In an electrifying afternoon at Brands Hatch, Ryan Vickers of LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha secured his long-awaited first victory in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship. The BikeSocial Sprint race saw Vickers skillfully fend off Danny Kent before a red flag was raised due to track contamination. Since two-thirds of the race distance had not been completed, half points were awarded.
Championship leader Tommy Bridewell had a strong start, taking the lead. However, Vickers remained determined and seized the opportunity when Bridewell had a challenging moment at Stirlings, propelling himself into the lead.
Danny Kent was in close contention and managed to gain better drive out of Clearways, securing second place and pushing Bridewell back to third.
With Vickers and Kent leading the pack, the duo displayed remarkable control over the race, creating a gap between themselves and the chasing riders. Christian Iddon made his way into third place and sought to close in on the leading duo.
Unfortunately, the race was red-flagged due to track contamination, and given the track conditions, it wasn’t restarted. Consequently, Ryan Vickers became the sixth different race winner in the 2023 Bennetts BSB season. Kent and Iddon also celebrated their first podium finishes of the season, contributing to the impressive tally of nine different riders who have claimed top three finishes so far this year. Notably, this marks the first podium for the Lovell Kent Racing Honda team in the series.
Jack Kennedy of Mar-Train Racing Yamaha capitalized on the challenging conditions, securing his best result in Bennetts BSB with a fourth-place finish, narrowly edging out Jason O’Halloran and McAMS Yamaha.
Though Leon Haslam initially secured sixth place for the ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team, he was later removed from the results, promoting Bridewell to the sixth position. Bridewell maintains his championship lead, with a 26.5 point gap separating him from his BeerMonster Ducati teammate Glenn Irwin, who finished in ninth place.
Storm Stacey put on a hard-fought performance for Starline Racing Kawasaki, securing seventh place, while Peter Hickman led the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team’s effort, finishing in eighth place. Max Cook secured his first top-ten finish in Bennetts BSB with an impressive performance.
Credit pic : MSVR Press Release
