2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch (Showdown Finale) - Race Results (2)

The last sprint race of the season, in the Brands Hatch Showdown was a gloves-off battle between the title rivals Tommy Bridewell and Kyle Ryde, with the Honda rider coming out on top.

Neither has started on the front row, with Bridewell fourth and Ryde seventh on the grid, and both shot to the front to be in behind Ryan Vickers after lap one.

The pace only increased, with Bridewell through into the lead on lap two - forcing The OMG Grilla Yamaha wide allowed Ryde to follow him to the front.

The increase in speed was expected after Ryde had topped warm-up by a convincing gap of over half a second. Bridewell, however, was going at a pace he had not been close to on Friday or Saturday.

The Yamaha rider made his first move to the lead at Hawthorns on lap three, but the #1 bike was quick to get the cut back and shut the door.

By lap seven they were both out swinging, with five changes of lead between Hawthorns and Clearways, with Bridewell again in front at the line.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch (Showdown Finale) - Race Results (1)
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Lap nine saw the battle resume, and seemed to light a fire under the Honda rider, leading to Bridewell setting the fastest lap on the penultimate lap, close to the lap record.

That saw Ryde broken, with the door shut for a final time Bridewell pulled clear to win by 0.257s as the #77 closed in again at the line, but too late.

It was just the third win Bridewell has picked up this season, with most of his points coming from second place finishes, of which he has twelve.

Vickers had looked to help his teammate and possibly pick up a win, but was a frustrated, lonely third, with a rear brake issue to manage he was unable to join in with the battle royale four seconds up the road.

Newest BSB winner, Danny Kent secured pole after his superb run in the tricky conditions of race one, but a poor start saw the McAMS Yamaha rider swiftly back to fourth, which he held to the chequered flag.

Behind the big battle for fifth was reaching the finish with Max Cook, Andrew Irwin, Josh Brookes and his FHO Racing teammate Peter Hickman all involved.

At the line it was Brookes who beat the remaining trio, narrowly ahead of Irwin, who held the position on the penultimate lap on the second Honda. Cook had been sat in fifth throughout the early laps, but was raced back to seventh, still the top Kawasaki, while Hickman had to settle for eighth.

Charlie Nesbitt had started down in 17th after his fall in race one, fighting through the pack to claim ninth for MasterMac Honda.

Having become somewhat a sprint specialist after wins at the last two rounds, Glenn Irwin started from the front row, in third, and was keen to make up for his fall on Saturday in race one. A slow start saw his very remote chance of title success gone, dropping to ninth quickly. The PBM Ducati rider moved as high as eighth but fell back again for a tenth place finish.

Eleventh saw another fightback story - Leon Haslam had lined up 20th after his intermediate tyre gamble in the first race hadn’t paid off.

Lee Jackson was close behind in twelfth after losing the place to Haslam in the closing stages on the second MasterMac bike.

The remaining points went to Storm Stacey in 13th for LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki, Billy McConnell in 14th for C&L Fairburn/Look Forward Racing and Danny Buchan in 15th for DAO Racing.

Lewis Rollo was the top Pathway entry in 16th for Aprilia, ahead of James Westmoreland in 18th for IWR Honda, with Brayden Elliott finishing between the duo.

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

Xavi Fores returned to BSB with Oxford Products Ducati, replacing the injured Christian Iddon. The Spanish rider was the last finisher, in 19th.

Rory Skinner and McConnell were running together on track again before being separated by a fall for the Scottish rider, out at Graham Hill Bend.

Luke Hedger pulled off at Clearways with a technical issue on lap 4, while Connor Rossi Thomson, in at NP Racing, was the first faller.

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

Jaimie van Sikkelerus attempted to run at the final round but withdrew with TAG Honda after first practice. Rapid Honda were also riderless as Franco Bourne remained out of action.

Championship Standings

The result of race two means whoever finishes first in race three between Bridewell and Ryde takes the title.

As it stands, the race win Takes Bridewell back into the lead with 456 points, now four ahead of Ryde, on 452.

Glenn Irwin remains third on 364, but is under pressure from Danny Kent for the overall placing, as he finished ahead again, moving him to 349, taking their gap to just 15 points.