British Superbikes:Kent claims Hampshire as Danny delivers a double at Thruxton
Danny Kent delivered the performances of his Bennetts British Superbike Championship career at Thruxton to claim his first double victory, taking McAMS Racing Yamaha to the top of the podium in race two and following it up with a double blow to his rivals.
Whilst defending champion Kyle Ryde had taken the opening victory yesterday ahead of Kent and Max Cook, the home hero put on a show for the huge Thruxton crowd, to become the sixth different race winner of the season.
In race two, Kent sensationally scored McAMS Racing Yamaha’s first race win of the season in an intense eight-lap sprint to the chequered flag. The race had become an eight lap super sprint when the race was red flagged on lap five for a crash involving both Blaze Baker and Danny Webb.
On the restart, Christian Iddon instantly hit the front of the pack for AJN Steelstock Kawasaki, but Ryde was attacking from the start and he moved into the lead with Ray charging into second to push at Club on the opening lap.
Ryde was holding the edge, but Ray was determined and smashed the lap record set in 2019 as the battle raged at the front. Iddon then moved back into second with a decisive move on the Raceways Yamaha rider.
Kent was in fourth and there was contact between him and Iddon into Club on the fourth lap but the pair remained in the battle. Two laps later and Ray took the lead at Cobb, whilst Kent had moved back into second with a move on Ryde on the brakes into Club.
Ray was holding the lead, but Kent and Ryde made a double attack on the championship leader into Cobb on the penultimate lap and the pair then held off a counter move from Ray.
Kent held on to the lead on the final lap with what he described as the “lap of his life” to take his first win of the season.
It was another fight to the finish in race three but Kent overcame the intense pressure from his Bennetts British Superbike Championship rivals to remain on top of the podium, following a final lap sparring match with Ray.
At the start, Ray had seized the advantage off the line ahead of Iddon and Ryde with Kent holding fourth. Leon Haslam was also in the mix along with Andrew Irwin and Max Cook, but the pair had a moment at Cobb on lap three and the contact dropped them both down the order.
Tyre conservation was crucial with the soaring heats at Thruxton and Ray was holding the edge with Iddon, Ryde, Kent, Haslam and Charlie Nesbitt leading the freight train of riders as nobody could break the pack.
Kent made his initial strike on lap nine as he moved to third, but Nesbitt again was pushing for the podium at his home round and he had started trading blows with Ryde. The reigning champion moved into third by lap 11 and was then hunting Ray and Iddon ahead of him.
A lap later and Iddon led into Club with a move on the brakes, but just a lap later there was pandemonium at the same place with Kent making a move on Ryde and the Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha rider was then on the kerb on the exit. The moment cost the defending champion time and dropped him to eighth.
Ray meanwhile still had the edge over Iddon and Kent, with Nesbitt and Scott Redding the top group, but the Hager PBM Ducati rider later dropped down the order in the closing stages to end in eighth place.
Kent made his final bid for victory on the penultimate lap, moving into second and then took the lead and although Ray made a last corner strike with a move on the brakes into Club, Kent was able to hold the tighter line to make it a double dose of wins.
Ray held second from Iddon as AJN Steelstock Kawasaki celebrated their first podium finish of the season together, making it 12 different riders to have celebrated podium finishes, ahead of Ryde and Nesbitt.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, Race 2 result:
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha)
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) +0.097s
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) +0.232s
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +0.697s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +1.032s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +1.332s
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati) +2.297s
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) +2.508s
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) +2.670s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +2.786s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, Race 3 result:
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha)
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) +0.196s
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +0.338s
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) +0.512s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +0.874s
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) +2.286s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +2.443s
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati) +3.461s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +3.787s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +4.219s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) 260
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) 234
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 170
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) 167
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) 163
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 139
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 134
- Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) 115
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 114
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) 91
DANNY KENT
MCAMS RACING YAMAHA
“This weekend has been a dream come true for the team and I. Our success stems from a strong Friday, where we worked so hard on endurance and making the tyre last, which has paid off massively in the weekend’s races.
“What an amazing weekend it’s been for me and McAMS Racing, we’ve moved up to third in the championship standings which is a great result for myself, the team and for Yamaha. We’ll keep working and come back strong next time out. “
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