BSB, Brands Hatch: Tommy Bridewell champion by half a point!

The final round of the 2023 British Superbike championship, which played out at the stunning Brands Hatch track, was one of those that wil go down in the history books. At the end of three very intense and entertaining races, Tommy Bridewell was crowned champion by half a point, just beating his BeerMonster Ducati team-mate, Glenn Irwin, after a total of 33 races.

At the historic British track, in front of a crowd roughly 50,000 strong, all three races were dominated by the two Ducati riders and Kyle Ryde (competing for team Lami OMG Racing Yamaha), in both wet and dry conditions. Here’s how the races played out.

Ryde wins the Sprint Race, Irwin makes an incredible recovery

As usual, the weekend began with Saturday’s Sprint Race. After a wet qualifying that mixed things up, the ‘usual suspects’ were back out front come the race, with Kyle Ryde running the perfect race to cross the line first for the sixth time this season, in front of Jason O'Halloran and Tommy Bridewell.

But Glenn Irwin also put together an extraordinary performance in the Sprint. After a disastrous Superpole in which he could do no more than seventeenth, he worked hard in the race to move up to fourth, even setting the fastest lap (with which he earned pole position for Race 2) in far from simple conditions. Another Ducati, that of Christian Iddon, also finished top five.

Irwin triumphs in Race 2

As for Sunday’s races, the second (of three in all) was dominated by the BeerMonster Ducati rider, Glenn Irwin setting the pace and leading from start to finish ahead of Tommy Bridewell, while Kyle Ryde rounded out the podium, the only other rider who was mathematically still in the mix for the title ahead of Race 3 (with 35 points awarded to the winner rather than the usual 25).

Irwin does it again in Race 3, but Bridewell is crowned 2023 champion

Race 3, the season finale, didn’t disappoint, with the three riders fighting for the title right down to the wire, with passes and “close calls” galore through almost every corner. In the end, it was Glenn Irwin who got the better of Tommy Bridewell and Kyle Ryde, but the race win was not enough.

It was Bridewell who was crowned champion, having beaten his team-mate to the title by just half a point. A first BSB title for number 46 (who dedicated the win to his late brother Ollie of course), in a season that saw him and Irwin dominated, but that also brought tough times, including the passing of team manager Paul Bird. This is title number nine for the PBM team, which confirms its status as the most successful squad of all time in the British championship.