second, a first BSB podium finish in just his second year in the class, having come incredibly close at Thruxton last season.

The battle for third was fierce but Danny Kent won that battle along with a personal one with brake fade on the McAMS Yamaha to finish third.

The former Moto3 champion was only just ahead of the FHO Racing BMW of Brookes, who just missed out on a rostrum visit from his elevated sixth pace start, but still posted his best finish of the season.

Billy McConnell was close behind in that group for fifth, equalling his race one performance for C&L Fairburn/Look Forward Racing Honda.

Christian Iddon was the last of the group in sixth for Oxford Products Ducati, the best placed rider for the manufacturer with the PBM bike out of action. Iddon cut the chicane slightly on the last lap in the heat of the action, but no further action was taken.

Championship leader Tommy Bridewell was closing in seventh for Honda UK after starting 14th, while in the early stages race one winner Kyle Ryde made his move from 12th on the grid, only to see his progress forward stagnate in eighth.

Leon Haslam was ninth quickest for ROKiT Haslam racing, while Storm Stacey (LKQ  Euro Car Parts Kawasaki) just held on to a top ten finish after a front row start.

Lee Jackson started where he finished for MasterMac Honda, in eleventh, with a gap back to his teammate, Charlie Nesbitt, who used the pace he showed by topping the morning warm-up session to fight up from the last spot on the grid to take twelfth.

The final points on offer went to Peter Hickman in 13th for FHO Racing, Andrew Irwin in 14th on the second Honda Uk bike, back in action after his huge off at the end of race one, with Danny Buchan slipping back to 15th for DAO Racing from a fourth placed start.

Lewis Rollo was to top Pathway bike by default as the only rider in the class left standing, he took the chequered flag in a lonely 16th on the Aprilia.

Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:

Lap Record: Josh Brookes (Ducati, 2019) 1m 14.655s

Thruxton in 2023:

Round 7
Qualifying: 
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Ryan Vickers
3: Kyle Ryde

Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Charlie Nesbitt
3: Ryan Vickers

Race 2:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2:  Lee Jackson
3: Charlie Nesbitt

Race 3:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Lee Jackson
3: Charlie Nesbitt

Crashes, Injuries and Replacements

Glenn Irwin was second on he grid and held third on the first start for the race behind Cook and Stacey. An absolutely massive highside sent the Ducati rider skywards on the first lap, with Irwin avoided by all the riders behind, with hands up and many stopping to check on him as they passed.

A safety car was initially deployed but was swiftly changed to a red flag to allow Irwin to be checked and removed safely, with the Northern Irish rider eventually able to stand and walk to the ambulance that arrived trackside.

Jason O'Halloran crashed right at the start of morning warm-up at turn 12 on the entry to the chicane, his bike locking on arrival.

Treated at the scene and then transferred to the medical centre after bringing out the red flag, the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki rider was feeling nauseous immediately after, with bumps and bruises but was declared race fit, with his mechanics working hard to get his bike race ready and find the cause of his fall.

The #22, who enjoys a superior record at Thruxton with eight wins and two further podiums at the track over the last few races, including third in race one, was reviewed again before the race start and the joint decision was made between rider and team to withdraw from the remainder of the meeting with tendon damage to his hands found.

The restart was not without incident, as Franco Bourne seemed to hit a divot in the track, highsiding and leaving Franco Bourne nowhere to go, bringing out the safety car once again to tend to the riders on the grass by the track.

Dean Harrison is racing in the British Supersport class for the weekend to work on the Honda.

Jaimie van Sikkelerus is also absent, but through injury. He is not replaced at TAG Honda.

Rory Skinner completed qualifying in 21st on his return from his leg break at Snetterton but then withdrew from the weekend before race one.

Tom Neave also withdrew before the second day of action.

Championship Standings

Tommy Bridewell remains overall leader, extending his lead by just a point after race two, with 238, while Kyle Ryde stays second, now on 211 points.

Christian Iddon made gains, now just one point behind Ryde on 210, with a DNF seeing Glenn Irwin stay on 200, dropping him to fourth overall.

A win sees Ryan Vickers stay fifth with the full 25 points going onto his tally taking him to a total of 180 after race two at Thruxton.