BSB Navarra: Vickers, Yamaha Complete a Sweep in Spain

The Circuito de Navarra hosts the opening round of the 2024 British Superbike Championship, with the 2024 BSB Navarra marking the first race for the series at the Spanish track.

Overview

• Race 2 - Vickers doubles up as Yamaha goes 1-2-3 again thanks to Kent and Ryde

• Race 1 - Vickers bests Ryde in first race as 2024, Kent makes it an all-Yamaha podium

• Qualifying - Kent on pole as Haslam, Bridewell fail to set a time

• FP1 - Vickers bests Ryde by 0.001 in first practice of 2024

Race 2

A second victory for Ryan Vickers saw him sweep the day in Navarra, as Yamaha completed a second podium lockout.

It was Kyle Ryde who made the holeshot in BSB Race 2, but his time at the front only lasted five laps. Danny Kent came past at turn one on lap six, and then Ryan Vickers came through at the same turn a lap later. Then, Ryde was under pressure from Honda's Tommy Bridewell, who was ousted from the battle by a bike issue on lap nine.

It took Vickers two attempts, but he eventually got his way to the front on lap 10 at the first turn. From there, the #7 was almost faultless - he almost threw it all away with a huge front slide at the final corner on the last lap, but it ultimately made no difference to the result. Except for maybe his gap to Kent, which was 0.277 seconds.

Kent was followed home by Ryde in a more or less carbon copy of the first race, while Leon Haslam filled the role played by Glenn Irwin in Race 1 in the second outing, finishing fourth behind the Yamaha trio, the #91 only differing from the #2 in his machinery: BMW.

Christian Iddon was fifth on the leading Ducati, ahead of Kawasaki debutante Jason O’Halloran in sixth. The second Completely Motorbikes ZX-10RR of Max Cook was just behind his teammate in seventh. Glenn Irwin was ahead of both the Kawasaki riders in the middle of the race but dropped behind them both to eighth at the end, finishing ahead of Charlie Nesbitt on the leading Honda in ninth, and Peter Hickman for FHO Racing in 10th.

Full BSB results from Race 2 in Navarra are below.

2024 BSB Navarra | Race 2 Results

Race 1

The 2024 British Superbike Championship began with a victory for Ryan Vickers, who topped an all-Yamaha podium in Navarra.

Only two races will be run in Navarra this weekend in the BSB class, and the first was won by a recovering Ryan Vickers, who returned to the front on lap 18 after losing an early advantage to his OMG Yamaha teammate Kyle Ryde.

Ryde led for the majority of the race, but he lost out to Vickers with three laps to go, and the #7 was untouchable in that final trio of tours. Vickers’ final winning margin over Ryde was 1.3 seconds, while the #77 had another seven tenths in hand over the third Yamaha of Danny Kent.

Glenn Irwin began his 2024 season with a fourth place, before a pretty sizable gap back to a lonely Rory Skinner in fifth. Christian Iddon led the second group in sixth, ahead of Tommy Bridewell in seventh on his Honda debut, Max Cook in eighth on the top Kawasaki, Charlie Nesbitt in ninth, and Jason O’Halloran who rounded out the top 10 on his Kawasaki debut.

Full BSB results from Race 1 in Navarra are below.

2024 BSB Navarra | Race 1 Results

Qualifying

The Navarra BSB kicked the 2024 season off with a Superpole qualifying format that was won by Danny Kent, who took his first BSB pole.

Kent’s main opposition were fellow Yamaha riders Ryan Vickers and Kyle Ryde, but both OMG riders came up short in comparison to the #52 McAMS Racing rider. Kent took pole by just under half-a-tenth-of-a-second over Vickers, while Ryde was just under two-tenths back in third.

Glenn Irwin took fourth place on the sole PBM Ducati, ahead of Rory Skinner in fifth and Peter Hickman in sixth. Lee Jackson heads up row three in seventh, ahead of eighth-placed Max Cook on the leading Kawasaki and Charlie Nesbitt in ninth, making the #86 the top-placed Honda.

Christian Iddon rounded out the qualifying top 10, ahead of Jason O’Halloran in 11th and Josh Brookes in 12th.

The slightly odd format of the BSB Navarra weekend that means there are only two races at the 2024 opener also meant that FP2 was essentially a qualifying warm-up. Despite its limited importance, it had an impact on the weekend of Honda rider Tommy Bridewell, who did not set a lap time after suffering a technical issue.

In qualifying, Bridewell suffered a mechanical fault as he approached the super-fast turn one on his hot lap, but fortunately managed to pull off-track seemingly without contaminating the track as the red flag which followed was relatively brief.

Bridewell was one of three riders not to set a time in Superpole, as before him fellow Honda rider Fraser Rogers suffered a less dramatic technical problem than Bridewell’s but one which nonetheless prevented him from setting a representative lap time, and then Leon Haslam crashed on his fast lap.

Full BSB results from qualifying and the pre-qualifying FP2 sessions in Navarra are below.

2024 BSB Navarra | Qualifying Results

2024 BSB Navarra | FP2 Results

FP1

The OMG Yamaha team continued its encouraging speed from preseason into the first practice of 2024 at the Circuito de Navarra, with Ryan Vickers beating Kyle Ryde by 0.001 seconds to top FP1 in Spain.

Behind the two OMG R1s was a third Yamaha, the McAMS Racing machine of Danny Kent completing the top three. The fastest non-Yamaha was the #1 Honda of reigning BSB Champion Tommy Bridewell, 0.189 seconds adrift in fourth place.

Leon Haslam was the fastest BMW rider in fifth, ahead of Glenn Irwin on the sole PBM Ducati in sixth. Jason O'Halloran began his Kawasaki career in seventh, ahead of Christian Iddon in eighth, Fraser Rogers in an impressive ninth for TAG Honda, and Peter Hickman on the FHO BMW who rounded out the top 10.

Full BSB times from FP1 in Navarra are below.

2024 BSB Navarra | FP1 Results

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Image credit: Ian Hopgood.