Iddon And Brookes All Set For Showdown Battle
The battle for the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship starts in earnest this weekend when the title-deciding Showdown commences at Oulton Park with both VisionTrack Ducati riders Christian Iddon and Josh Brookes in contention.
After a season of contrasting fortunes, both riders secured their places in the top eight who will fight for the crown over the next three rounds starting with Paul Bird’s Lake District-based team’s local round this weekend.
Originally from the Peak District but now residing on Tyneside, Christian Iddon will be hoping for more success at what he considers to be his local track also. Iddon currently occupies third in the title race aboard his factory-supported VisionTrack Ducati Panigale V4 RR having taken two wins already this season.
He is just 45 points adrift of series leader Jason O’Halloran and arrives at Oulton Park with an enviable record having finished second in the last five races to be held there. However, three of those second places came back in June when he had to follow O’Halloran home on all three occasions so will be looking to turn the tables this time and get that elusive victory.
Teammate and defending champion Josh Brookes secured his place in the Showdown in the very last race of the main season at Silverstone two weeks ago and after a tough season, now looks to have turned the corner having scored his first podiums of the year last time out.
The Bedfordshire-based Australian knows he needs a huge slice of luck if he’s to add to his two BSB titles already as he is 69 points behind the series leader and in need of a number of victories. But if anyone can do it, it’s Brookes as he’s already won eight times in his career at Oulton Park and been on the podium a further 19 times so will need to add to those statistics in all three races if he’s to remain in the hunt.
Christian Iddon: “We are returning to a track we’ve already raced at this season and the earlier meeting at Oulton Park was a really good one for us. I’m hoping we can replicate that podium success and even challenge for some wins. It’s the first round of the Showdown so it’s now all to play for and the championship positions have been condensed dramatically. It’s vital to have a good, solid first round of the Showdown so I’m really looking forward to it. We have some great settings that work on the bike there so we’ll be dialling them back in and see how we feel and hopefully we can take some big points away from this round again.”
Josh Brookes: “We got over the first hurdle which was to get into the Showdown and that positive energy will carry us forward into these last three rounds. The progress we have been making over these past few rounds is very promising, but Oulton Park is a very different prospect. My hopes are high of continuing with the better results and providing we can continue where we left off at Silverstone, there’s every chance I can win some races this weekend. If we can do that, then the end of the season is going to be interesting for sure, especially with the autumn weather playing a part. My attitude is the same as always, which is to keep persevering and never give up.”
