Round 5 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship brought mixed fortunes for the Ducati riders, with Tommy Bridewell standing on the top step in Race 3 while Christian Iddon crashed out of two races.
Race 1
The opening race saw VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon and Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell both posting strong results at Donington Park.
Iddon had a fantastic start from eighth on the grid, battling his way up to fourth around the National Circuit on his opening lap. Lap 2 saw him pass the McAMS Yamaha duo of Jason O’Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie for second, before a move on Honda Racing’s Glenn Irwin on the same lap saw the VisionTrack Ducati rider take the race lead.
Iddon and Irwin swapped positions before a red flag saw a momentary break in action. When racing resumed Iddon was third in the leading pack of eight riders, which Bridewell had now joined. But as the race progressed towards the final stages Iddon lost out to Mackenzie, and he took the chequered flag in fourth, with Bridewell one position behind in fifth.
Josh Brookes, now running the Number 25 on his VisionTrack Ducati, had a disappointing race finishing 16th.
Race 2
Iddon had started his race from seventh, but by lap four he was into second place after passing SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad rider Andrew Irwin. The riders swapped positions again but on lap seven Iddon passed Irwin into Redgate, only for Irwin to cut back and make contact with Iddon and crash him out the race, bringing back memories of a similar clash between Irwin and Josh Brookes from 2020.
Irwin’s SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad teammate Danny Buchan crashed out in the later stages of the race, bringing out the safety car and extending the 26-lap race by a couple of laps. Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell went on to repeat Saturday’s performance to bring his Panigale home in fifth, with VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes completing his race in tenth.
Race 3
The final race of the weekend at Donington Park was soon put on hold after a red flag came out on lap three due to rain. The 20-lap restart was declared a wet race, but a drying track meant tricky tyre choices for the riders on the grid.
Bridewell, on intermediate tyres for the first time ever in his racing career, started from sixth on the restart but was soon moving up positions and by lap three had passed Tarran Mackenzie on the McAMS Yamaha for second place, before he started chasing down race leader Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing). Bridewell passed Irwin on lap six to take the lead, posting consecutive fastest laps.
The following lap saw VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon pass Mackenzie for fourth place, before he then set the fastest lap. But Iddon’s brave tyre choice, the only rider to opt for an intermediate front and slick rear, failed to pay off after he crashed out at Craner, his second DNF of the day.
Bridewell went on to take the chequered flag and his first win of the season. He was joined on the podium by brothers Glenn and Andrew Irwin. Josh Brookes was the next rider to take the flag in fourth, the best result of the season to season to date for the VisionTrack Ducati rider.
British Superbike Championship standings
- Jason O’HALLORAN (Yamaha) 277
- Tarran MACKENZIE (Yamaha) 223
- Christian IDDON (Ducati) 203
- Danny BUCHAN (BMW) 165
- Tommy BRIDEWELL (Ducati) 157
- Josh BROOKES (Ducati) 77
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #46)
Race 1, 5th – Race 2, 5th – Race 3, 1st
“We’ve been working hard as a team, and Ducati as well to be honest. We’ve come out of the blocks strong. Oulton Park was a good one for us and Brands was a good one for us. Knockhill’s not my favourite track to be honest, nor is Thruxton. So, to be honest the way I look at it is Oulton and Brands have been my main start to the Championship. In the first two races I didn’t quite hit the nail on the head with the way I wanted the bike to feel but we worked hard and continued. And in that race, the bike was awesome, absolutely awesome. I’ve never ever run intermediates in my career before, so to go front and rear was a gamble for me. Really chuffed for the team. Really chuffed for everyone involved, Oxford Products, Moto Rapido, for Ducati. Nice to see the big girl back on the top steps! Going to Cadwell, happy hunting ground for me, hopefully we can get the win tally mounting up.”
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati #21)
Race 1, 4th – Race 2, DNF – Race 3, DNF
“Some days, things don’t go your way and today was a case of that. I was taken out by another rider in Sunday’s opening race and the fact he got a penalty tells the story, but it doesn’t get me any points back. Then in race three, I was feeling confident and knew I had the correct tyres as the track dried and was closing on the leaders but the next thing I know is I’m sliding down the track on my backside at 120mph. I’m not having the best of luck right now, but we’ll go again at Cadwell Park next weekend and try to get things back on track.”
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati #25)
Race 1, 16th – Race 2, 10th – Race 3, 4th
“We’ve made progress this weekend but not as much as I would have liked, and I’d say the improvements have been small as my pace and results are still nowhere near where they should be. There are still some issues that we need to resolve, the main one being grip and the one causing the most concern. The grip levels aren’t what I’d like and that’s having a knock-on effect on the engine braking strategy; the lack of grip means it’s difficult to get the correct engine settings and we’re yet to find the balance. We did make improvements today from yesterday and my pace was good in the mixed conditions, so there are some positives to take away from the weekend.”
