Saturday wrap from Snetterton

Images Dave Yeomans

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Danny Buchan claimed his first Bennetts British Superbike Championship pole position of the season at Snetterton on Saturday afternoon, storming to the top of the times in Datatag Qualifying to put the Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki fastest by 0.067s.

At the start of Datatag Qualifying the initial pace had been set by Bradley Ray and the SYNETIQ BMW rider continued to push during the session as he bid for his first front row start with the team.

However in the final four minutes of the session, Buchan had pulled the pin and he was the only rider to dip into the 1m:47s lap times to give him the edge in the closing stages. Ray had been narrowly adrift and he was holding second place, just ahead of Josh Brookes who moved third on his final lap.

Kyle Ryde was on a charge again though on the Buildbase Suzuki and he leapt up the order from outside the top five into second place. That pushed Ray into third and Brookes off the front row for the opening race at Snetterton.

Glenn Irwin has a ten-point advantage at the top of the championship standings and he will start fifth on the grid for round four of the season, pipping Lee Jackson who completes row two.

Christian Iddon heads row three on the grid on the second of the VisionTrack Ducatis, with Andrew Irwin qualifying eighth fastest, however he will start the first race at Snetterton from the back of the grid following his accumulation of penalty points at Donington Park.

Ryan Vickers and Jason O’Halloran completed the top ten with the top 13 riders in Datatag Qualifying covered by less than a second.

Superbike Qualifying

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Superbike Race One

VisionTrack 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 for the first time 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 out of the lead at Palmer, putting him out of contention.

Iddon then had the lead 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.

Christian Iddon – P1

“The race was an interesting one! From the very first lap I had a problem with the gearbox and I hit neutral going in to the second corner. Thankfully, because there was a bit of everything going on, it gave me a bit of an escape route and I had to be very careful in to the first gear corners, of which there are three on the track for me here. We had the Safety Car and the minute that we got going Danny lost the front immediately and that put me in the lead. I kind of thought to myself, ‘well here we are’ and I just tried to keep it consistent. Josh came through and I thought I wanted to continue to lead. He came through with a couple of laps to go and I had done all the donkey work and I didn’t want someone else to reap the benefits so I tried to get him straight back, which I did make stick. I actually won the race twice; I had the emotion twice because I misread the pit board so I came out the last corner with two laps to go, thinking it was the last lap and I was all excited thinking that no one had managed to pass me and then had to do it all over again! It was a horrible last two laps rather than just a horrible last lap, thinking about all the things that we had been through to get to this point, so a big thank you to the team. I don’t think we have dropped on the setting that any of us are really looking for but to be able to win the race without feeling absolutely awesome on the bike is amazing. A big thanks to everyone who has supported me for a very long period, hopefully this is a bit of a repayment.”

Josh Brookes – P2

“I’ve got to be happy with second place and finishing on the podium again as that’s really important with the shortened championship, but I felt a little bit off and am missing a little something. I can’t attack in the race like I’d like, and I’ve got to look at all possibilities as to why that is, so it was a hard-fought race. There was lots of passing going on, but I didn’t feel I was riding as aggressively as I know I can so there’s mixed emotions with second and a bit of work to do.”

Johnny Mowatt – VistionTrack Ducati Team Co-ordinator

“It’s been a good day for the whole VisionTrack Ducati team and PBM. Our first 1-2 of the season gets us nicely back on track and gives us something to work with going into tomorrow’s races. Congratulations to Christian on his first BSB win, we are really proud that he was able to do that with the PBM team.”

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Superbike Race One Results

Superbike Championship Points

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Supersport/GP2 Sprint Race

Rory Skinner made it three from three in the British Supersport class overnight with victory over Harry Truelove and Lee Johnston.

Victorian Ben Currie took sixth place.

Supersport/GP2 Sprint Race Results

Supersport/GP2 Championship Standings

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Ducati TriOptions Cup Race One

Josh Day led the way after the opening lap, just 0.094s ahead of Ed Best, with David Shoubridge in third. By lap three, Day had been able to extend his lead at the front to 0.5s, with Elliot Pinson moving up to second, however a string of fast laps saw Pinson takeover front running by the halfway stage.

Day immediately responded though, setting the then fastest lap of the race on lap five to move back into the lead, with Best holding third ahead of Levi Day and Shoubridge. Levi Day was able to move up to second by lap eight, as Josh Day continued to set the pace to extend his lead at the front to one second.

Josh Day was able to hold on at the front to take victory ahead of Levi Day, with Pinson taking third. Best eventually finished fourth, ahead of Shoubridge, Cox, Neve, Compton, McGuinness and Cheetham.

Levi Day – P2

“Qualified on pole this morning and feeling really comfortable on the BPS Racing Ducati V2. Got a really bad start in the race and dropped to 5th for the opening few laps. Made hard work for my self because of it but managed to get back to 2nd place in the final standings. Try again tomorrow.”

Ducati TriOptions Cup Race One Results

Ducati TriOptions Championship Standings

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Junior Supersport Race One

Owen Jenner secured victory in the opening Hel Performance British Junior Supersport race following last lap battle with Crump. Brody Crockford grabbed the holeshot to lead at the end of the opening lap, but Seth Crump had slipped through by the time the pack came across the line to start lap three.

Jenner stormed through the field, setting a string of fastest laps to move into the lead on lap five, with Crockford holding third, just 0.1s behind the leader.

Coming down to the final lap, Jenner was able to fend off Australian Crump to take victory, with Ash Barnes completing the podium in third.

Junior Supersport Race One Results

Junior Supersport Championship Standings

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Superstock 1000 Qualifying

Matt Truelove stole the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 pole position on his final lap at Snetterton ahead of team mate Chrissy Rouse and Billy McConnell.

After five minutes of the session Rouse led the way by a narrow margin from Truelove with Tim Neave in close proximity. The Newcastle born rider looked set to take pole for Sunday’s race, but on his final flying lap, Truelove stole the pole position from his teammate with Rich Energy OMG Racing’s Billy McConnell rounding out the front row in third.

Kiwi Damon Reed qualified ninth and Tumut’s Brayden Elliott 11th.

Superstock 1000 Qualifying Results

Source: MCNews.com.au