July 31, 2021

Iddon Maintains Championship Lead At Thruxton

Christian Iddon maintained his Bennetts British Superbike Championship lead this afternoon when the VisionTrack Ducati rider took a second place in the opening race of the fourth round held at Thruxton.

But it again proved to be a tough day for reigning champion Josh Brookes with the Australian struggling and ending the race in 17th position for Paul Bird’s Lake District-based team.


After wet conditions yesterday at the super-fast Hampshire track, today saw good, dry conditions although the fortunes of the two PBM riders varied in free practice with Christian placing third on the factory-supported VisionTrack Ducati Panigale V4 RR and Josh back in 17th.

That pattern continued in qualifying where Tyneside-based Iddon posted the fifth fastest time for a second row start for the afternoon’s 15-lap race whilst Josh was back in 20th and on the seventh row.


Iddon slotted into fourth at the completion of the opening lap which was where he remained until the fifth lap when he overhauled Honda’s Glenn Irwin. Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran, Iddon’s main championship rival at present, led but on lap 12, Christian moved up to second to ensure his losses were a minimum.

 

The race ended on the penultimate lap after Irwin crashed heavily, fortunately without injury, and O’Halloran took the win ahead of Iddon which means the pair are separated by just one point in Iddon’s favour ahead of tomorrow’s two races.

 

For Brookes, it was another challenging race and after losing a number of places on the opening lap, the combination of a poor start and being slowed by a first lap crash, he dropped to 23rd at one point. He regrouped and managed to gain six places, but 17th meant he was outside the points to remain in 11th overall in the standings.

 

Christian Iddon: “Thruxton’s different to any other circuit we go to, and it’s been a bit of a bogey track for me in the past so it’s nice to finish on the podium this time around. I was really surprised at the pace we were doing and managing the tyre was the challenge, but I stayed patient and managed the race as best I could. I was a bit nervous ahead of the weekend, but we’ve stuck to our plan and didn’t panic when the riders ahead of me made a bit of a break. Jason’s pace was too much but the others came back to me and whilst it’s always sad to finish a race on a red flag, it’s another good podium.”

 

Josh Brookes: “It’s been another tough weekend so far and we’ve been trying to limit the amount of front-endchatter we’ve been having. It hasn’t been the traditional feeling, but we can see from the data that there’s not as much travel in the front. We made some changes for the race but when things are going wrong in racing, they go wrong, and I was pushed wide by the first corner crash which lost me a lot of time. The changes we’d made were in the wrong direction too and it was near impossible to make any kind of impression. We’ll be going with the opposite of that for tomorrow and do our best to get back to where we should be.”

 

Johnny Mowatt, Team Co-ordinator: “It’s been a very good day for Christian and having had tough times here previously for other teams, we drilled it into him that being patient and not destroying the tyre was key. He probably could have gone with Jason but knew he wouldn’t have had tyre left in the final third, so he played the waiting game and did so superbly. It’s not easy for a racer to do as it goes against their instincts, but he rode with his head and also with a lot of heart.

 

“Unfortunately, it’s been another struggle so far for Josh and whilst we thought his pace looked good after six or seven laps in qualifying, he wasn’t able to duplicate it in the race. When you qualify a long way back on the grid, you’re fighting a losing battle as you’re never going to make massive in-roads, but the team will make some more changes and he’ll go again tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s 20-lap races are scheduled for 13:30 and 16:30 respectively.

 

Bennetts British Superbike Championship race one (15 laps)

1 Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha)

2 Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati)

3 Peter Hickman (BMW)

4 Ryan Vickers (Kawasaki)

5 Lee Jackson (Kawasaki)

6 Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha)

17 Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati)

 

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings (after 10 races)

