BSB: Bennetts British Superbikes Heads to Brands Hatch for Season Finale
By Dawn Hammersley
There have been eight different race winners so far but only one rider can be crowned the 2020 BSB Champion, will it be a previous champion or will a new rider become the title holder?
VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes left the previous round of BSB with the championship lead. The 37-year-old Australian rider has once before held the BSB championship title back in 2015 whilst riding for Milwaukee Yamaha, he has been four times runner up in the series in his 11 years of riding in the BSB paddock. This season so far Brookes has had three wins plus five podiums with only one DNF. Josh’s form at Brands Hatch is first class, winning the last five races at the Kent circuit and since 2015 he has had a total of 12 wins there with only two DNFS, so if he is on the podium it’s usually on the top step. Brookes leads the championship with 225 points, 16 points ahead of his team-mate Christian Iddon, can the Aussie take the championship trophy to his side of the Ducati garage?
On the other side of the VisionTrack Ducati’s garage is 35-year-old Christian Iddon, currently in second place in the championship, as the Stockport rider heads to Brands Hatch he has one win and a further five podiums under his belt with no DNFS, which is his best season so far since joining the BSB paddock back in 2015. Iddon’s highest championship finish is seventh which was in 2017 riding for BMW, which as a result of that he has never made the showdown. Christian’s form at Brands is usually good, as he has had four podiums but never got a win. This is Iddon’s first title fight of his BSB career so far, he is only two points ahead of third-place man Honda’s Glenn Irwin, will Iddon put in a winning performance this weekend and take the Title to his side of the Ducati garage?
Honda’s Glenn Irwin is having the best season of his BSB career since joining the series back in 2016, the Irish rider has been leading the championship for most of the season with one win and five podiums, with two DNFS, his championship lead came to an end at the last round at Donington Park as he crashed out of race one. Glenn took his first race win at Brands back in 2018 and has been on the podium three times, so it’s fair to say he has confident form at the Kent circuit. He is only one point ahead of McAms Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran. His highest championship finish is fourth so can he go three steps higher to claim the BSB title?
McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran has had good form so far this season with two race wins and six podiums. The Australian rider has made the showdown twice before with his highest championship finish being fifth. The previous round at Donington Park had mixed fortunes for the 33-year-old, claiming only one podium finish with a second place. Jason has had three podiums at brands since joining the BSB series in 2015, so no doubt he will be chasing his first Brands win this weekend! he is 27 points ahead of his team-mate Tarren Mackenzie, can O’Halloran become the third ever Australian to win the BSB championship title?
Fellow McAMS Yamaha rider Tarran Mackenzie has won two races and been on the podium two times so far this season, with only one DNF. The Leicestershire rider won the last race at the previous round so can he carry his winning form into Brands this weekend? The 24-year-old rider has had mixed fortunes at the Brands circuit, he took the 2016 British Supersport title at the track, as he won the last race of the season. Mackenzie hasn’t been able to claim a victory in the superbike class as of yet at the Kent circuit, his highest position being a third-place back in 2018. During the 2018 and 2019 championship, he suffered two concussions and was unable to take part in all of the weekends racing. The Yamaha rider is 46 points adrift from Brookes, a big ask you might say, but in BSB nothing is impossible! Can Tarran take Brands by storm and be the outsider to win his first British Superbike Title?
South African rider Bjorn Estment has switched teams for the last three rounds, he was riding for NP Motorcycles BMW, he is now on board with the Powerslide GSXR 1000R Suzuki. Will the change improve Bjorn’s performance this coming weekend?
Featured Image: MotorSport Vision Racing