An illustrated recap from Snetterton - BSB 2024 - Round Five - Superbike, Supersport, Superstock, Superteen and Sportbike (2024)

2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round Five – Snetterton
Sunday

Glenn Irwin moved back to the top of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after claiming a double race win at Snetterton. The Hager PBM Ducati rider held off his fierce rival Tommy Bridewell to claim the Quattro Group Race of Aces Trophy with just four points separating the pair ahead of Brands Hatch in a fortnights time.

British Superbike Race Two

The second race of the weekend began in dry conditions and race one winner Storm Stacey got the launch off the line to lead the pack into Riches for the first time before Kyle Ryde took the lead into Wilson. However, Irwin was on the attack and he moved to the front and then was pushing to break the pack.

Irwin and Ryde had an edge with Ryan Vickers, Iddon, Bridewell and Danny Kent giving chase. It had been an impressive start from Bridewell as he carved his way up to third by lap five from his 16th place grid start.

However, the BMW Safety Car was deployed when Louis Valleley stopped with a technical problem and the bike caught fire, but whilst the Herock Racesafe marshals dealt with the incident, the rain began to fall and the race was red flagged.

The race restarted over five laps and Ryde got the holeshot to lead but as the pack reached Agostini, Irwin made his move and then edged out an advantage.

The battle for second though went Bridewell’s way as the reigning champion gave himself work to do after dropping down the order at the start to fifth on the opening lap, moving back through to second by lap three.

Iddon then grabbed third with a move at Brundle on the third lap to nudge Ryde back into fourth ahead of Andrew Irwin and Danny Kent. Vickers meanwhile ended a lonely seventh with Jason O’Halloran, Charlie Nesbitt and Josh Brookes completing the top ten.

British Superbike Race Two Results

British Superbike Race Three

Glenn Irwin then held off the pressure from his closest rivals to claim a double win and the Quattro Group Race of Aces trophy in an intense race three as he went head-to-head with Bridewell as Iddon also got into the mix, with just 0.125s separating the leading pair at the chequered flag.

At the start, Iddon launched into the lead from Ryde, Irwin and Danny Kent, but Irwin was determined and he first moved ahead of the McAMS Racing Yamaha rider at Agostini and by lap four had also picked off Ryde for second.

The leading trio began to have an edge as Iddon held off Irwin and Bridewell over the opening laps, but Irwin was pushing for the lead and he grabbed the advantage at Agostini on lap seven. Bridewell wasn’t going to let Irwin make a break though, and he attempted to get ahead with a pass at Murrays, but the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider instantly fought back to regain the position.

Bridewell was able to make his move on lap eight for second and then he was hunting Irwin and on the last lap, the reigning champion was piling on the pressure. The Hager PBM Ducati rider made a mistake at Wilson, running wide, which allowed Bridewell to get alongside but Irwin wasn’t relenting into Palmer.

Irwin held off Bridewell to the finish with Iddon completing a double dose of podium finishes as he remained in striking distance of the pair at the finish line. Kent was leading the chasing pack in fourth place with Ryde and Andrew Irwin completing the top six.

Josh Brookes had another top eight finish for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad, holding off Vickers with Jason O’Halloran and Charlie Nesbitt rounding out the top ten finishers.

British Superbike Race Three Results

Rider Quotes

Glenn Irwin

“I was really pleased with both wins and it’s good to be back in the championship lead. I’ve probably lost a little bit this last month, but we continue to work hard and massive thanks to the team for the bike they gave me. We experimented a little bit in the first race and found some areas that worked well and others where we could still improve but I rode with clarity and resilience, and it was a well-executed victory. The weather conditions changed for the second race which meant I struggled with grip especially in the second half of the race and I lost the front several times. I had to dig deep and did a really good last lap so fair play to Tommy and Christian as they were there all the way. I love racing against Tommy as he’s like me and never gives up. It’s nice to get the Race of Aces trophy as well so a big thanks to the team and get well soon Jordan.”

Tommy Bridewell

“Yeah race one was an enjoyable one for definite, in truth those short aggressive races aren’t always my forte. I got a bad start and dropped back to sixth or seventh and thought ‘Oh no I thought I’d done all the hard work in the previous start.’ Needless to say, I managed to pull back through and could see Glenn out front. I was overriding a little and we made a little mistake in not fitting two new tyres when it was declared a wet race. The new rear was pushing the front. But look, we started sixteenth and finished second and it was an enjoyable race. Race two just was a bit of a tough one to sum up in truth, in some areas I felt really really strong, but then in other areas I was having to work really hard to stay with the others. In all truth, this circuit was always going to be a little tricky because you need the power here with a long uphill straight after a tight corner. I gave it everything though and to come away with two seconds after a bit of an off yesterday is super positive. I’m happy, the team is working great and Honda is working hard, we know what we need to work on and we will go away and keep on pushing.”

Andrew Irwin

“Race one was definitely a better result, but I think I’m still a little too kind at the start of the race. I got a bit beat up and then shuffled back so I think a little more aggression at the start would help. To come away from race one with a fifth and to be frustrated gives a good indication of where we are. It was a short race yes, but we weren’t far away from the podium fight, which is positive. Then in the second race we ran in the front group for the whole race and proved that we have the pace now to run closer with the front guys. Over the course of a long sixteen lap race we’ve finished just two seconds back from the front. Yes the results this weekend aren’t incredible, but a seventh, fifth & sixth shows that we are getting some consistency. We’ve arrived at the group we want to be racing with, the next step is to start fighting with that group. I’m looking forward to getting to Brands and keeping this momentum going.”