1 Iddon 183pts

2 O’Halloran 182

3 Mackenzie 147

4 Buchan 133

5 Bridewell 106

6 Hickman 89

11 Brookes 56

PODIUMS, POINTS AND PRIZES FOR HAGER PBM DUCATI

May 18, 2025
THE Hager PBM Ducati team heads home from Donington Park fired up for the rest of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike season after rider Glenn Irwin clinched a second and a third in today’s two races. Irwin narrowly missed out on what could have been two wins at the iconic Derbyshire track – but he and the team leave feeling excited about the rest of the year after a strong performance. It had been a tougher start to the weekend as the team struggled with a few niggling issues, but after topping Friday’s timesheets, Irwin clocked the third quickest time in Qualifying to line up on the front row for Saturday’s race. Moving into second position at Turn One, he settled into a good rhythm and as he found himself in a three-way battle, took the lead on Lap Eight. However, a few issues struck in closing laps which left him unable to hold off his rivals and he slipped back to fourth. Determined to make amends on Sunday, Irwin once again started from third on the grid. Getting a good start, he was up to second by the end of Lap Two and quickly began reeling in leader Bradley Ray. A move for the front at the Fogarty Esses on the fourth lap didn’t pay off but he wasn’t giving up, quickly closing back in on his rival. On Lap Eight, he tried again to dive down the inside at the same spot but wasn’t able to make it, running down the slip road and slipping back to fourth. He fought hard in the remaining four laps to catch the bike ahead, making the move into the chicane on the final lap to secure third place. It was another front row start for the final race and he held third place into Turn One, settling into position for the opening laps. By Lap Eight he was challenging Rory Skinner for third and as the race reached the halfway point on Lap 10, he made the move into Turn One and moved into second position. More than two seconds adrift of leader Ray, Irwin put his head down and pushed hard, quickly reducing the gap and with three laps to go was just 0.296 behind. Once again, he tried a move at the Fogarty Esses but wasn’t able to make it work and despite pushing on, wasn’t able to pass. He crossed the line just 0.396secs behind his rival and picked up another strong haul of points. He also set a new lap record, with a 1min 28.832s on the penultimate lap. Glenn Irwin: “We’ve had a fourth, a third and a second so we’re going in the right direction. Race one was really, really tough. We had a limiting factor with the bike on Friday and Saturday which wasn’t rectified until Sunday morning, and it was a good chunk better today. “I think the Sprint race was one that we could’ve won but we made a mistake. I think in the last race we played the right game, we were patient and again we could perhaps have won. I made a similar mistake at the same corner and it left us a lot of work to do with two laps to go. “Setting a new lap record on Lap 19 was good and we may have lost a couple of points but at this stage of the year, two points here or there is nothing and I’m quite happy either way. “Hats off to the team because they worked very hard this weekend and they gave me something that was missing and it’s so much better now. We now have a bit of a break, I’ll head to the TT for 10 days and chill out but keep training hard, working harder and trust that the wins will come.” Frank Bird Jnr, Team Co-owner: “It’s been a very positive weekend, very consistent, which is obviously a good sign. We got there with the bike setup, I think we’ve found what we were missing at Oulton Park. “It’s still only the second round so everyone is still getting into it, learning the bike, learning the new tyre but thank you to all the boys, they’ve been mega all weekend and have really worked hard. “Glenn rode his heart out in all three races and we are definitely in the mix…now we will just keep going and look forward to the rest of the season.” The championship now takes a break until mid June, when the pack will resume duties at Snetterton.

ROUND TWO BECKONS FOR HAGER PBM DUCATI

May 14, 2025
THE Hager PBM Ducati squad is heading to Donington Park this weekend as the second round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship roars into action at the iconic track. The team and rider Glenn Irwin will be looking to build on their success at the opening round, where the Northern Irishman clinched two second place finishes, putting him third in the championship chase but equal on 32 points with his rivals sitting first and second. It’s been a tough fortnight where the racing community has mourned the loss of riders Owen Jenner and Shane Richardson – and the team has been particularly affected by the death of Owen, a close friend of owners Jordan, Frank and other team members. Now, hopes are high that the team and Irwin can deliver a string of podium finishes this weekend, with performances which both boys would be proud of. Glenn Irwin, rider: “Looking ahead to the weekend you almost feel a little bit guilty, because obviously we all want to continue to pay our respects to Owen and Shane’s families, and when we look back at Oulton Park, the whole event is overshadowed by this sadness. “But if I was to look just purely at the riding side of things and the teamwork, I felt we did a good job. We had some difficult moments but we did well to come from 14 th to second in Race One and particularly Race two, after four laps we were 3.3 off and eight laps later to only be 0.1 off the win was very pleasing. “I think as riders, we all know what we achieved in terms of race pace over the two races, we only ever took time out of Bradley (Ray) and Leon (Haslam) and for me that was confidence inspiring. I think we fired our own warning shots without winning races which is important for our own confidence and important to cement ourselves in the thoughts of our rivals as well. “This weekend and the whole championship in general is going to be close. The three of us who were in it at Oulton will be there, I expect Kyle (Ryde) to be there and Danny Kent to also join the party this weekend…it’s going to be a good one.” Jordan Bird, Team Co-owner: “As usual, we are ready for business this weekend - although this one is a little different. We race at Donington Park for Owen and Shane. “Of course, we have a job to do but our thoughts will never be far away from both of them and we continue to send our love and best wishes to their families. “We know it’s going to be a tough weekend in many ways for the team and for the paddock as a whole but we look forward to doing the best job we possibly can in memory of Owen and Shane.”  Round Two of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship gets underway at Donington Park this Friday, May 16 with two free practice sessions ahead of Qualifying and Race One on Saturday, followed by two further races on Sunday, May 18.
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