BSB Knockhill: Iddon Back to the Top in Red Flagged Race 3

Round four of the 2024 British Superbike Championship takes the series to Knockhill. Ahead of BSB Knockhill, Glenn Irwin holds a 12-point championship lead over Danny Kent. Tommy Bridewell converted pole position to a first Honda win in Race 1, Rory Skinner hit the top step for the first time in BSB in Race 2, and Christian Iddon won a red flagged Race 3.

Overview

• Race 3 - Iddon wins red flagged Race 3 ahead of Bridewell, Kent

• Race 2 - Skinner victorious in rain-soaked Race 2 as Bridewell takes points lead

• Race 1 - Bridewell secures first Honda win in dominant fashion

• Qualifying - Bridewell takes first Honda pole in red flagged Knockhill qualifying

• Friday Practice - Skinner tops soaked first day in Scotland

Race 3

Christian Iddon took victory in the third and final BSB race at Knockhill, which was shortened due to a red flag.

When it came out on lap 23, Iddon had been leading for over 20 laps, having taken point from Rory Skinner on lap two. It was Iddon's first win since moving to the Oxford Products Ducati team last year. 

The red flag was caused by a crash for Leon Haslam, who was shown sitting up in the gravel trap by TV cameras.

 

Tommy Bridewell had shadowed Iddon for much of the race, and might have been preparing something for the final laps, but the red flag meant any such plans went unexecuted. The same could be said for Danny Kent, who was third and showing good speed late on.

Rory Skinner was unable to repeat his victory of Race 2, being pushed back by the three riders ahead of him despite taking the lead on the first lap.

Billy McConnell also ran in the podium positions in the first half of the race, but he dropped back to fifth in the second half. Fraser Rogers was sixth, ahead of Danny Buchan, Charlie Nesbitt, Glenn Irwin, and Lee Jackson who completed the top 10.

Full BSB results from Race 3 in Knockhill are below.

2024 British Superbike Championship | Knockhill | Race 3 Result

Race 2

Rory Skinner secured his first BSB victory in Race 2 at a soaking Knockhill.

Skinner didn’t make the holeshot, that went to Tommy Bridewell who started from pole position, but the Scot was in the lead by the end of the first lap.

 

From there, it was all about management for Skinner, who kept Bridewell at bay until the reigning champion started to fall back, and back behind Christian Iddon. The #24 reduced the gap to Skinner and was in contention with five laps to go, but he went wide at the final corner on consecutive laps - 16 and 17 - which let Skinner go.

The lap 16 mistake seemed to suck in Danny Kent, who by then had also made his way around Bridewell for third place. While Iddon merely ran wide, though, Kent lost the front and crashed out.

That put Bridewell back on the podium, which almost became second place by the flag, but Iddon just beat him on the run to the line. They were both almost five seconds behind the victorious Skinner.

Storm Stacey was in a battle early on with Leon Haslam, but the #91 retired on lap nine. From there it was mostly a fairly lonely ride for the #79, and he finished fourth, just under a second clear of Charlie Nesbitt in fifth.

Fraser Rogers was sixth, ahead of Billy McConnell and Glenn Irwin, whose eighth place from the back of the grid (after a penalty from Race 1) meant he lost the championship lead to Bridewell.

Full BSB results from Race 2 in Knockhill are below.

2024 British Superbike Championship | Knockhill | Race 2 Result

Race 1

Tommy Bridewell converted a first Honda pole to a first Honda win in BSB Race 1 at Knockhill.

The reigning champion made the holeshot from pole, and controlled the race from there. His lead extended to a peak of around five seconds, although it reduced to 2.5 seconds by the end.

That was no doubt in part thanks to Bridewell controlling the pace, but credit must also go to Rory Skinner, who charged through, with excellent pace, from eighth on the grid to finish second. A series of passes at the final hairpin were the key for Skinner’s ascent up the leaderboard, with his charge completed by lap 18.

HIs final victim was Andrew Irwin, who had passed Jason O’Halloran for second place only a couple of laps previously, but who also had nothing to offer in response to Skinner’s attack.

In any case, Irwin held on to score his first podium since moving to Honda in 2023, building on the progress he seemed to make at the previous round in Donington.

Kyle Ryde was fourth, ahead of Jason O’Halloran who dropped to fifth by the end. Josh Brookes rounded out the top six, ahead of Danny Kent, Lee Jackson, Charlie Nesbitt, and Leon Haslam who rounded out the top 10.

Glenn Irwin was in podium contention for much of the race, but his Ducati began to smoke around lap 18. He was shown the black and orange flag, and retired on lap 21. He maintains his championship lead, but it’s now reduced to four points.

Full BSB results from Race 1 in Knockhill are below.

2024 British Superbike Championship | Knockhill | Race 1 Result

Qualifying

Tommy Bridewell took pole position for BSB Knockhill, his first of the season and first as a Honda rider.

Q2 was red flagged for a crash for Kyle Ryde, who appeared to sustain pain to his knee. After the session went green again, Bridewell took a few laps to set his best time, but was still back in the pits with two minutes to go. He’ll line up alongside the Australian pairing of Jason O’Halloran and Josh Brookes on the front row.

Ryan Vickers was fourth, ahead of Glenn Irwin and the second factory Honda of Andrew Irwin, while Danny Kent heads up row three ahead of Rory Skinner. Christian Iddon completes the third row in ninth, after almost missing out on Q2 - Franco Bourne was faster in Q1, but had several laps deleted for cutting the pit exit on the run into turn one.

The major casualties from Q1 were Max Cook and Peter Hickman. Cook’s qualifying was over before it started due to damage from a crash in FP3 which meant he couldn’t set a lap, and Hickman simply missed the speed to make the top three and ended up down in 21st.

Full BSB results from qualifying in Knockhill are below.

2024 British Superbike Championship | Knockhill | Qualifying Result

Friday Practice

Rory Skinner was fastest on day one in Kncokhill, across two sessions that were both severely rain-affected.

Skinner's time came in the very first minutes of FP1, after which rain meant that no one was able to improve. FP1 was red flagged for a substantial period due to especially hard rain, while FP2 saw no dry running at all

The BSB format means that the fastest 12 riders from Friday are seeded straight through to Q2 on Saturday. That was bad news for OMG Yamaha's Kyle Ryde, who sat out FP1 due to an illness picked up overnight.

The news was better for Tommy Bridewell, Leon Haslam, Danny Buchan, Josh Brookes, Danny Kent, Glenn Irwin, Lee Jackson, Jason O'Halloran, Andrew Irwin, Charlie Nesbitt, and Ryan Vickers, though, as they all made the top 12 in those early minutes of FP1.

Full BSB results from FP1 and FP2 in Knockhill are below.

2024 British Superbike Championship | Knockhill | FP2 Result

2024 British Superbike Championship | Knockhill | FP1 Result

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Image credit: Ian Hopgood.