Qualifying

Glenn Irwin delivered a dominating display in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship SUPERPICKS Qualifying session at Snetterton to claim his second consecutive pole position for Honda Racing.

Glenn Irwin launched straight out of the pit box and threw down the gauntlet to his rivals by setting the fastest lap of the weekend on his first exit. However, the time could not be bettered by his rivals and he celebrated the pole position by 0.033s at the chequered flag.

The McAMS Yamaha pairing had surged towards the top in SUPERPICKS Q2 and Jason O’Halloran managed to nudge Tarran Mackenzie back into third as they completed the front row for this afternoon’s opening race.

Lee Jackson will head the second row for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki ahead of Peter Hickman, who was furious when he came across Bradley Ray cruising when he was on his fastest lap on the leading FHO Racing BMW.

Andrew Irwin completes the second row for SYNETIQ BMW, holding off Gino Rea on the leading Buildbase Suzuki.

There was drama in the final minute for the VisionTrack Ducati team when Josh Brookes and Christian Iddon collided at Murrays with the pair both crashing out of the session. The defending champion will start eighth on the grid, with Iddon in eleventh position.

Ryan Vickers and Tommy Bridewell completed the top ten for this afternoon’s opening BikeSocial Race.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, SUPERPICKS Qualifying:

1.     Eazi-Grip supported Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 1m:46.354s
2.     Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.033s
3.     Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.138s
4.     Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.566s
5.     Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.601s
6.     Eazi-Grip supported Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMQ) +0.625s
7.     Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.667s
8.     Eazi-Grip supported Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.676s
9.     Eazi-Grip supported Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +0.701s
10.   Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.751s

Race One

Tarran Mackenzie celebrated his third victory of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship season, claiming Yamaha their first win at Snetterton since 2012, following an intense final lap in the opening BikeSocial Race 1. Just 0.866s covered an incredibly close top five after the 12-lap encounter.

At the start of the race, Glenn Irwin pulled an impressive move around the outside of Tarran Mackenzie to lead the pack out of Riches with Andrew Irwin holding third.

Christian Iddon crashed out of the action at Oggies on the opening lap unhurt, which now means he has lost two positions in the overall standings, dropping to fourth in the fight for the top eight.

At the front, Glenn Irwin was desperately trying to break the pack as Jason O’Halloran carved his way through into second place by lap four. A lap later though and Glenn Irwin crashed out at Oggies as the Honda Fireblade cartwheeled out of contention.

That left O’Halloran leading the pack ahead of his McAMS Yamaha teammate Mackenzie with Tommy Bridewell, Lee Jackson and Josh Brookes in the leading five positions.

On the eighth lap, Mackenzie made his move at Agostini to push his Australian rival back into second with Bridewell in close contention.

Brookes meanwhile was embroiled in a fierce battle with Jackson as the pair traded positions throughout the closing stages.

As the pack continued to close, Mackenzie was able to defend hard, but it was disappointment for O’Halloran as he got drafted to the chequered flag by Bridewell with just 0.026s separating them in second and third.

Brookes equalled his best result of the season in fourth, but was just 0.559s adrift of the win – the closest he has been this season on the VisionTrack Ducati, with Jackson completing the top five for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki.

Ryan Vickers held on to sixth place at his home round for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team ahead of Peter Hickman as the pair broke away from Rory Skinner.

Bradley Ray and Danny Buchan completed the top ten with five race now remaining to decide the eight Title Fighters in the Showdown.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, BikeSocial Race 1:

1.     Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
2.     Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.069s
3.     Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.095s
4.     Eazi-Grip supported Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.559s
5.     Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.866s
6.     Eazi-Grip supported Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +6.560s
7.     Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +6.855s
8.     Eazi-Grip supported Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +7.832s
9.     Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +9.696s
10.   Eazi-Grip supported Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +14.732s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after BikeSocial Race 1:

1.     Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 358
2.     Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 248
3.     Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 225
4.     Eazi-Grip supported Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 223
5.     Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 209
6.     Eazi-Grip supported Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 171
7.     Eazi-Grip supported Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 154
8.     Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki)144

Race Two

Jason O’Halloran upped the stakes by claiming the second Bennetts British Superbike Championship race win of the weekend at Snetterton. The Australian was victorious after an intense last lap battle with his McAMS Yamaha teammate Tarran Mackenzie as Tommy Bridewell completed the podium.

At the start of the race, Gino Rea had launched to the front of the pack from his second row start, and behind him Josh Brookes, Bridewell, Mackenzie and O’Halloran had been the leading contenders.

Mackenzie was instantly on the attack and he made a move at Wilson to put himself into third with Rea and Brookes his next targets. By the third lap, he had dived down the inside of Brookes at Agostini and then the Australian was locking horns with his fellow countryman, as O’Halloran also made a pass.

A lap later and Rea lost the lead with a costly mistake into Wilson, running wide and dropping to fifth position, which handed the lead to Mackenzie with O’Halloran, Bridewell and Jackson ahead of him.

Brookes had also lost some ground and he was then embroiled in the battle for sixth with Andrew Irwin, Ryan Vickers, Danny Buchan and Christian Iddon.

Bridewell then managed to split the McAMS Yamaha teammates by half race distance after O’Halloran ran wide at Wilson. The championship leader though was back attacking the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider two laps later to regain the position as the leading trio began to edge an advantage.

