Editorial Note: American Brandon Paasch, who is returning to ride his Dynavolt Triumph Street Triple RS 765 after breaking his right hand earlier this month, finished sixth in British Supersport Race Two Sunday at Oulton Park.
The Showdown is on! Nine points separate the top three ahead of Donington Park
Tommy Bridewell delivered an imperious performance to claim a double win in today’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown round at Oulton Park, firing himself back into title contention for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team.
A second crash of the weekend for former championship leader Jason O’Halloran in race three means he has relinquished the standings lead to teammate Tarran Mackenzie, with just two points between the McAMS Yamaha teammates heading to Donington Park for the penultimate round next weekend (1-3 October).
In the second race of the weekend Bridewell secured an astonishing victory after fighting back from an off track moment earlier in the race to take the lead on the final lap to beat the McAMS Yamaha pairing.
O’Halloran had led from the opening lap despite increasing pressure from his Title Fighter rivals, but he was unable to hold off the commanding pace from Bridewell, who delivered a determined ride to overhaul his Yamaha rivals at the final stage of the race.
Bridewell had run on at Hizzys on the fourth lap, dropping him right down the order into 13th place when he re-joined. However, he was carving his way through the field and he was soon back on the leading group of riders led by O’Halloran.
O’Halloran was putting in a consistent run at the front to hold the advantage as he pushed to bounce back from yesterday’s crash that saw his advantage in the standings decimated, as his teammate Mackenzie took the first victory of the Showdown.
Title Fighters Christian Iddon, Josh Brookes and Mackenzie had been scrapping for second at mid-race distance and on lap 13, the VisionTrack Ducati pairing were inseparable. As they fought for second, Mackenzie seized the opportunity and was able to split the pair by passing Brookes.
Two laps later and Mackenzie made his move on Iddon for second place, but he fought back and instantly regained the position. The pair soon had Bridewell for company and by the penultimate lap, he had moved into second with O’Halloran in his sights.
Bridewell made his move on O’Halloran on the final lap with a move into Old Hall, and then defended hard to hold off the Australian. As Bridewell claimed his second race win of the season, O’Halloran fought off his teammate by just 0.030s at the chequered flag to take second.
Iddon claimed fourth place, but it was a disappointing end to race two for his VisionTrack Ducati teammate as Brookes crashed out of fifth place on the final lap at Druids.
Glenn Irwin was the only Title Fighter who failed to finish in race two; the Honda Racing rider started at the back of the grid after failing to exit pitlane in time following a technical issue. He was working his way through the pack, but as he moved into tenth, he crashed out at Hizzys.
In the final race of the weekend, Bridewell launched off the pole position and instantly hit the front of the pack, setting an incredible pace to break his rivals and at the chequered flag he had a 5.972s advantage, with his victory putting him to within nine points of Mackenzie at the top of the standings.
The battle for second raged throughout the 18-lap encounter as Brookes charged into second ahead of Danny Buchan and Mackenzie at the start. By the tenth lap, Mackenzie was into third and hassling Brookes.
Lee Jackson had soon moved into the podium battle, holding fourth and was then dicing with Mackenzie. On lap 14 Jackson made a move on the brakes into Old Hall, but on the exit there was contact between him and Mackenzie as the McAMS Yamaha rider went for the inside line, sending the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider crashing out of the race.
Mackenzie was issued a long lap equivalent time penalty of three seconds for contact causing a crash, which dropped him from third on track to fifth at the chequered flag.
It was a disastrous race for the second of the McAMS Yamahas as O’Halloran crashed out of contention for the second time this weekend, this time at Cascades on the twelfth lap. That means he now sits second in the standings ahead of Donington Park in a few days’ time.
Brookes was able to hold onto second at the chequered flag with Ray elevated into third, as he became the sixth different rider to celebrate podium success at Oulton Park this weekend for the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team.
Peter Hickman claimed fourth place for FHO Racing BMW, just ahead of Mackenzie with Buchan completing the top six for the SYNETIQ BMW team.
Glenn Irwin bounced back from his earlier crash to finish in seventh, whilst Iddon was the eighth of the Title Fighters in eleventh place after contact with Mackenzie on lap 14, with the VisionTrack Ducati rider taking to the gravel at Lodge. He was able to rejoin in 15th before regaining ground to 11th.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race 2 result:
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati)
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.486s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.516s
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.218s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +2.372s
- Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +2.463s
- Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +4.260s
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +8.951s
- Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +11.590s
- Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +11.811s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race 3 result:
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati)
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +5.972s
- Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +6.671s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +9.286s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +9.502s
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +11.021s
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +15.890s
- Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +15.956s
- Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +16.082s
- Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +24.721s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Oulton Park:
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 1093
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 1091
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 1084
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 1060
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 1050
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 1042
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 1041
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 1029
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Tommy Bridewell – Oxford Products Racing Ducati
Double race winner
“I told my team earlier I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m here to win the championship. The dice rolled in our favour this weekend, we did our first double win in BSB and Jason’s had two DNFs then Tarran had a penalty in that last race.
“Pressure is a cruel thing, but I have no pressure on my shoulders. If I win, it I win it and if I don’t I don’t. I’m here to fight and here to win and that’s what I’ll do.
“Genuinely I wasn’t surprised by this weekend, without sounding cocky. This place for me is very strong, the bike is strong here and I feel mentally and physically very good.
“I need to keep this ball rolling at Donington Park and I need to be lifting the trophy at the end of the year.”
More, from a press release issued by Dynavolt Triumph:
Double top ten for Dynavolt Triumph in Feature Race
It was another brave performance from Dynavolt Triumph’s Brandon Paasch in today’s 14-lap Quattro Group British Supersport feature race at Oulton Park. Paasch got a blistering start from 14th on the grid and latched on to the back of the leading group before he hit neutral at Druids dropping back down the order. The 20-year-old fought back, posting his fastest lap of the race in the last lap to cross the line in sixth place.
Brandon Paasch: “I’m destroyed, this is the worst I have felt after a race in a long time. I’m pretty sore. That was a good race, I had a pretty decent result for us, another solid top ten and now it’s time to rest up, regroup and try to come back stronger next weekend.”
Replacement rider, Danny Webb made another step forward into the low 40s in the race today as he continues to get to grips with the Dynavolt Triumph and the unfamiliar nature of the challenging Cheshire circuit. Webb started from 18th on the grid and rode an intelligent race to finish eighth.
Danny Webb: “It was a positive weekend, we made steps with the bike and I made steps. It was more myself just getting up to speed with the track and getting riding again because I’ve not ridden for a while but we’re finishing on a positive note to go to Donington. I’m looking forward to it, it’s a track I’m more familiar with so it will suit us better.”
Dynavolt Triumph Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “Brandon was coming back from injury and he has just got better and better. We know the full strength is not there in the wrist and after his little mistake we were a bit fortunate with the safety car but he really dug in and in his physical condition I think that’s a really good effort. He will be better again at Donington.”
“Danny didn’t start from a great position because of not enough dry track time but another dry race under his belt and a big improvement in lap time. He’s riding for us again at Donington Park, a track he knows and he’s had some time on the bike now. Obviously we want to be winning but Brandon coming back from injury and getting into the top six is a good boost for him and for all of us so we look forward to next week at Donington Park and see what we can do.”
