Christian Iddon wraps up a great weekend at Brands with a fourth

A third consecutive podium just eluded Christian Iddon in the final British Superbike race at Brands Hatch today. The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider had started the 20-lap race on the front row of the grid in third, and although he slotted into fourth in the opening lap, he was out front and leading by lap two.

By half-race distance Iddon was 0.185s ahead of BeerMonster Ducati duo Tommy Bridewell and Glenn Irwin to lead a Ducati 1-2-3 on track. 

Bridewell moved into the lead on lap 12. And when Irwin made a move at Surtees three laps later, Iddon was forced wide with Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) taking advantage and demoting Iddon a further place to fourth.

The riders ultimately finished the race in the same positions, with Iddon just off the podium. But this weekend has been his strongest one yet this season, with a pole and front row starting positions, and two trophies to take home.

Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21) – 4th
“We’ve had a really good weekend. From the first Free Practice I felt comfortable on the bike. I stayed out more or less, my first run was 17 laps, just because I felt alright and there was no point pulling in. 

When you start a weekend off, and you get your laps in, and you can work on yourself it’s good. I wasn’t necessarily super quick, but I knew we had some pace. 

Then we had a wet qualifying, and I made an error, using the hard tyre because I didn’t think it was going to rain as much as it did. I didn’t think it was a gamble but clearly it was because it was wrong. Everyone else who used the hard tyre struggled so it was definitely the wrong choice. 

And then we had that first wet race. I gave myself a lot of hard work starting from eleventh. We had a chance to win that. That’s a bit unfair to say to the two guys that beat me. I didn’t beat them. The race was shortened, so you just don’t know. But equally I could have ended up on my arse! But we’ll take that first podium of the year.

And that race gave me pole. And that’s really the difference. Since Knockhill, Snetterton and here we’ve had the pace to run at the front anyway. I’ve just not been at the front to do it. Starting from pole, and from the third in the second race today, gives you that opportunity to be at, and get out at the front. 

We made a change for the last race today and I felt happy enough, I wanted to lead. I made some good moves, made three or four passes and got in the lead and felt happy, wanted to be there. And then Tommy got through again and I knew that was going to be the telling point. He did two laps, not very quick, he rolled for them. I was a bit worried because I didn’t know how close of a group the riders behind were going to be, so I was almost willing him to go faster. Then he dropped the hammer and when he did, I had something for him and a feeling we could do something. My plan was I was going to do Tommy, but Glenn got me, ran me a bit deep and Ryan came through. Just ended up in a bit of a scrap, which is fine, it’s racing. I was just on the wrong end of it. I need to be the giver, not the taker, it’s much more fun! 

With three of four laps to go I really lost the front at Paddock, a big old fold. I stayed on it but ran wide and lost half a second. And then I started to push in the wrong places to try and recover that time and ended up losing a bit more time. So the gap at the end was a bit bigger than it should have been. I would have liked to have stayed in that fight. I think us guys at the front had the ability to step up the pace for those last laps but I just sort of lost that group because of one mistake. That’s all it takes. But I made the mistake so it is what it is, and I need to improve. 

It's funny. The first race this weekend was our best, but of our two dry ones the last one was the best, I just didn’t end up with a trophy. That’s racing. It’s not just about how good your bike is and how good you feel. It’s about making it happen and I didn’t quite make it count in the last one. But it’s still been a really positive weekend, I’ve felt good on the bike and team has worked fantastic all weekend. It’s all good!” 

Double Supersport podium for Ben Currie after a consecutive second place at Brands

en Currie got off to a flying start on his Panigale V2 during Sunday’s Supersport race at Brands Hatch, launching his Oxford Products Racing Ducati from third on the grid to take the holeshot and race lead.

On lap three Rhys Irwin (Astron JJR Suzuki) momentarily passed Ben. But he was able to make a move stick after Ben had a moment exiting Graham Hill Bend on lap six.

The duo cleared off at the front and by half race distance had built a up a gap of almost three seconds. Ben stuck with Rhys until the very end but was unable to make a move, crossing the line second to take a consecutive second place finish.

Ben currently leaves Brands leading the Quattro British Supersport Championship with 194 points, while Rhys Irwin and Tom Booth-Amos sit second and third with 188 and 178 points respectively.

Ben Currie (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61) – 2nd
“That was a classic V2 verses in-line four. The track was sweet in two halves. I was strong in one half, Rhys was strong in the other. Just that one section out of Druids he put three-four bike lengths on me every lap. It meant I had to work for the rest of the lap really hard to try and catch him. I was on the absolute limit. I have to give credit to him, he was riding awesome. It looked like he was going to make a mistake. A couple of little apexes he missed, I thought he's gonna run wide, he's gonna run wide, stay there. But he did a splendid job and hats off to him, credit where credits due.

Massive thanks to my guys, they gave me a bike to win with this weekend. Like Snetterton we’re carrying some momentum and hopefully we can just continue this now and get to some tracks that maybe I'm strong everywhere and we can get that first elusive win. It's coming. I'm happy, I'm enjoying my racing, so that's all you can ask for.”

Christian Iddon back on the podium with a second place finish in Race 2 at Brands

Christian Iddon had started from pole on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R for Sunday's opening BSB race, slotting into second behind Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Racing Honda). But a move into Paddock Hill on the start of the second lap saw him lead the field into Druids.

Iddon and Kent swapped places a few times, with Kent moving into first on lap seven. But the action was soon halted after the safety car came out for a couple of laps.

The race resumed on lap nine, with Iddon able to retake the lead once more as half-race distance was covered. Behind him Tommy Bridewell was moving up through the field on his BeerMonster Ducati and on lap 12 it was the Wiltshire rider who took the lead, ahead of Iddon and Kent.