In the closing stages, O’Halloran had taken the lead on lap 13 with a decisive move at Wilson on Mackenzie, but the pair had Bridewell pushing them both until he had a moment at Coram when he caught his knee slider on the grass. He saved a crash, but just lost a few hundredths of a second to the leading pair ahead of the final two laps.

On the penultimate lap, Mackenzie held the lead, but O’Halloran fought back at Brundle to take the position. However, it wasn’t over and on the final lap, Mackenzie regained the advantage on the brakes into Agostini.

O’Halloran was piling the pressure on his teammate and made his move at the end of the Bentley Straight, before defending hard to take the chequered flag by 0.305s from Mackenzie. Bridewell maintained his run of six consecutive podium finishes with a consistent third place.

Brookes meanwhile had carved his way back through the order to hold off Rea for another fourth position as the defending champion now moves to within 23-points of a potential place in the Showdown with four races remaining.

Jackson was sixth as he still holds on to the eighth place in the standings, fighting off Ryan Vickers on the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki, Andrew Irwin on the leading SYNETIQ BMW and Rory Skinner.

Peter Hickman completed the top ten for FHO Racing BMW from Christian Iddon and Bradley Ray.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Race 2 result:

1.     Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha)
2.     Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.305s
3.     Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.885s
4.     Eazi-Grip supported Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +2.046s
5.     Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +2.979s
6.     Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +3.033s
7.     Eazi-Grip supported Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +6.422s
8.     Eazi-Grip supported Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +6.473s
9.     Eazi-Grip supported Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +8.972s
10.   Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +10.857s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Snetterton Race 2:

1.     Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 383
2.     Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 268
3.     Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 241
4.     Eazi-Grip supported Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 228
5.     Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 215
6.     Eazi-Grip supported Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 174
7.     Eazi-Grip supported Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 156
8.     Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 154

Race Three

Tarran Mackenzie dealt his rivals a winning blow in the final Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Snetterton, winning an intense five-lap dash following an earlier red flag, to secure the Pirelli Race of Aces trophy in the closest finish of the season so far.

The race began with Peter Hickman and Ryo Mizuno causing the start to be delayed with a problem on the grid, and the FHO Racing BMW rider would then begin the race from the back of the grid, whilst the Honda Racing rider did not take the restart.

When the race got underway, Mackenzie launched to the front of the pack with a lightening start from pole position to lead Gino Rea and Jason O’Halloran into Riches for the first time.

However championship leader O’Halloran was back ahead of the pack by the end of the opening lap as Bridewell had also pushed Mackenzie down the order into third.

Further down the field, Rory Skinner had a huge moment on the exit of Murrays on the second lap which saw the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki unseated and wrestling to get back into formation. He was incredibly able to regain his composure and continue.

By lap five, Bridewell had seized the advantage at Riches with a decisive move on his McAMS Yamaha rival and he was able to fend off the teammates over the following laps before the race was red flagged on lap nine.

Danny Buchan’s SYNETIQ BMW suffered a technical problem at the end of the Bentley Straight, causing him to crash heavily with Lee Jackson and Andrew Irwin also caught up in the incident. Jackson was unable to make the five lap restart due to damage to his FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, which puts him in a precarious position as he remains in eighth overall in the standings.

The race restarted with a five-lap sprint to the chequered flag, but Mackenzie again got the lead off the start ahead of Rea, but the Buildbase Suzuki rider was soon under attack as Bridewell and O’Halloran both moved ahead.

On the second lap Bridewell launched his bid for the win, taking the lead into Brundle to hold the McAMS Yamaha riders behind him.

Mackenzie was not defeated though, he made a move on Bridewell at Agostini on the penultimate lap to reclaim the lead with the pair going head-to-head on the final lap for the victory.

A mistake from Mackenzie at Nelson wasn’t enough to give Bridewell the opportunity he needed to take the win and just 0.048s separated the pair at the chequered flag with O’Halloran completing the podium line up.

The second place finish gave Bridewell confirmed status as a Title Fighter in the Showdown, with Christian Iddon ending the race in fifth place to become the fourth rider confirmed for the final three round championship fight.

Rea scored his best result of the season in fourth place, and he is one of the ten riders still mathematically in with a chance of the final four places in the Showdown next weekend at Silverstone.

Brookes was sixth in the final race of the weekend as the defending champion sits 13-points adrift of Jackson in the standings.

Hickman delivered an impressive performance to finish in seventh despite his original back row start on the FHO Racing BMW. He missed out by the narrowest of margins of confirming his place in the Showdown – just a single point would have secured his position.

Dan Linfoot had his best result of the season in eighth place ahead of Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde, who completed the top ten despite his heel injury from the Cadwell Park round.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Race 3 result:

1.     Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
2.     Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.048s
3.     Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.952s
4.     Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +1.152s
5.     Eazi-Grip supported Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.322s
6.     Eazi-Grip supported Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.515s
7.     Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +1.790s
8.     Dan Linfoot (TAG Honda) +2.516s
9.     Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +2.620s
10.   Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +4.138s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Snetterton:

1.     Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 399
2.     Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 293
3.     Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 261
4.     Eazi-Grip supported Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 239
5.     Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 224
6.     Eazi-Grip supported Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 174
7.     Eazi-Grip supported Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 161
8.     Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) 154