Code red: History made as Redding celebrates debut Bennetts BSB title victory
Scott Redding has made Bennetts British Superbike Championship history by taking the title in his debut season, finishing third at Brands Hatch to lift the trophy at the season finale and sealing the PBM-run Be Wiser Ducati team its seventh Superbike crown.
Redding’s much-anticipated debut title victory in Bennetts BSB came after the highs of battling for race wins and finishing runner-up in the Moto2 World Championship, to the lows of his 2018 MotoGP campaign when he endured a torrid time before he set his sights on a new path.
The final day of the 2019 season started with victory for Redding’s teammate and title rival Josh Brookes; the 2015 champion ensuring the fight went down to the wire after an incredible dogfight with Redding on the last lap of race two.
At the start of the race, Brookes took the advantage from Jason O’Halloran and Christian Iddon with Tommy Bridewell in close contention. Redding was fighting back but running wide at Druids dropped him back into seventh and he had work to do to catch his title rival.
Brookes was trying to make a break but Christian Iddon had become his next challenger on lap three when he fired the Tyco BMW ahead of O’Halloran. However, Iddon was soon under pressure as Bridewell had moved into third place for Oxford Racing Ducati and was up to second by the end of the fourth lap.
Redding was carving his way through the chasing group and by lap seven he was into third place with a move on Iddon into Paddock Hill Bend. However he had to fight for the place with Iddon briefly reclaiming the position before the championship leader dived back ahead.
The leading trio then were a breakaway pack with Brookes ahead of Bridewell and Redding in third, but the former MotoGP rider was attacking hard and he waited until there were just two laps remaining to make his move.
Redding then had Brookes in his sight for the victory, but the 2015 champion wasn’t giving up without a fight and the pair’s battle for supremacy went down to the wire on the final lap.
As the pair crossed the line inseparable going into Paddock Hill Bend for the final time, Redding made a move to claim the lead, but Brookes was determined and he made a lunge at Druids to regain the advantage.
Redding was looking for an opportunity but Brookes had the measure of his teammate as the pair crossed the line separated by just 0.119s, with Bridewell claiming third place.
Tarran Mackenzie had moved into fourth place behind for McAMS Yamaha to bounce back from his crash yesterday, pushing Iddon back into fifth with Danny Buchan holding sixth place ahead of O’Halloran.
Hickman was eighth in the penultimate race of the season with Andrew Irwin and Taylor Mackenzie completing the top 10.
The final race of the season would decide the 2019 champion and at the start of the race Brookes instantly hit the front of the pack from Bridewell and Iddon, with Redding holding fifth behind Tarran Mackenzie.
Brookes and Bridewell continued to up the pace to try and gap the field, but behind Redding was soon piling the pressure on the Tyco BMW ahead of him and on the seventh lap he made his move to hold third place.
The championship leader had to claim a top five finish if Brookes won the race to still lift his first Bennetts BSB title, but he was still pushing hard to claim a podium on his final race in the series before moving to the world stage next season.
At the front of the field the gap between Brookes and Bridewell was just 0.2s but the 2015 champion was determined to end his season on a high and he held the advantage to the chequered flag to hold off Bridewell to the finish line.
Iddon was fourth to claim the Bennetts BSB Riders Cup title for Tyco BMW ahead of Peter Hickman and Tarran Mackenzie on the leading McAMS Yamaha, but only just from his teammate O’Halloran.
Buchan was eighth for FS3-Racing Kawasaki to hold off Andrew Irwin and Dan Linfoot who completed the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 2 result:
- Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 1:25.890s
- Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.119s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +0.796s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +7.240s
- Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +8.236s
- Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +8.753s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +9.771s
- Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +12.478s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +18.246s
- Taylor Mackenzie (Tyco BMW) +20.862s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 3 result:
- Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 1:25.724s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +0.223s
- Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +12.357s
- Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +14.695s
- Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +17.952s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +18.238s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +18.444s
- Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +20.895s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +23.281s
- Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) +23.439s
2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) 697
- Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 692
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) 636
- Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 588
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 566
- Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) 558
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Scott Redding – Be Wiser Ducati
2019 Champion
“I’ve had a lot of emotion – super happy, super proud and it is good to pay back everyone who has supported me through all my years in GP and my first year here in BSB.
“A lot of people doubted me to win the championship in my first year, I knew deep inside I could do it even though I broke my femur one month before the first test of the year, I didn’t let it hold me back.
“I had a tough season, a great season. The feeling to cross the line knowing that you did it. It didn’t really sink in until I got half way round the lap. I was like ‘you’ve done it, it was just one race’. That was the hard bit.
“It was my own doing to make a mistake, I was thinking the whole race ‘don’t make the mistake, don’t make the mistake’, so a big thank-you to the PBM Be Wiser Ducati team, big thank-you to my management, my family, my fans.
“The BSB Championship has been amazing, they’ve brought a lot of passion back into racing and I’ve had so much fun this year on and off track.”
