2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch (Showdown Finale) - Race Results (1)

Danny Kent was at ease in the difficult, wet conditions, controlling the race once out front to pick up his first British Superbikes win on his 100th start as Brands Hatch hosted the first race of the final Showdown round.

The McAMS Yamaha rider was eighth on the grid and wasted no time moving forward, second after a few turns, in competition for the position with Lewis Rollo.

It was lap nine which saw Kent move into the lead at turn one, a position he held to the line. Ryan Vickers was able to catch the #52 again when they lapped the back-markers on track, but Kent knuckled down to pull away and extend the gap again, to celebrate his first win since joining BSB, and his first for nine years, the last coming back in his Moto3 championship winning year.

Launching from pole, Vickers lead the early laps, but as was the story for everyone, found it hard to switch between the newer surface and old in the wet, greasy conditions, finishing 1.625s behind for OMG Grilla Yamaha.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch (Showdown Finale) - Qualifying Results
• Andrew Irwin “100%” aiming to help Tommy Bridewell in BSB title fight

Tommy Bridewell was the best of the championship hopefuls in a lonely third for much of the latter stages, allowing him to manage his drastic drop in grip and bring home his Honda Racing UK bike to complete the podium and cut the gap in the title race to just one point.

Ryde wins important battle for fourth

Kyle Ryde has struggled in the wet conditions all season, but this time - although heading in the wrong direction again - he stopped the rot in eighth. At the halfway mark the OMG Grilla rider gained confidence, with less tyre wear. That lead to a comeback ride, passing Max Cook on lap seventeen, with Peter Hickman next in his sights.

A smooth ride underneath through Surtees on the last lap saw Ryde do enough to retain the title lead after a calculated, careful performance on his Yamaha.

That pass saw Hickman drop to fifth - a seasons best for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad rider, also a rare finish in front of teammate Josh Brookes, who fell back to seventh from his front row start.mHickman was on the receiving end of a thumbs up for a  save mid race from Glenn Irwin as he passed.

Irwin leaves it all on track, suffers DNF

The Hager Ducati rider had given everything to make up for his 15th place on the grid after a bike issue saw him crash out in qualifying. Irwin was pushing on as the rider with the biggest gap in the title hunt, and asked too much on the brakes at Paddock Hill Bend, slipping out of fourth with five laps remaining after a brave run to keep his championship chances alive.

Splitting the FHO duo was Cook, the sole Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki rider, who slotted in behind Ryde after his overtake on his way to sixth.

After the blistering start which saw him second, Lewis Rollo slipped back to eighth, still making up a huge twelve places from his grid slot to once again be the best Pathway entry for In Competition/ Sencat Aprilia.

Storm Stacey was close behind in ninth for LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki, twenty seconds clear of James Westmoreland, who made a second appearance with IWR Honda on their Pathway entry in tenth.

Andrew Irwin crossed the line shortly after on the second factory Honda for eleventh, with a small gap to Danny Buchan who was twelfth at the chequered flag for DAO Racing.

There were only 15 finishers, so all of the riders who went the distance added to their scores. Lee Jackson went rapidly backwards and out of the top 15 on the first lap from second on the grid. The MasterMac Honda rider managed to move back up to 13th by the end of the race.

Luke Hedger was 14th for Whitecliffe CDH Racing, with the two final showdown points going to Brayden Elliott in 15th for DAO Racing.

Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:

Lap record: Josh Brookes (Yamaha, 2017) 1m 24.873s

Brands Hatch in 2023:

Round 6
Qualifying: 
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Ryan Vickers
3: Josh Brookes

Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Danny Kent
3: Christian Iddon

Race 2:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Christian Iddon
3: Danny Kent

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

Round 10 (showdown):
Qualifying:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2:Leon Haslam
3: Charlie Nesbitt

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

Race 2: 
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Kyle Ryde

Race 3:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Kyle Ryde

Main Season 2024:

Qualifying:
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Danny Kent
3: Glenn Irwin

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

Race 2 (Sprint):
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Kyle Ryde

Race 3:
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Christian Iddon
3: Kyle Ryde

Crashes, Injuries and Replacements

The fates of Billy McConnell and Rory Skinner seemed tied, on the grid together after deciding to stay in the pits in Q1 saw them both miss out on progression to Q2. On the first lap McConnell fell leaving Skinner nowhere to go, both falling out of the race at Hawthorns.

Charlie Nesbitt was racing teammate Lee Jackson for the final points when he suffered a huge highside on lap nine, crawling away from his bike.

Leon Haslam gambled on the Brands track drying when the rain stopped before the race start. His intermediate tyre did not pay off and the ROKiT Haslam rider soon found himself lapped, eventually returning to the pits.

Xavi Fores returned to BSB with Oxford Products Ducati, taking the seat of the injured Christian Iddon, as he recovers from the foot injury sustained in his accident at Donington Park. The Spanish rider also made his way back to pit lane.

Connor Rossi Thomson looked set to finish his first BSB race but retired late in the race.

The Donington crash ended the season of Jason O’Halloran early, who also bows out of British Superbike racing., he is not replaced at Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki.

Jaimie van Sikkelerus attempted to run at the final round but withdrew from his TAG Honda ride, still struggling to recover from his 2024 injuries. Rapid Honda were also without a rider as Franco Bourne remained out of action and was not replaced.

Championship Standings

Ryde retains hos title lead by the smallest of margins. Fourth brought him 24 points on the Showdown final scoring system, moving him to 422 after 30 races, but Bridewell finishing ahead allowed him to cut the gap to just a point, with the defending champion on 421, setting up a grandstand finish to the 2024 title on Sunday.
 

Mathematically, Glenn Irwin is not out of the title race, but on 352 points - a 70 point gap - he would need wins and a DNF for his rivals to remain in play.

Danny Kent locked in 35 points for the win, which should help secure him fourth, while the Pathway champion Lewis Rollo moved onto 70 points.