Category: Superbikes

1. A hat trick of second places for Tommy Bridewell sees him claim second in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship

   Posted on 10:00am Monday 18th Oct 2021

   • Tommy Bridewell scores three second place finishes at Brands Hatch
   • Tommy Bridewell finishes second in the BSB Championship
   • Christian Iddon and Josh Brookes finish fourth and sixth in the BSB Championship respectively

   Race 1
   Tommy Bridewell and Christian Iddon both needed strong results to keep their title hopes alive going into race 1 of the final round at Brands Hatch.
   VisionTrack Ducati’s Iddon took the early lead passing Mackenzie in Druids on the opening lap. By Lap 4 Bridewell was into third on his Oxford Products Racing Ducati behind Iddon and Mackenzie, only for the safety car to come out later that lap following a crash by Josh Owens (Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki).
   The safety car came in on Lap 7, but Iddon was not able to keep the same pace and Mackenzie took the lead a couple of laps later. Bridewell then got past Iddon on Lap 12 on the run up to Druids, with the riders briefly making contact. 
   The Title Fighter trio went on to take the chequered flag in those same positions, with Mackenzie extending his championship lead.
   
   Race 2
   Oxford Products Racing Ducati Racing’s Tommy Bridewell ran another fantastic race at Brands Hatch in Race 2 taking a second-place finish behind Tarran Mackenzie.
   Bridewell had put in a great move on the opening lap to overtake both Mackenzie and Christian Iddon along the Cooper Straight to take the lead into Surtees, starting his second lap with a 0.597s advantage.
   But by half race distance the gap between Bridewell and Mackenzie was reduced to 0.171s with Mackenzie taking the lead back on Lap 12. Bridewell made another move on Lap 15 to retake the lead at Stirlings, setting up a thrilling final as he needed to beat Mackenzie if he was to keep any title hopes alive. But Mackenzie got great drive out the last corner on the last lap to take the chequered flag, and the 2021 crown, by 0.087s.
   
   Iddon crossed the line in fourth, his own title hopes also coming to an end, with his VisionTrack Ducati teammate Josh Brookes taking sixth.

   Race 3
   Tommy Bridewell completed his final race of the season with another podium position, finishing second at Brands Hatch for the third time this weekend.
   In a repeat of Race 2 Bridewell led for most of the race but was unable to provide an answer to newly-crowned Mackenzie on the McAMS Yamaha.
   Bridewell’s final second place ensured that he also secured second in the championship, going one better than the third place he secured with his Ducati team back in 2019.
   Iddon was on for another strong finish on the VisionTrack Ducati but a late incident with SYNETIQ BMW’s Danny Buchan saw them both crash out of the race.
   Josh Brookes had a much better end to his season on his VisionTrack Ducati after getting his best result of the weekend finishing just off the podium in fourth.

   Championship positions
   1. Tarran MACKENZIE (Yamaha) 1202
   2. Tommy BRIDEWELL (Ducati) 1166
   3. Jason O'HALLORAN (Yamaha) 1162
   4. Christian IDDON (Ducati) 1141
   5. Peter HICKMAN (BMW) 1092
   6. Josh BROOOKES (Ducati) 1079

   Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #46) – 2nd
   “Brands Hatch, phenomenal weekend. To come away with second in the British Superbike championship is a credit to the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team. The team’s done a phenomenal job, the bike was working flawlessly all weekend. We’ve got a bit of work to do for 2022, already thinking about that, but to come away fighting for the race wins, every single race, and to come away second in the championship is a thumbs up from me. Thanks for all the support, I really appreciate it. We’ll see you back in 2022.”

   Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati #25) – 4th
   “The weekend’s been a reflection of our year in that we’ve been aware of what the problems have been, but we’ve been unable to fully resolve them. We’ve made the best of it and seen progress in the last few rounds with some better results which was how this weekend went. It’s been a constant battle between front and rear end grip and when one’s better, the other’s worse. But we’ve got to the end of the season and I can guarantee everyone, I’ll be back. This year hasn’t been a reflection of myself in terms of my motivation or my desire to win and that’s as strong as I’ve ever so I’m looking forward to the time off and coming back even stronger in 2022.”

2. Disappointment for F.C.C. TSR Honda France at the 6 Hours of Most

   Posted on 8:00pm Saturday 16th Oct 2021

   There was heartbreak in the Autodrome of Most today for the F.C.C. TSR Honda France as the team was forced to retire from the 6 Hours of Most in the last part of the race.
   
   Disappointment for F.C.C. TSR Honda France at the 6 Hours of Most
   However, the Japanese team showed another time an outstanding display of teamwork, spirit and determination during the last round of the 2021 FIM World Endurance Championship in the Czech Republic.

   F.C.C. TSR Honda France started from fourth place on the starting grid, based on the accumulative times achieved during the two qualifying sessions held on Thursday.

   An excellent start by French rider Mike Di Meglio immediately put the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP in front of the race, and during the first two hours of the race, the Japanese team was placed in second place.

   The Fireblade was doing a very solid race with constant and good lap timings with 1.35 but just entering the third hour of the race, the Japanese rider Yuki Takahashi had a crash that forced the rider to enter the pits.

