Superbike success for Stockport riders

Stockport’s Christian Iddon finished the 2020 British Superbike Championship standings in third overall, in a personal best for the rider.

Fellow Stopfordian, Ben Luxton, also rode to victory in the National Superstock 600 Championship with a race to spare as the season concluded at Brands Hatch.

Iddon (pictured above), riding for the Paul Bird Motorsport Visiontrack Ducati squad, grabbed himself a pair of podium placed finishes during the triple-header at the Kent track. Finishing second in race one, from third on the grid, and third in race two starting from the second row.

Going in to the weekend in contention for Title honours, the hard-charging BSB race winner led a frantic race one briefly, succumbing to title rival Jason O’Halloran [Yamaha] as teammate Josh Brookes struggled back in fourth, narrowing the points gap between the three riders as they headed in to the penultimate round.

Race two was a rather more sedate affair in comparison, the top three riders remaining unchanged after eight of the twenty lap battle. Iddon coming home in the final podium spot behind teammate Brookes, and O’Halloran.

Race three was also pretty uneventful, Christian claiming fourth spot by lap four, and remaining their until the flag, claiming his spot on the third step of the Championship podium. The Stockport rider commented:

When I left the pre-season test at Donington Park in eighteenth place, I would have settled for third in the Championship but in reality, I’m disappointed.

“To take it to the final race of the season was always the plan and congratulations to both Jason and of course, my teammate Josh for winning the title.

“I can’t thank Paul Bird and the whole VisionTrack team enough, they have been superb and to end up first and third in the Championship is a fantastic effort. And I guess I should be happy with being the best non-Australian in the standings!”

In the 2020 Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship, Stockport rider Ben Luxton (pictured below) entered the weekend with a thirty point lead.

A late charge from third with three laps to go saw him claim the win by just 0.023secs, with less than one-second covering the top five riders as the crossed the line, claiming fastest lap in the process. Luxton said:

It’s absolutely fantastic to take the 2020 British Superstock 600 Championship here at Brands Hatch.

“It couldn’t have been a better weekend – taking the win and finishing with a forty-four point lead in the final standings.

“A massive thank you to my team, JR Performance, and everyone who’s made it possible”.

Photos by Mike Petch, MPhotographic.