2021 British Superbike, Brands Hatch - Race 1 Results

Tarran Mackenzie extends his British Superbike title lead with a tense victory over Tommy Bridewell in the opening race at the 2021 Brands Hatch season finale.

Mackenzie began the day with a 10-point advantage over McAMS Yamaha team-mate Jason O'Halloran, with Christian Iddon 15-points from the top and Bridewell 21-points adrift.

Having made the most of damp qualifying conditons to take a shock pole position on his TAG Racing Honda debut, Luke Mossey was soon passed by fellow front-row starters Iddon and Mackenzie. Bridewell slotted into an early fourth behind Andrew Irwin while O'Halloran made gains from eleventh on the grid.

Bridewell overtook Irwin soon after to make it three title fighters in the top four (with O'Halloran still in seventh) before the Safety Car briefly appeared due to a fall for Josh Owens.

When the action resumed, Bridewell tagged the back of Iddon as the PBM rider cut back to the racing line after a failed pass on Mackenzie at Druids, but soon recovered from to re-catch and pass his fellow Ducati rider for second.

Bridewell then piled the pressure on race leader Mackenzie in the closing laps but was left just 0.160s short at the chequered flag. Iddon completed the podium while O'Halloran climbed up the order for best of the rest in fourth.

All of which means Mackenzie will take a 22-point lead over O'Halloran into the first of Sunday's races, with Iddon now 24 points behind and Bridewell -26.