   Although an excellent work from the team to fix the bike, an extended pit stop of almost 17 minutes made the Honda #5 rejoin the race in 23rd position but unfortunately, the team was forced to retired after a technical issue resulting from the crash in the fourth hour when was in 21st position.

   Despite the result, Honda’s endurance specialists Josh Hook, Mike Di Meglio, and Yuki Takahashi and the entire team end the 2021 FIM EWC season with their heads high and showing superb teamwork throughout all the season.

   After a season of highs and lows for the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team, they finished the championship fifth with 91 points in total and are determined to come back stronger for the 2022 season.

3. Christian Iddon makes it a hat-trick of podiums at Donington Park in mixed weather conditions

   Posted on 12:00pm Monday 4th Oct 2021

   • Christian Iddon on the podium in all three races at Donington Park
   • Josh Brookes no longer in the fight for the 2021 British Superbike title
   • Tommy Bridewell re-signs with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team for 2022

   Race 1
   Christian Iddon rode a great race at Donington Park on Saturday in cold, wet, and windy conditions. He had a poor grid position back in 17th after crashing his VisionTrack Ducati during qualifying. But a brave ride saw him climb though the field, and aided by fallers, he was up to second place by Lap 12 behind race leader Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki), with Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) battling him and Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) just behind and ready to pounce. 
   
   Meanwhile the treacherous conditions had ended in disaster for both Josh Brookes and Tommy Bridewell, after they both crashed out in separate incidents on Lap 5. 
   
   Brookes, who was running in second, ended up on the grass after saving a moment on his bike, but was unable to keep his VisionTrack Ducati upright. And just seconds later Bridewell, who was behind Brookes on track and momentarily promoted to up to second, crashed his Oxford Products Racing Ducati under braking in the poor conditions.
   
   The Ducati duo of Brookes and Bridewell were just a couple of many riders that fell victim to the atrocious conditions, with Title Fighters Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing), Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) and Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) all crashing out.
   
   Rea went on to win the race, with Ryde second and Iddon, the sole Ducati rider, finishing the race as the top Championship contender in third.

   Read more here 

4. APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI - Americas Race

   Posted on 12:00pm Sunday 3rd Oct 2021

   ESPARGARÓ'S GP ENDS ON THE NINTH LAP IN TEXAS

   ALEIX HAD MANAGED TO WORK HIS WAY UP SEVEN POSITIONS WHEN A CRASH ENDED HIS RACE
   
   A crash during the ninth lap with no physical consequences for the rider brought the GP of the Americas to an end for Aleix Espargaró.

   After starting from the seventh row - evidence of a consistently difficult weekend - Aleix began to move up through the positions. Even without pushing too hard, he had already moved up seven places all the way to twelfth when he fell victim to the crash. This ended a seemingly parenthetical weekend in an otherwise fantastic season for Aleix and his Aprilia RS-GP. But even on the only track on the calendar where he was never able to find that competitive edge, Aleix Espargaró was still riding a respectable race.

   Now the goal is to recover energy - both physical and mental - and to get back to the trend of positive growth that has characterised his season thus far in order to best tackle the final three races of the championship.
   
   
   ALEIX ESPARGARO'
   "I am truly disappointed. Not so much for the crash, which is always a possibility in racing, but certainly not when you’re riding with such high lap times. Unfortunately, something just didn't work this weekend and we need to take a deeper look at that. Until now, we have been competitive everywhere, with various results but consistently battling in the group of the best. I want to apologise to the team. Five crashes in three days are definitely not a good record and both they and the engineers have worked nonstop throughout the weekend. The goal was to stay calm and aim for the best possible result, which was the points zone for us today. We were doing just that before the crash, which fortunately came without any physical consequences."

5. APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI - Americas Qualifying

   Posted on 12:00pm Saturday 2nd Oct 2021

   DIFFICULT QUALIFIERS FOR ALEIX AND APRILIA AT COTA
   
   The Circuit of the Americas proves once again to be a tough nut to crack for Aleix Espargaró astride his Aprilia. Calling the asphalt bumpy would be a huge understatement and it keeps the Spaniard from exploiting the strong points of the RS-GP. Despite making considerable progress in terms of the settings, which was especially clear in FP4, a couple of crashes at decisive moments further complicated the day.

   For the first time this season, Aleix was unable to go through to Q2 due to finishing outside the top 10 in the first three sessions and not getting through the selection stage of Q1 due to a crash. These statistics confirm the abnormal situation generated by the Texan circuit in a season where Aleix is lying seventh in the overall championship standings.

   So, for a race that promises to be a complicated one, Espargaró will be starting from the best spot on the seventh row of the grid.
   
   ALEIX ESPARGARO'
   "This has certainly not been the best weekend for us so far. The RS-GP is competitive everywhere, but this asphalt that is in such bad condition really puts us in a rough spot. Not only do I not have the pace that I had been able to maintain until now, but as soon as I try to push, I risk crashing, like what happened today. I apologise to the entire team. They are already working hard to fix the bike for tomorrow. We’ll test a few things in the warm-up session as well to try to make the bike easier to ride and more stable. The track is the same for everyone, so it won’t be easy, but we’ll have to make a go of it and shoot for the best possible result."