Cycle News Staff | April 11, 2023
The 2023 Bennetts British Superbike Championship kicked off at Silverstone, April 8-9, with an exciting start to the season as three different race winners, representing three different teams and manufacturers, celebrated a race victory.
The 2023 BSB Championship got underway with three different winners in the three-race format (sprint and two main races). Photo: BSB
Reigning Champions LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha had the edge in Saturday’s Bennetts BikeSocial Sprint race, with Kyle Ryde, but Sunday they narrowly missed out on the podium in race two with a fourth place and ended the weekend with seventh in race three.
The second race of the weekend marked the triumphant return of Josh Brookes to his winning ways as the double champion claimed his first victory in two seasons, delivering a determined ride on his first race weekend with the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team.
Brookes held off the BeerMonster Ducati teammates led by Tommy Bridewell by just 0.094 seconds when the race was red flagged with three laps remaining after Danny Buchan crashed out, claiming his 55th win in the championship. Glenn Irwin completed the podium after fighting his way through the pack.
O’Halloran held onto fifth after holding off Leon Haslam with reigning Quattro Group British Supersport Champion Jack Kennedy in seventh place. Danny Kent had another solid performance in eighth place ahead of Andrew Irwin and Lee Jackson, who fought his way through to 10th after starting 16th on the grid.
Glenn Irwin then became the third different race winner of the opening round in a hard-fought final race three of the weekend, as he held off tough opposition to end the weekend on top for PBM on the BeerMonster Ducati.
Jason O’Halloran, Brookes and Kent had all been at the front of the pack before Irwin captured the advantage on lap 18. He was defending hard from Brookes who had regained second place with three laps to go, while Bridewell had also moved up the order and fought his way into third.
O’Halloran, meanwhile, regained fourth place on the final lap, as he got ahead of Kent with Haslam again in the leading battle to finish race three in sixth place. CN
SATURDAY
Sprint Race 1
- Kyle Ryde (Yam)
- Tommy Bridewell (Duc)
- Josh Brookes (BMW)
SUNDAY
Race 2
- Josh Brookes (BMW)
- Tommy Bridewell (Duc)
- Glenn Irwin (Duc)
Race 3
- Glenn Irwin (Duc)
- Josh Brookes (BMW)
- Tommy Bridewell (Duc)
