2021 British Superbike, Brands Hatch - Race Results (3)

Christian Iddon regained the Bennetts British Superbike championship lead following a stunning race three win at Brands Hatch. 

Conditions changed drastically compared to the day’s earlier sunshine of race two, as a damp track with added rain in the air made for a tricky opening few laps. 

The rider most comfortable in the challenging conditions was defending champion Josh Brookes who came from 18th to lead by the end of lap one. The Australian had a wet rear aboard his Visiontrack Ducati, while much of the grid had intermediate and slick rears. 

Brookes’ gamble began to fade after just four laps when Buchan, who had an intermediate rear tyre fitted, closed in on lap five before snatching the lead one lap later.  

Buchan quickly extended his lead to over five seconds, but just as the SYNETIQ BMW rider looked set for a third victory of 2021, the track rapidly started to dry which saw Christian Iddon haul in the top three. 

Iddon got past Glenn Irwin and team-mate Brookes on back-to-back laps, before a red flag brought his charge to an end around half-race distance, due to Gino Rea’s Buildbase Suzuki leaking oil along the start-finish straight.

When the race got underway for a second time - a revised distance of 7 laps - Irwin took the lead from Buchan. It was a short-lived lead for the Honda man though, as Iddon then moved into the lead. 

Iddon then came under big pressure from Buchan as they switched positions four times in two laps. However, it was Iddon who came out victorious after a last lap battle that saw Tarran Mackenzie apply huge pressure to the Ducati rider after gaining second place from Buchan. 

O’Halloran made it two McAMS Yamaha’s on the podium for the second time today after a late move on Buchan. 

Race Two

Jason O’Halloran took McAMS Yamaha’ second BSB Brands Hatch win - his first of the weekend during race two.

Race one winner Tarran Mackenzie had a difficult start as he dropped from second to fifth on the opening lap, while Danny Buchan kept the lead from pole. 

On lap two, Buildbase Suzuki rider Danny Kent pulled off track along Pilgrim’s Drop. 

A front three of Buchan, Christian Iddon and O’Halloran - top three riders in the championship began to pull away from Rory Skinner who had Mackenzie for close company on lap three. 

O’Halloran then took the lead from Buchan on lap five while Iddon followed the McAMS Yamaha rider through just two corners later. 

The fastest rider on-track was Tommy Bridewell in fourth as he closed in on the leading trio - bringing Mackenzie with him. 

Bridewell got ahead of Buchan (lap 9) and then Iddon (lap13) as O’Halloran began to break away. 

Defending champion Josh Brookes’ difficult 2021 campaign continued as the Australian ran off-track and across the gravel (lap 14) while 14th - eventually finished …

With five laps to go, the battle for the win started to heat up as Bridewell gained five tenths of a second on O’Halloran in just one lap. However, O’Halloran held on for his fourth win of the season.

Joe Francis had an immediate issue whilst sitting on the grid and was therefore unable to set-off for the warm-up laps (2). Francis started the race from pit lane

Race One 

Tarran Mackenzie claimed a first BSB win of 2021 after leading every lap in a revised race one. 

After getting the perfect start from pole, Mackenzie led Bradley Ray and fellow Scot Rory Skinner at the front. 

Skinner then made his way past Ray into second, however, the safety car was deployed for the first time this season, before a red flag halted proceedings as Brad Jones crashed heavily at Clark Curve (lap 1).  

Once the race restarted, Takumi Takahashi crashed immediately on lap one of a revised 12 - turn three. 

Up front, Mackenzie got an even better launch than in race one to lead from Christian Iddon and Ray. On lap two, Peter Hickman was next to go down along the back straight (Pilgrim's drop).

Tommy Bridewell was the man on the move as he gained third and second place in back-to-back laps from Ray and Iddon, before closing in on race leader Mackenzie. 

Ray struggled to keep pace with the leaders, while Danny Buchan instead joined the front three of Mackenzie, Bridewell and Iddon, however, the order remained the same as Mackenzie held on for victory.