2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch - Qualifying Results

Ryan Vickers was in top form and lowered his own best time to claim pole position at the sixth round of the championship, at Brands Hatch.

Vickers landed pole last time out in the tricky wet conditions at Snetterton but was equally at home in the dry on his OMG Grilla Yamaha. The #7 set the early benchmark, then lowered it to a best of 1m 25.061s with seven minutes of the session remaining - a lap that remained unmatched.

Danny Kent came closest to toppling Vickers, within 0.093s of the pole lap as the former Moto3 champion pushed hard to better his time aboard his McAMS bike for a Yamaha 1-2 on the grid.
 

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Glenn Irwin went out for one lap and was deeply unhappy on his Hagar PBM Ducati. On the #2 bike, Irwin arrived championship leader after a Snetterton Sunday double and had set the best time on Friday to top the riders automatically into Q2, with his best lap coming right at the end of the session, toppling Tommy Bridewell.

Heading out on track for the final four minutes, the Northern Irish rider took advantage of finding himself behind Jason O’Halloran on track and towed himself out of trouble and up to the front row for third.

There was a busy pit at the start of the session, with not just Irwin making a swift return, as he was soon joined by Leon Haslam, Andrew Irwin, his Honda teammate Bridewell and Josh Brookes.

The tweaks worked out for Brookes, the record holder at the Kent track, as he moved from 13th to fourth on his return for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad. It was mixed fortunes for the team as Peter Hickman finished the session 15th and last.

Tommy Bridewell also made gains once back in action, moving up to fifth from twelfth. 

The reigning champion went for a final flying lap which looked set to move him to the front row and possibly pole, when a huge moment coming out of Clark Curve/ Clearways on the Honda lead to a big save being needed, with Bridewell looking disappointed not to move higher up the grid in the pits.

Haslam moved up to sixth, but too had issues - finding himself behind Glenn Irwin who sat up while the ROKiT BMW rider was looking for improvements, leaving the #91 cutting a frustrated figure aboard his bike.

Jason O’Halloran was circulating near fellow Australian Brookes as he moved into seventh for Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki.

Kyle Ryde was the best of the riders to move up from Q1, with his tyre change on the second OMG Grilla Yamaha playing into his eighth place slot.

Christian Iddon finshed qualifying ninth for Oxford Products Ducati, but easily within half a second of the pole time in an incredibly close session.

Danny Buchan made the top ten for DAO Racing after he too made his way through Q1, leaving Andrew Irwin - who had been top just minutes before in FP3 - in eleventh.

Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:

Lap record: Josh Brookes (Yamaha, 2017) 1m 24.873s

Brands Hatch in 2023:

Round 6
Qualifying (superpole): 
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Ryan Vickers
3: Josh Brookes

Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Danny Kent
3: Christian Iddon

Race 2:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Christian Iddon
3: Danny Kent

Race 3:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Ryan Vickers

Round 11 (showdown)
Qualifying : 
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Leon Haslam
3: Charlie Nesbitt

Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Jason O’Halloran
3: Tommy Bridewell

Race 2:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Kyle Ryde

Race 3:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Kyle Ryde

Q1- Ryde’s tyre change sees him move up, no progress for Stacey

Ryde had dropped to the final graduation pace while in the pits, his team completed a front tyre change just in time for him to return to track and set the best time of the session.

That pushed Franco Bourne (13th), the previous session leader, to second for Rapid Honda, with Danny Buchan joining them in Q2.

A Snetterton race winner in the wet, Storm Stacey could not find a way through in the dry heat of Brands Hatch, so will line up 23rd after finishing the session with the 11th best time.

Lewis Rollo was again the best of the Pathway bikes, earning 18th on the grid after finishing the session sixth for Aprilia.

The first half of qualifying saw Louis Valleley (27th) shown the black/orange flag after marshals spotted smoke from his NP Racing Kawasaki.

There were late falls for Brayden Elliott (24th) and Tom Neave (17th), who had been pushing for the top three before a highside out of Surtees.

There is a change of personnel for Brands at the Cheshire Mouldings BMW team. As Rory Skinner continues his recovery at home in Fife, Richard Kerr, the reigning National Superstock 1000cc champion has been brought as the replacement for this round. The rider from Donegal placed 26th.