Redding VS Ryde - Crowning the King of Brands

As expected for an iconic circuit like Brands Hatch, the crowds were plenty all weekend, filling the grandstands and the grass banks along the Brabham straight and throughout the track, and the racing definitely delivered.

From Day one on track, the top contenders of the weekend were clear, Max Cook topped FP1, whilst Scott Redding topped FP2 as well as Pre-Qualifying and Kyle Ryde clocked a respectable P2 in all of those sessions.

Day 2 started strong for Redding once again, topping FP3, whilst Q1 saw Rory Skinner, Lee Jackson and Jason O'halloran be the lucky three to grab a spot in the Q2 session, where Kyle Ryde pulled it out the bag to clock the fastest ever BSB lap of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, a 01.23.954 to secure pole position for race 1 and kick off his performance of the weekend.

Race 1

Saturdays race started off strong for the pole position man, keeping his lead down paddock hill and up into druids, where drama kicks off as Richard Kerr crashes out from the back of the pack. Scott Redding answers to Ryde and overtakes him for the lead in turn 4, starting the battle for first between the two Ducatis. Behind them, Max Cook stays patient in third as Bradley Ray and Leon Haslam battle for fourth in the opening laps.

As the Race progresses, the no.17 of Joe Talbot crashes out on lap 7, and the battle for fourth heats up with Christian Iddon joining in the fight. On lap 14, Ryde begins to catch up to Redding and a solid move into Paddock Hill bend brings him into first. the drama is far from over here as Eugene McManus bails off his bike as it runs off into the barriers at full speed at turn 1, causing a red flag to come out at the end of lap 18, ending Redding's charge to take back the lead, sealing Ryde's win. However, Redding did achieve the fastest overall lap of the race, giving him a much needed pole position going into race 2, and a better chance at clawing back some championship from Ryde.

Race 1 results - Kyle Ryde P1 - Scott Redding P2 - Max Cook P3

Race 2

Redding's newfound pole position gave him a chance at redemption, however Max Cooks golden start saw him leading into turn one, with Redding, Ryde and Ray following very closely behind, as soon as the pack started to spread out in the first few corners, Redding and Ryde started to show they meant business, riding elbows out to best one another and showing how important it is to get early positions in these short 12 lap sprint races. Although Cook managed to stave off the no.1 Ducati for a short while, he was harshly shown why he's got the number 1 and Ryde started to stretch out the lead once he'd got past.

Unlike Ryde, Redding found himself struggling to get round the no.30 Bimota, and Bradley Ray took advantage of this to tuck behind Redding, finishing fourth and besting his P8 result from Race 1. Fast forward a few laps and Redding starts his charge to take P2 from Cook, which he does at the start of the following lap, with Ray stalking closely behind to pick up the pieces of the podium battle. Redding's hopes of a Race 2 win were crushed by Ryde's early lead, which ended up being 2.197 seconds, but he was able to hold off a hungry Max Cook for p2 by only 0.232 seconds.

Race 2 results - Kyle Ryde P1 - Scott Redding P2 - Max Cook P3

Sunday's warm up saw Bradley Ray coming to life a bit with p3, whilst Ryde and Redding achieved P1 and P2.

Race 3

Redding had his work cut out for him, starting in p4 behind Kyle Ryde, Max Cook and Bradley Ray to round off the front row of the grid, but made a hard charge down to turn one taking the lead from Ray by the start of turn 2. Brad Ray's good start was quickly taken from him by Ryde and Cook, who were both hungry for podium finishes at the minimum. Scott Redding clearly had a point to prove this race, not letting Ryde even close to him in these opening laps.

Later on Brayden Elliot suffered a crash in Sterlings on lap 8, leading to a safety car coming out, and allowing Ryde to close the gap to Redding, who took the opportunity to bunch up the pack, hoping to force some battles and get away. By lap 13, Ryde manages to catch up to the no.45 but struggles to find a way through, with Redding eventually turning up the heat and pulling away once again near the end of the race, Ryde does manage to once again start to close the gap to Redding but in the end it's the comeback kid who takes the top step in race 3

Race 3 results - Scott Redding P1 - Kyle Ryde P2 - Max Cook P3

The King of Brands

The King of Brands 100 trophy was awarded to the rider with the highest overall points across the 3 races, it was a close battle but Ryde came out on top with 52 points, followed by Redding with 50 points making it an incredibly close fight, but in the end its the number 1 man, the championship leader, the Kyle Ryde who is crowned the King of Brands.

Championship standings

The championship battle between Redding and Ryde is still incredibly close, with Ryde stretching his initial 17 point lead, to a 19 point lead by the end of the weekend, keeping the championship fight very much alive, and bringing it to round 6 in Oulton Park. Whilst Leon Haslam takes advantage on Bradley Ray's two P8 finishes in races 1 and 3 to bring the battle on 3rd down to just 2 points.

Standings - Kyle Ryde P1 (252) - Scott Redding P2 (233)- Bradley Ray P3 (167)- Leon Haslam P4 (165)- Max Cook P5 (151)

30 Years of BSB

To celebrate the 30 years of British Super Bikes, Yamaha Motor UK and McAMS Yamaha have revealed a striking purple and gold livery (ridden by Bradley Ray in the 3 headline races), inspired by the Cadbury Boost YZF750, ridden by Niall Mackenzie, which brought him his 1996, 1997 and 1998 championships. The celebrations were also shared by the public, through a Yamaha parade lap, with more than 100 members of the public parading around the Grand Prix circuit behind some of Yamahas most successful and iconic bikes.

Support Classes

In the Quattro Group British Supersport, Oli Bayliss took the charge all weekend and topped both race 1 and race 2 after scrapping with Jack Kennedy, who followed closely to grab a solid P2 over both races.

Race 1 results - Oli Bayliss P1 - Jack Kennedy P2 - Ben Currie P3

Race 2 results - Oli Bayliss P1 - Jack Kennedy P2 - Luke Stapleford P3

In the Pirelli National Superstock, the top three were the same over both races, with David Allingham's double win making it six wins in seven races.

Race 1 results - David Allingham P1 - Luke Mossey P2 - Lewis Rollo P3

Race 2 results - David Allingham P1 - Luke Mossey P2 - Lewis Rollo P3