Top Ten For Sykes At Brands
The final round of the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship got underway at Brands Hatch this afternoon, but it proved to be a mixed day for the MCE Ducati team with Tom Sykes taking a best result with a solid tenth for Paul Bird’s Cumbrian-based squad.
However, there was disappointment for teammate Josh Brookes as the former double BSB champion was hit by another rider at the first corner which left the bike too damaged to continue.
Both practice and qualifying saw a variety of conditions and although Sykes successfully progressed from Q1 on the factory-backed MCE Insurance Ducati Panigale V4R, both he and Brookes found their ultimate grid position compromised by a rain shower which fell just three minutes into Q2.
That meant they, along with several other riders, only managed one flying lap and the net result was that Australian ace Brookes qualified in ninth place and on the end of the third row with 2013 World Superbike Champion Sykes four places and two rows further back in 13th.
The 16-lap eBay Sprint Race got underway just after 4pm, by which time conditions at the Kent venue were fine once more but Brookes’ race was over before it began with several riders coming together at the first corner. The end result was that two riders crashed out with Josh pushed wide in the melee and heavy contact from another rider damaged the bike too much for Josh to be able to continue.
That just left Tom to fly the flag for the team with a strong start seeing him immediately move forward three places. Despite quickly closing up to the group of riders battling for eighth, none of them were able to make any passes on each other. That meant Tom had to settle for tenth place at the chequered flag, which consolidated his 12th place in the championship standings.
Tom Sykes: “I got unlucky in qualifying today as I was on a good lap when the rain came down at the far side of the circuit and that meant my starting position wasn’t as good as it could, and should, have been. I had a better feeling with the bike than what I did when we were here in July but was still finding it difficult in some areas. That was obviously frustrating as we had a couple of places where we were really strong, but we did what we could today and will look to make a few changes ahead of tomorrow’s races to end the season on a positive note.”
Josh Brookes: “The pace has been pretty good this weekend and things have been going well at a circuit I have a strong affinity with and although qualifying could have been better, the rain came at the wrong time. I didn’t string the lap together as well as I could but still had high hopes of a good result only to be victim of a first corner melee. People were being pushed wide and another rider ploughed into the side of me which damaged the bike with the gear lever bent right up against the motor. It was impossible to change gear and impossible to continue, which was obviously disappointing, so we’ll aim to end the year strongly tomorrow.”
Johnny Mowatt, Team Co-ordinator: “It wasn’t the best day for the team and the rain in qualifying prevented what could have been two really strong grid positions. With a great record at the circuit, Josh was understandably hopeful of a good result, but he was hit hard by another rider which damaged the bike considerably and to be forced out so early, through no fault of his own, was disappointing. Tom managed to avoid the trouble and salvaged a top ten result, but we’ll definitely be hoping for more tomorrow.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship race one (16 laps)
1 Glenn Irwin (Honda)
2 Peter Hickman (BMW)
3 Andrew Irwin (BMW)
4 Tommy Bridewell (Ducati)
5 Bradley Ray (Yamaha)
6 Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha)
10 Tom Sykes (MCE Ducati)
DNF Josh Brookes (MCE Ducati)
Championship standings
1 Ray 1182pts
2 Irwin 1130
3 Bridewell 1117
4 Jackson 1095
5 O’Halloran 1087
6 Ryde 1058
12 Sykes 176
14 Brookes 145
Pictures courtesy of Double Red: Josh Brookes (25) and Tom Sykes (66).
