isionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon claimed his first victory in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton this afternoon, becoming the third different race winner of 2020 following a dramatic opening race in Norfolk.

Josh Brookes got off to a flying start with the pack instantly on the attack and Danny Buchan had grabbed the lead as the pack hit Wilson with Iddon in second. However, a crash on the opening lap for Andrew Irwin, and his stricken Honda Racing Fireblade in the middle of the track at Agostini, caused the deployment of the BMW Safety Car.

The pack lined up with Buchan, Iddon, Brookes, and Jason O'Halloran the leading contenders; but when the race went green on lap four, Buchan crashed his Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki at Palmer, putting him out of contention.

Iddon then led the pack and he had begun to edge out an advantage, but as the race continued the chasing pack had reeled him back in and Bradley Ray was soon into second for the SYNETIQ BMW team ahead of Brookes and Tommy Bridewell.

The battle for the podium places went down to the wire and Iddon had the margin he needed to claim his first win, but behind the pack had shuffled again and Brookes and Bridewell had managed to get back ahead of Ray.

Brookes was able to hold off an equally determined Bridewell to the chequered flag as they completed a Ducati podium top three, but Glenn Irwin was in the fight too. The Honda Racing rider was also able to make a last lap move on Ray to claim fourth place to maintain his championship lead ahead of rounds four and five tomorrow.

Lee Jackson was sixth on the remaining Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki with the McAMS Yamaha team locking out the next two places in seventh and eighth with Ryan Vickers in ninth.

Buildbase Suzuki’s Kyle Ryde completed the top ten after an impressive performance of carving through the field during the race, following a problem on the opening lap, which put him at the very end of the train of riders behind the BMW Safety Car before the race resumed.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Round 4 result:

Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati)
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.303s
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.345s
Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +1.470s
Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) +2.228s
Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +2.451s
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +6.961s
Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +7.093s
Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) +7.182s
Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) +9.339s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Round 4:

Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 73
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 59
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 59
Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) 50
Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 48
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 46
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 37
Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) 28
Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) 27
Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) 26

Josh Brookes celebrated his first victory in 2020, becoming the fourth different race winner in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, claiming the win in round five at Snetterton this afternoon for VisionTrack Ducati.

At the start Glenn Irwin launched off the pole position into the lead for Honda Racing with Brookes, Tommy Bridewell, Christian Iddon and Bradley Ray all at the sharp end when the race got underway.

Glenn Irwin had been holding position at the front of the pack, but on the second lap Danny Buchan tagged Bradley Ray’s rear tyre and crashed his Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki at Agostinis. The contact left Ray forced to rejoin down the pack and the SYNETIQ BMW rider ended the race in tenth place.

Lee Jackson meanwhile was flying the flag for the Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki team; he had worked his way into fourth place meanwhile at the front of the field Brookes had made a move on Glenn Irwin to snatch the lead.

Brookes was holding off a hard-charging Glenn Irwin with Bridewell and Jackson the leading quartet who were battling for the podium positions. The championship leader made a move on Brookes for the lead at Agostini but he couldn’t quite make it stick, and then a problem towards the end of the race meant Glenn Irwin had to settle for second and the valuable championship points.

Bridewell had been on the attack too but he finished the race in third place and Jackson completed his best result of the season in fourth place, with yesterday’s race winner Iddon claiming fifth place.

Kyle Ryde was able to bag sixth place for the Buildbase Suzuki team, ahead of the battling McAMS Yamahas, with Tarran Mackenzie having the edge over Jason O'Halloran, with Luke Mossey in ninth place on the lone Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW, after Héctor Barberá crashed out unhurt.

Andrew Irwin had been carving his way through the field after his back row start, but the Honda Racing rider was involved in an incident with Ryan Vickers on lap 13 at Murrays, which saw both riders crash out of the race.

The Race Direction have penalised Andrew Irwin with a drop of three grid positions for his next race start and enabled two of the three suspended penalty points that were imposed on 9 August 2020.

No intention of appeal has been lodged.    

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Round 5 result:

Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati)
Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 0.490s
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.696s
Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +0.853s
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +2.682s
Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) +2.966s
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +3.889s
Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +9.549s
Luke Mossey (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +11.845s
Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) +19.310s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Round 5:

Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 93
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 75
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 71
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 70
Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 56
Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) 50
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 46
Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) 39
Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) 38
Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) 27

Glenn Irwin became the fifth different winner in the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship in the final race of the day at Snetterton, and in doing so added his name to an illustrious list of previous winners by claiming the Monster Energy Race of Aces trophy.

In the final race of the weekend, Christian Iddon got the leap off the pole position to lead the pack, ahead of his VisionTrack Ducati teammate Josh Brookes and Tommy Bridewell on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati.

The Ducati trio were battling at the front with the order changing on lap four as Bridewell took the lead ahead of Brookes and Iddon when the trio went three deep into Wilsons. Meanwhile as they battled for the advantage, Glenn Irwin had been making his way up the order; he had been running seventh after the opening lap, but he was soon fighting with his brother Andrew for fourth place on track.

Glenn Irwin soon had made a move on his brother at Agostini on lap five, but Andrew was ready to fight back and a lap later regained the position at Riches.

As the Honda Racing pairing fought it out for fourth place, the VisionTrack Ducati teammates were also trading blows with Iddon moving ahead of Brookes into Wilson on lap six. The Australian was then coming under attack from Glenn Irwin, who had managed to get the better of his brother.

Glenn Irwin made his move on Brookes and then had Bridewell and Iddon ahead of him, after the Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider had taken the advantage at the front of the pack.

By lap nine it had all shuffled again with Iddon leading from Bridewell with Glenn Irwin pushing the Ducati pairing ahead of him, the Honda Racing contender then moved into second with a move on lap nine at Agostini and then a lap later claimed the lead.

Brookes had moved into third and back into a podium position with Bridewell back in fourth place by lap 11 with Lee Jackson, Tarran Mackenzie and Andrew Irwin also in the lead group as the leading manufacturers battled for the points.

By lap 15 Bridewell had moved back ahead of Brookes and then had Iddon in his sights for second place after Glenn Irwin had edged a gap at the front in the closing stages. Bridewell waited until the final dive into Murrays to make a move on Iddon to put him into second, which he held until the finish line.

Jackson meanwhile had got the better of Brookes for fourth place on the final lap with Mackenzie leading the McAMS Yamahas home, just ahead of teammate Jason O'Halloran. Andrew Irwin, Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde completed the top ten.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Snetterton, Round 6 result:

1.Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing)
2.Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.138s
3.Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.441s
4.Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +2.255s
5.Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +2.300s
6.Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +2.359s
7.Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +3.462s
8.Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +6.510s
9.Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) +7.303s
10.Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) +7.402s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Snetterton:

1.Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 118
2.Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 95
3.Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 86
4.Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) 82
5.Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 65
6.Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) 58
7.Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 56
8.Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) 52
9.Kyle Ryde (Buildbase Suzuki) 44
10.Bradley Ray (SYNETIQ BMW) 30