British Superbikes, Brands Hatch: Vickers gives his rivals triple trouble

Ryan Vickers truly made Brands Hatch his own becoming just the third rider in history to complete a treble at the Kent track, following in the footsteps of Josh Brookes (2019) and Tarran Mackenzie (2021).

His achievement was made all the more special by the nature of the wins, hot overcast, long distance or short, the #77 OMG Grilla Yamaha was a distant object to all behind it.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch - Race Results (3)
• 2024 British Superbikes: Brands Hatch - Race Results (2)

It is a first treble for Vickers, but not his first time dominating a round - taking maximum points from the season opening two races in Navarra before a series of rounds where he could not show his potential.

The unstoppable rider from Norwich kept his cool heading into race three, starting form pole for a third time and well aware of what he could achieve:

“It’s a fantastic way to finish the weekend, you know - there’s a few nerves going into the last race, when it’s on the line for the triple.

We’re riding so well and, you know, it’s really capable. So starting that last race, just fully focussed, you know, I just had to get a good start and I did again. I’ve had three holeshots - well four including the restart one - and over-tried a little bit in the first part of that second race.

I didn’t want to do that again, I genuinely don’t think I missed an apex the whole race, not to lose any time anyway, so extremely happy with that - I kept my head and I just rode to the limit - it’s the same as Navarra.

That opening round in Spain being brought to the forefront of his mind paid dividends over the final races at the Kent circuit:

“It brought back really good memories of that, because, practice, qualifying in Navarra was the same - we were strong and I had braking references for everywhere and I was hitting every braking reference that I had for my qualifying lap and I just did that all race”

Once again Vickers was able to build the same kind of lead he enjoyed in race one, allowing him to celebrate out of the final corner and over the finish line:

“Towards the end of the race I backed off and just managed the gap. It was really good. The team have worked really hard, they give me great information on the pitboard as well, so I can understand what the guys are doing behind, know what lap times they’re doing”.

Echoing his feelings at the close of Saturday, Vickers once again credited his team and how they’ve listened to him and what he needs from the Yamaha for his turnaround this weekend:

“The OMG Grilla Racing Team have given me a fantastic bike this weekend, you know, and we’ve struggled with the bike the last few rounds - they’ve believed in me and what I need and the sort of different direction.

To sort of take that next step we needed to change a few things and we’ve done that this weekend and I actually feel like I’ve got a race bike now”.

Having the pack bunch up behind behind the safety car in the sprint gave a good opportunity to see how the changes worked in a competitive environment:

“We’ve been consistently fast in practice and qualifying, but coming into the races we’ve struggled a little bit to pass and it was actually nice to have that race in race two, with Iddon and Tommy and be able to pass back comfortably, which on the Yamaha has been the weakest point, but I really feel like we’ve made a step with that.”

Vickers added that he thought the progress made would play into his fortunes as the season moves forward:

“it’s not just been a good weekend that we’ve managed to pull out of the bag, we’ve figured something out with the bike and a different way of riding, so I think that is going to put us in good step for the rest of the season”.