Kyle Ryde claimed an intense BikeSocial Sprint Race victory to edge him closer to his BeerMonster Ducati title rivals in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship title fight, but the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha rider was pushed all the way to finish as just 0.015s separated him from Jason O’Halloran at the chequered flag.
Ryde has been determined all weekend as the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha team target consecutive titles and he delivered exactly what he had threatened. He grabbed the lead from O’Halloran on the third lap and continued to fight him to the finish. O’Halloran had made a move into Paddock Hill Bend for the final time, but by the time the pair reaches Druids, Ryde was back ahead. The Yamahas were almost inseparable on the dash to the finish line, but the win means Ryde cut his deficit by a further eight points to Bridewell.
Meanwhile the raging battle between the BeerMonster Ducati teammates continued and Glenn Irwin carved his way through the pack from his 17th place grid start to be seventh by the fourth lap and then into fourth place behind his closest rival just two laps later.
Irwin was pushing to make a move on the dry line, but it was still damp in places off-line, as the pair were inseparable on equal machinery. Irwin made an attempt for a move at Stirlings, but as he dived ahead he ran onto the damp and had to then try and regain the ground.
Bridewell had the edge he needed to claim the final podium position and in doing so moves to 10.5 points ahead of Irwin ahead of tomorrow’s two crucial races with 70 points available for the taking tomorrow.
Whilst several of the title contenders featured on the podium, it was disaster again on the Grand Prix circuit for Leon Haslam as he crashed out of fifth place at Surtees on the ninth lap, giving him even more of an uphill task if he is to become Champion for the second time.
Christian Iddon carved through into fifth for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team, holding off Peter Hickman and Josh Brookes. Jack Kennedy scored another top eight finish with Lee Jackson and Ryan Vickers completing the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, BikeSocial Sprint Race
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha)
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.015s
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) +3.476s
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) +3.960s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +7.658s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +9.541s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +14.630s
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) +14.741s
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +15.103s
- Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +15.346s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 395
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 384.5
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 368
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 347.5
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) 338.5
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 327
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 310
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 286
Kyle Ryde
LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha
“I feel like my Free Practice three session this morning kind of won me that race today. I think a few people opted to sit the session out, understandably. I nearly did the same, but I just wanted to keep going round, I was enjoying riding my bike and that definitely won me the race because it was the exact same conditions, same tyres, probably the same temperature as well.
“Credit to the boys for making the bike a little bit better than FP3 this morning and I just managed to hold Jason off to the line. Luckily for me with the last corner you can see just how close Jason was with the shadow. I knew he wasn’t coming underneath me, so I just had to be as smooth as possible across the start line as I knew he had a little more grip.
“I’m very pleased to take my first ever win at Brands Hatch, at the last meeting where it means the most.”
Tommy Bridewell
BeerMonster Ducati
“That was a good race all in all. I’m really happy because I had Glenn plus-zero on my board pretty much the whole race. When the shoe is on the other foot I know that somehow I will make a pass, so I knew he would have a go.
“I made a mistake coming through Sheene Curve which gave him the opportunity, but obviously he had to go on the wet patch to do that. It was a tough race but always the target is to finish ahead of Glenn and we ticked that off and again another podium.
“We’ve got a decent chunk of work to do to try and get a bit stronger for tomorrow and hopefully we can take that next step again.”
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