Brookes, O’Halloran, Iddon will take the 2020 BSB title fight down to the wire

The 2020 British Superbike Championship will go right down to the wire with three riders - Josh Brookes, Jason O’Halloran, Christian Iddon - still in contention for spoils at Brands Hatch, though it is Brookes that holds the advantage with just one race remaining.

The Australian produced another masterclass on the VisionTrack Ducati to secure his fourth BSB win of the season at a pivotal moment in race two of three to re-establish the lead that has been trimmed back by O’Halloran on Saturday.

With just seven points separating the two Australians coming into the first of two encounters today, while Brookes was rather swallowed up by those around him to end up fourth in race one, he was wasting no time in stamping his authority on race two.

Grabbing the lead from turn one, Brookes quickly developed a sizeable lead over the opposition, led by Tarran Mackenzie - who still had a slim mathematical chance of a run at the title - and O’Halloran.

However, while Mackenzie did manage to get the gap down to Brookes during the early laps, the Scot would slip off on lap seven, releasing his Ducati rival into a plus-two second lead over O’Halloran after he was finally able to shake off the attentions of Iddon.

O’Halloran nibbled at the margin until the chequered flag but would remain more than one second back, Brookes’ return to the top of the podium swelling his advantage to 12 points with just one race remaining. It means a top three finish in race three - regardless of where O’Halloran finishes - will be enough for his second career BSB title, five years after his first.

In terms of numbers, three riders retain a mathematical chance of glory with O’Halloran needing to overhaul that deficit, while Brookes’ team-mate Iddon - third in race two - is also in range, 18 points from his VisionTrack Ducati counterpart.

A disastrous race for Glenn Irwin as his title hopes came to an abrupt end with a lacklustre run to 11th, his brother and Honda team-mate Andrew Irwin spared some blushes with his run to fourth place, ahead of FS-3 Kawasaki rider Lee Jackson, OMG BMW’s Luke Mossey and Danny Buchan.

Peter Hickman ensured at least one final top ten showing for the outgoing Smiths Racing team, while Gino Rea and Tommy Bridewell completed the top ten.