Iddon claims first Bennetts British Superbike victory in dramatic Snetterton opener
VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon claimed his first victory in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton this afternoon, becoming the third different race winner of 2020 following a dramatic opening race in Norfolk.
Josh Brookes got off to a flying start with the pack instantly on the attack and Danny Buchan had grabbed the lead as the pack hit Wilson for the first time with Iddon in second. However, a crash on the opening lap for Andrew Irwin, and his stricken Honda Racing Fireblade in the middle of the track at Agostini, caused the deployment of the BMW Safety Car.
The pack lined up with Buchan, Iddon, Brookes, and Jason O’Halloran the leading contenders; but when the race went green on lap four, Buchan crashed his Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki out of the lead at Palmer, putting him out of contention.
Iddon then had the lead and he had begun to edge out an advantage, but as the race continued the chasing pack had reeled him back in and Bradley Ray was soon into second for the SYNETIQ BMW team ahead of Brookes and Tommy Bridewell.
The battle for the podium places went down to the wire and Iddon had the margin he needed to claim his first win, but behind the pack had shuffled again and Brookes and Bridewell had managed to get back ahead of Ray.
Brookes was able to hold off an equally determined Bridewell to the chequered flag as they completed a Ducati podium top three, but Glenn Irwin was in the fight too. The Honda Racing rider was also able to make a last lap move on Ray to claim fourth place to maintain his championship lead ahead of rounds four and five tomorrow.
Lee Jackson was sixth on the remaining Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki with the McAMS Yamaha team locking out the next two places in seventh and eighth with Ryan Vickers in ninth.
Buildbase Suzuki’s Kyle Ryde completed the top ten after an impressive performance of carving through the field during the race, following a problem on the opening lap, which put him at the very end of the train of riders behind the BMW Safety Car before the race resumed.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Round 4 result:
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati)
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.303s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.345s
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +1.470s
- Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) +2.228s
- Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +2.451s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +6.961s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +7.093s
- Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) +7.182s
- Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) +9.339s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Round 4:
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 73
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 59
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 59
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) 50
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 48
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 46
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 37
- Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) 28
- Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) 27
- Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) 26
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Christian Iddon
(VisionTrack Ducati)
Round 4 race winner
“The race was an interesting one! From the very first lap I had a problem with the gearbox and I hit neutral going in to the second corner. Thankfully, because there was a bit of everything going on, it gave me a bit of an escape route and I had to be very careful in to the first gear corners, of which there are three on the track for me here.
“We had the Safety Car and the minute that we got going Danny lost the front immediately and that put me in the lead. I kind of thought to myself, ‘well here we are’ and I just tried to keep it consistent.
“Josh came through and I thought I wanted to continue to lead. He came through with a couple of laps to go and I had done all the donkey work and I didn’t want someone else to reap the benefits so I tried to get him straight back, which I did make stick.
“I actually won the race twice; I had the emotion twice because I misread the pit board so I came out the last corner with two laps to go, thinking it was the last lap and I was all excited thinking that no one had managed to pass me and then had to do it all over again!
“It was a horrible last two laps rather than just a horrible last lap, thinking about all the things that we had been through to get to this point, so a big thank you to the team.
“I don’t think we have dropped on the setting that any of us are really looking for but to be able to win the race without feeling absolutely awesome on the bike is amazing. A big thanks to everyone who has supported me for a very long period, hopefully this is a bit of a repayment.”