The riders took the flag in those same positions, with Bridewell taking his first win at the Brands GP circuit, and Iddon going one better than yesterday’s podium position to finish second.

Kent took the last step on the box, with Bridewell’s teammate Glenn Irwin closing his race in fourth.

Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21) – 2nd
“Happy to get on the podium, and happy to get a dry one. The pace that I was setting wasn’t fantastic, but no one was coming flying past, so I thought we’d just keep somewhere about that. It felt fast, but it wasn’t the pace I expected it to be. When Tommy came past, I figured just hang with Tommy, he was riding really well. I thought he might try and pull me away from the group. But I made a couple of mistakes and had a few front-end warnings, and that just dropped me back a bit from Tommy who kept a pretty relentless pace. All I had to do was try and race my lap timer and stay in front of the group which we managed. Hopefully we can try and make a few little changes for the next race because I felt alright, but not brilliant. But it’s good to get two podiums and back to somewhere where I thought we should be, so it’s all good.”

Christian Iddon claims his first podium with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team

A shortened race in miserable conditions at Brands Hatch this afternoon saw Christian Iddon score his first podium with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team after a testing start to the season.

Christian had lined up on the grid in eleventh but was already up to sixth by the end of the opening lap. On a charge, Christian was up to third by the fourth lap, but any further progress was halted on lap eight when Leon Haslam’s BMW dropped fluid on the track bringing out the red flag.

Despite two thirds race distance having not been covered the race was called, with Christian taking his first podium with Oxford Products Racing Ducati to the delight of the team.

Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21) – 3rd
“I was just able to pick my way through. I just felt really good. It was strange as certain parts of the track had loads of grip and then the last corner was just a disaster. About three laps in I couldn’t see a thing through my visor. I tried to rectify the problem by opening some vents but just let more water in and it was getting worse and worse, I literally could not see where I was going. I kind of got used to it and was just trying to stay on the black bit!

Then I started to nibble away a bit at the guys out front, but I saw the rainbow and nearly spat myself. I knew they were going to have to red flag it. It was the right call to not send us back out.

Big thanks to Moto Rapido, it’s been a flipping hard season so far. I thought I’d be up here all the time, I thought it’d be podium juice all the time. Hopefully this is the start of good things to come.”

Ben Currie scores a second at Brands in his first wet race on the Panigale V2

Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Ben Currie started today’s Supersport Sprint race from the front of the second row in fourth. But as the lights went out, his bike got sideways and he was swamped into Paddock Hill and was dropped way down the field.

Ben had climbed up to eleventh by the end of his opening lap and race leader Tom Booth-Amos retired on the following lasp, with Ben taking another position to start Lap 3 inside the top ten in ninth.

As the ten-lap race progressed Ben continues to climb up the order and with two laps to go Ben was in a battle with Zak Corderoy for second place. Ben got the better of the Gearlink Kawasaki rider to take the flag in second behind winner Richard Cooper, and now sits at the top of the Quattro Group British Supersport Championship with a total of 175 points.

Ben Currie (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61) – 2nd
“We had those two practice laps rolling out the pit there and I came straight in after the first one and was like, boys, we're in big trouble! I had grabbed the brake and the front didn’t move. I thought this is going to be a long one. Luckily we got that little 10-minute window, so I came in, swapped some springs around, and some little bits and bobs. It's a fickle beast the old Duke. You might have seen on the line I let go of the clutch and the thing just went 90 on me and span up that's what it was like coming out of corners. It was a bit of a handful, but I said to myself, just steady on. We’re in 15th place we're in big trouble, let's just see what we can do. And then the positions just started coming to me and I was really happy with that. So, it feels like a win. It wasn't, but I'll take the championship lead. Thanks to all my sponsors, and roll on tomorrow.”

Sunday at Snetterton sees Christian Iddon score an eighth and a fifth

Race 2

Christian had a great start and got away with the leading three riders from his fourth place grid slot for Sunday's opening Bennetts British Superbike race at Snetterton.

The Oxford Products Ducati pilot had a few encounters with other riders dropping him back to seventh place before the red flag came out on lap seven, due to Danny Buchan and Franco Bourne colliding.

At the restart of the reduced lap race, Christian slotted in to eighth and began threatening the positions ahead. But he just couldn't quite overhaul any further riders and remained in eighth at the chequered flag.

Race 3

The final Superbike race of the weekend saw Christian starting from ninth on the grid, and with work to do. He got his head down and was soon picking riders off, getting himself up to seventh place.

By lap eight, he'd moved up to sixth place and chasing down the leading group of five.

Josh Brookes pulled over with a technical issue on lap ten, handing Christian fifth place. Once again, he found himself in no man's land, which seems to have been a regular occurrence this weekend.

He crossed the line in fifth to add another eleven points to his tally, taking him up to 108 points and eighth place in the championship.

Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21)
"Today turned out really difficult at the start, the race wasn't that great. We changed the bike from yesterday and I just didn't get the feeling I wanted from the bike at all. It was a really frustrating race after yesterday, especially being fourth on the grid.

For the last race, we changed the bike, not back but something different and I felt so much better. I just couldn't quite bridge that gap to the front group. The gap never really changed. I made a move on Vickers but didn't make it stick, which may have changed the result.

We're looking for podiums but we're not quite there yet. We are massively better to where we were at the start of the year. It's starting to feel like a bike I can use to its potential now. The team's working hard, I'm working hard, we just need to get in to the bigger chunk of points. It's so frustrating because it's so close, in all three races I had pace to win. The championship is so close, you've got to get out front and make your own luck. Now, we regroup and go again. Onwards to Brands."