Oulton Park hosted the opening round of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship which saw a welcome return to race fans, albeit in limited numbers. Ducati riders got off to a flying start with a 1-2 in qualifying, Tommy Bridewell claiming pole ahead of Christian Iddon.
Race 1
Bridewell bagged the first pole of the season onboard his Oxford Products Racing Panigale V4 R but it was VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon who got the holeshot from second on the grid to lead the opening stages of the race.
The Ducati duo were out at the front for the entire race, with Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) splitting the pair and eventually taking the win, with Iddon and Bridewell finishing the season’s maiden race in second and third respectively to score a Ducati double podium finish.
Defending champion Josh Brookes had a disappointing opening race, bringing his VisionTrack Ducati home in the top ten.
Race 2
Race 2 at Oulton Park saw Iddon score a consecutive second place podium. The VisionTrack Ducati rider led an “inch perfect race” race, only to be beaten to the chequered flag after a last lap, last corner pass by O’Halloran. Brookes had a much better race, battling with the chasing pack and crossing the line in 7th.
But it was a race to forget for Bridewell. He was looking strong running in fourth during the opening laps until contact with Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) into Hislops resulted in Bridewell’s chain coming off and a subsequent race retirement.
Race 3
Another fantastic start by Iddon saw him leading the final race of the weekend. Meanwhile Brookes and Bridewell had their work cut out as they started from eleventh and twelfth on the grid respectively. Bridewell was determined to put the previous race’s DNF behind him, moving up the field at an impressive rate, up into fifth by lap eleven.
As the race reached the final stages O’Halloran was looking like he was going to put a move on Iddon. And the VisionTrack Ducati rider was once again denied victory when O’Halloran put another last lap pass in take his third victory of the weekend. Iddon crossed the finish line to take his third second place finish of the weekend, with Bridewell taking the final podium position. Brookes had been battling in the chasing pack once more and improved again on his previous result to finish sixth.
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati #21)
Race 1, 2nd – Race 2, 2nd – Race 3, 2nd
“A great weekend. Three trophies is a fantastic way to start the season in a such a super competitive championship like this one. And to lead the races for as long as we did, it’s a good experience for me. The bike’s been absolutely flawless. All weekend we’ve improved it, little by little. Not that we’ve needed much. Just got done over in each of the three races but it wasn’t for lack of trying. I did everything I could with what I felt I had.
I’m really happy. Big thank you to the team, to Ducati, to Paul Bird Motorsport and VisionTrack Ducati for a fantastic weekend of racing. It’s a really nice way to start the season and a good confidence booster. It shows that we’ve put the work in over the off-season. Roll on the rest of the season.”
Tommy Bridwell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #46)
Race 1, 3rd – Race 2, DNF – Race 3, 3rd
“Overall a really strong weekend for myself and the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team. Really proud of the efforts they’ve put in. Love the bike and felt great on it. Beautiful, beautiful weekend. We’ve made big leaps forward coming into this year. It’s always hard starting from twelfth [Race 3], it was my mistake in Race 2. I had to burn up a bit too much rear tyre to get on the back of Christian and Jason. Credit to them guys, and really proud of the team’s efforts.
I feel like it’s a really nice platform now to start the 2021 campaign. A couple of podiums already at Round 1. If I was offered that before the weekend, I would’ve bit your arm off. Looking forward now to getting to Knockhill where we can hopefully continue to carry the momentum. We know the bike works relatively well there, but I know the Yamaha also works well there, and the Kawasaki.
This weekend seems that myself, Jason, and Christian perhaps have had superior pace than the rest, but I have no doubt that the rest will catch up very quick. Looking forward to getting back racing at Knockhill.”
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati #1)
Race 1, 10th – Race 2, 7th – Race 3, 6th
“It’s definitely a difficult way to start the season. We certainly had higher expectations. You’ve always got to look for the positives and each race I’ve gained a better position and better feel with the bike, particularly the last race. Even if we take the final result out of consideration, just me riding the bike I felt more like myself. I could attack the corners and ride with some aggression finally. I felt like I got some of the grip feeling back that you need to rail through a corner with confidence.
The season would be pretty boring if I just went and won all the races from the start, although that would be a nice situation to be in! For everybody watching it would be a bit boring, so now I’ve made a challenge for myself. We’re a bit behind in the points but it’s a long season and we’ll see how we go clawing it back.”
British Superbike action returns on 10-11th July, when Round 2 takes place at Knockhill, a circuit where the VisionTrack Ducati team had a successful test earlier this year
