The Bennett’s British Superbike Championship returned for its first round at Brands Hatch and the on track action was thrilling.
The first race of the BSB was a battle of Kent with Bradley Ray starting on pole position and Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne just a place behind him.
Ray lead from lights to lap 28 before Byrne made his move and took the lead and then didn’t look back for the final two laps of the race, completing a Kent one-two.
Race two was a very different race and thrilling for different reasons, the race started in the dry with Ray and Byrne on the front row. With just a few laps in and Shakey in 6th and Ray in the lead it was red flagged as the rain fell.
When the race restarted, Byrne was fighting his teammate and working their way into the top four, battling with Haslam and Iddon before burn took fourth. Ray however didn’t quite get to grips with the conditions and finishes in eighth place. It means that Ray leads the championship by ten points from Byrne with race two winner a further four points behind the pair.
The Supersport championship race was also another that was red flagged which certainly worked for Folkestone’s Ryan Dixon, who finished the race in an excellent 9th place. Canterbury’s Ross Twyman has made a massive jump forward this season and it showed as he brought his EHA racing machine he in fourth place.
Elsewhere in the Support races Alex Olsen was an impressive 6th place in the Superstock 1000, with Tom Ward in 20th spot and Rob McNealy in 21st place in Sunday’s races. Olsen finished in the top ten in Saturday’s race, with Rob McNealy in 18th place and Ward in 23rd.
The Superstock 600 race saw Sittingbourne’s Luke Hopkins come home in the top ten, and Maidstone’s Louis Valleley in 21st place having had a trip through the gravel in the first corner midway through the race.
The Motostar saw Jack Nixon in his first season in the series finish 7th in Sunday’s race, making it a brace of top ten finishes across the weekend for the talented younger brother of Ryan Dixon.
The season moves onto Oulton Park over the May bank holiday with everything to play for in all of the ultra competitive championships.