October 3, 2021

Triple Podium Success At Donington For Title-Hunter Iddon

VisionTrack Ducati rider Christian Iddon thrust himself firmly into contention for the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship crown following a superb hat-trick of podiums at Donington Park this weekend.

After a superb third place in yesterday’s wet race at the penultimate round of the series, Iddon followed that up with another third place in today’s opening race held in dry conditions before producing his best result of the weekend with a scintillating ride into second place in the wet third race of the weekend.

 

The result is that with just one round and three races remaining, Iddon has moved up to third place in the standings but importantly, has reduced the gap to the leader to just 15 points ahead of the final round in two weeks’ time at Brands Hatch.

 

However, it was another tough day though for teammate Josh Brookes with just an 11th place finish to his name meaning he can no longer retain the title he won twelve months ago.

After the difficult conditions of yesterday, the weather was thankfully dry and sunny, albeit still cool for today’s first race, with the opening race seeing Josh and Christian line up in third and fourth on the grid respectively.

 

Both riders made good starts with Tyneside-based Iddon slotting into fourth and Bedfordshire-based Brookes holding station in fourth aboard their respective factory-backed VisionTrack Ducati Panigale V4RRs.

 

By half race distance, Iddon had made his way up to second place, but Brookes struggled with a technical issue and dropped down the order and at the flag, Iddon secured third place with Aussie Brookes a disappointing 11th. 

 

Iddon had the better starting position for the third and final race of the weekend, starting on the second row with Josh a further row back but after a heavy rain shower, conditions were again tricky with the race cut down to 15 laps.

 

An excellent start saw Iddon slot into second place behind Saturday’s race winner Gino Rea, but he was soon flying the flag single handedly for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team after Brookes crashed out at Craner Curves, fortunately without injury.

 

As the race wore on, Iddon and Rea were comfortably the quickest two riders on track but in the closing stages the Suzuki rider was able to up his pace and take the win. However, Christian took an excellent second and with series leader Tarran Mackenzie retiring early, he closed to within 15 points of his Yamaha rival with all to play for at the final round.

 

Christian Iddon: “It’s been a good day and with second and third place finishes today, it’s been fantastic for the championship. I went with the hard tyre for the first race as I wasn’t sure if the softer tyre would last but the wind was really strong, and it was a tough race. Conditions were again tricky in the final race, and it was very similar to how it went on Saturday with Gino setting a good pace. I sat behind him and we were quite a bit quicker than the rest of the field. A win was on my mind, but he was really committed in the final two laps so fair play to him. With three podiums this weekend, it’s been superb for our title aspirations and we’re well and truly in the mix heading into the final round.”

 

Josh Brookes: “I’m lost for words to be honest with how today has gone and we’re still struggling with the issues that have blighted us all year. If I ride at the level that’s comfortable, I finish outside the top ten and if I ride with where I think the bike should be, I crash. On the odd occasion this season, I’ve been able to get away with it and get some sort of acceptable results and the small improvements have masked over the fundamental problems. It’s been a tough day.”

 

Johnny Mowatt, Team Co-ordinator: “It’s been another good day for Christian and with three podiums from three races, he’s done a good job this weekend. We erred on the side of caution in the first race today and went with the harder tyre, but he had a decent set up in both the wet and dry and it’s very much game on in the championship. Josh suffered with a lack of grip again today and unfortunately, he’s now out of the title race after his two crashes this weekend. He has a lot of pride though so will be determined to finish his season strongly at Brands and he could yet have a big part to play in the championship. We’ll go to Brands as a team and work as a team to get the best results possible. There’s been plenty of twists and plenty of drama this weekend so I’m expecting the final round to be the same!”

 

The final round takes place at Brands Hatch on October 15-17.

 

Bennetts British Superbike Championship race two (20 laps)

1 Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha)

2 Danny Buchan (BMW) 

3 Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati)

4 Gino Rea (Suzuki)

5 Lee Jackson (Kawasaki)

6 Kyle Ryde (BMW)

11 Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati)

 

Bennetts British Superbike Championship race three (15 laps)

1 Gino Rea (Suzuki)

2 Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati)

3 Lee Jackson (Kawasaki)

4 Tommy Bridewell (Ducati)

5 Andrew Irwin (BMW)

6 Ryan Vickers (Kawasaki)

DNF Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati)

 

Championship Points

1 Mackenzie 1127pts

2 O’Halloran 1117

3 Iddon 1112

4 Bridewell 1106

5 Buchan 1061

6 Hickman 1059

7 Brookes 1047

 

Pictures courtesy of Double Red: Christian Iddon (21) and Josh Brookes (25).

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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