The Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads to Brands Hatch this weekend (July 21/22/23) and as the title fight continues to intensify, there is also the coveted Monster Energy King of Brands trophy to be won, which will be awarded to the highest overall points scorer.
Tommy Bridewell heads the standings ahead of this weekend’s three races for the BeerMonster Ducati team. He claimed his first treble victory last time out at Snetterton in the closest finish of the season so far, with just 0.032s separating him from his teammate Glenn Irwin.
Irwin meanwhile elevated himself to second in the standings, lying 25-points adrift of his teammate, but he did the double on the Grand Prix circuit back in October and will be determined to overhaul the advantage.
Kyle Ryde had a tough time at Snetterton after a consistent podium haul from the opening rounds; the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha rider will be looking to rebound strongly this weekend, aiming to add to his tally of four race wins this season, equal to his BeerMonster Ducati rivals.
Josh Brookes is the leading BMW contender in fourth place in the standings and just three points adrift of Ryde ahead of him. The FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team rider remains the most successful rider on the current grid in terms of race wins on the Grand Prix circuit with 19; he will be hoping history repeats itself this weekend.
Leon Haslam is just four points adrift of Brookes ahead of him, and likewise as a previous champion, the ROKiT BMW Motorrad rider is bullish about his chances of adding to his podium tally this weekend. The ‘Pocket Rocket’ is yet to claim a victory this season but on the previous visit to Brands Hatch last October, BMW riders featured twice on the podium in all three races.
Jason O’Halloran completes the top six for McAMS Yamaha, the fifth different race winner of the season so far in the standings; the Australian will be seeking a repeat performance of last summer’s win on the Grand Prix circuit. 2014 Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat, who lines up to race for the first time on the Grand Prix circuit, joins him again this weekend as he bids to build on his top ten results from Snetterton.
There have been five different race winners after the opening five rounds and a further two podium finishers and bidding to add to that list this weekend is Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson and Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Christian Iddon, who hold top eight positions in the standings ahead of Brands Hatch.
Ryan Vickers has been a podium finishers for LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha this season and he is just four points adrift of Iddon ahead of him with reigning Quattro Group British Supersport champion Jack Kennedy completing the top ten in the standings with Mar-Train Yamaha.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 217
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 192
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 171
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team) 168
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 164
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 133
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) 124
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 108
- Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 104
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) 79
Tommy Bridewell
BeerMonster Ducati
“I am obviously looking forward to Brands Hatch, it is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar and I have been looking forward to it for a while in truth. I know how well the Ducati works there as well, so I think coming off the back of doing the triple win at Snetterton only leads us into a good position.
“We still have no expectations, I still want to enjoy it and have the same mentality as I had at Snetterton. I want to enjoy riding every lap of riding the bike. We found a different way of working at Snetterton and I really enjoyed it and felt like it made a big step for my riding and the team to work through the data.
“In all honesty, it was a bit of a mini breakthrough so we are going to continuing working in that way. Brands Hatch is a mega circuit and I am looking forward to get going and see where we fare up.”
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