Josh Brookes

“It has been a very much up and down weekend; the opening practice was terrible! We had lots of issues with brakes and just the general setup of the bike wasn’t particularly favourable. The second session was far better, we were sixth in the times; the brakes were improved, not fixed but improved and the general settings of the BMW were pretty much nearly how we ran the rest of the weekend. Where things came undone for us was when it started to rain. I didn’t go too bad in qualifying in seventh, that was probably the best the bike felt in the rain. The bike was half and half, for the first half of the race I went with intermediate tyres and felt really good, I was moving forward towards the end of the race and with eight laps to go, I set the fastest lap of the race, so it was all showing good progress. But then the rain came, so then we were on full wets, and I just went backwards, or whatever we’ve done with the bike which wasn’t anything I can really put my finger on, but it reduced our performance. Fortunately, we had two dry races on Sunday, where in the final race we showed good progress and we had signs of improvement. It’s an odd one as we started the weekend where we finished really, as we were in the top five/six from the beginning of the weekend, but the weather put us back, so we did make progress with the setup and feeling, it just didn’t reflect on the times and being able to move further up.”

Peter Hickman

“The weekend was as to be expected really, I’m not in a great place at the minute so I just wanted to keep riding, keep doing laps and laps, and laps! And try not to focus on the position too much, just have the feeling of me on the bike, which we’ve done to be fair I feel a bit more comfortable again. I actually had a bit of a race in the last race and not just riding around by myself, we weren’t in the position that we want to be racing for don’t get me wrong, but at least I was having a better race. So yeah overall, it’s not been too bad a weekend, it would have been nice to have got the 10th on Saturday in the rain without slipping off, but hey that’s the way things go sometimes but overall it’s been positive weekend.”

Dean Harrison

“We’ve just had one of those weekends where we’ve been on the back foot all weekend. The combination of weather and some little technical problems has cost us track time, which ultimately means you are spending the weekend in a recovery mode. This game is all about momentum and it can be difficult to build that at times. In the first race I actually got a really good start and we were running with the group from tenth all the way back to us, I felt good on the bike too so I thought we were on for a good result. Then it was restarted and I got clipped at the start and dropped to the back pretty much. With only five laps it’s super difficult to get going again. In the second race, lap time wise we aren’t far from running in the top ten positions, we just have too much to do from our grid positions. I’m looking forward to Brands and having a solid problem free weekend which allows us to show our real potential.”

British Superbike Championship Points

British Supersport / GP2 Feature Race

Jack Kennedy took victory over Ben Currie in the Feature race at Snetterton, as the race was cut short by two laps when rain began to fall.

The race was a battle between the reigning and former champion from the start, as the pair took turns at the front.

The lead swapped between the pair several times, with Kennedy leading for a few laps mid race before Currie hit the front on Lap Eight. But Kennedy was soon back ahead and although Currie was right on his rear wheel, he didn’t get the chance to pass again as the race was flagged on lap 10.

Luke Stapleford was third, ahead of Harry Truelove, as Alastair Seeley crossed the line fifth.

Jack Kennedy

“After the disappointment of yesterday I am over the moon to repay the team with a win, which I truly feel they deserve for all of their hard work, not just this weekend but throughout the year. The race itself was very close and there was some brilliant clean hard racing which I really enjoyed. There were obvious strengths and weaknesses between the two of us at the front which made for some very close racing, but I feel this is a just reward for wrecking the bike yesterday and giving the team some work to do overnight. We’ve shown here that we have some really strong pace and I look forward to going again at Brands in a few weeks time.”

It was another GP2 victory for Owen Jenner, again ahead of his Kramer team-mate Jack Nixon, as Keo Walker was third.

In the Cup, Cameron Hall rode an impressive race to take the spoils, finishing 12th overall as Harry Cook was second and Lynden Leatherland third.

British Supersport / GP2 Feature Race Results

British Supersport Championship Points

GP2 Championship Points

Supersport Cup Championship Points

Pirelli National Superstock Race

Joe Talbot scored his first win of the year as he held off Tom Ward to take victory by 0.084secs.

In a race which was stopped halfway through and the restarted over five laps, Talbot – who has been running up front all weekend – managed to power to victory, as Luke Mossey took third.

Points leader Davey Todd could only manage fourth this time, as Scott Swann, who had led earlier in the race, was fifth.

Pirelli National Superstock Race Results

Pirelli National Superstock Points

Pirelli National Sportbike

Edoardo Colombi emerged victorious after a race-long battle with Richard Cooper to bank his fourth win of the season.

The Italian spent the whole race battling with Cooper and the fight went all the way to the line,Colombi taking it by a mere 0.064secs.

ThomasStrudwick took third, less than half an hour after his Heat win in the ABK Beer 0% BMW Motorrad F 900 R Cup, as Harrison Dessoy was fourth and Aaron Silvester fifth.

Pirelli National Sportbike Race Results

Pirelli National Sportbike Points

Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen Race

Lewis Smart won a dramatic Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen race after a three-rider battle ended in disaster on the final lap.

Smart, Carl Harris and Ted Wilkinson had been battling for the win but on the final lap, Harris crashed out and hit Wilkinson.

Wilkinson was able to stay on but lost any hope of a podium, as ROKiT Rookies Kalvin Kelly and Brodie Gawith picked up second and third.

Fourth was Chloe Jones while Greg Marshall finished fifth as Wilkinson managed to salvage sixth.

Henry Snell added to his points tally with a ninth place result despite various issues causing him to lose a lot of track time leading up to the race.

Lewis Smart leads Brodie Gawith in the series by six-points.

Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen Race Results

Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen Points