Pole position and victory for Glenn Irwin at Brands Hatch
Glenn Irwin has got the final round of the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship off to a flying start winning the opening race of the weekend aboard the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP at Brands Hatch in this afternoon's 16-lap eBay Sprint Race, having claimed the pole position in Qualifying earlier in the day.
Glenn rode a superb race leading the pack from start to finish, as well as claiming the fastest lap (1:25.090), which sees him start tomorrow's longer 20-lap race from pole position.
Despite scoring 25 points with the race victory, Glenn's title rival Bradley Ray finished fifth, which saw him score enough points to be crowned the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Champion.
Tomorrow Glenn will be looking to finish second in the championship and going into the two races, the Honda-man is 13 points ahead of third place rider Tommy Bridewell.
Meanwhile teammate Takumi Takahashi added some more points to his championship tally coming home 13th, but it was disaster for BSB rookie Tom Neave on the first corner of the first lap.
Having got a good start off the line Tom had moved up the pack but coming into Paddock Hill Bend, he was left with nowhere to go after the pack ahead grouped up and he ran into the back of his Honda teammate Ryo Mizuno and crashed out of the running. Ryo was forced to retire at the end of the first lap, after the impact of Tom's machine caused his seat unit to come off.
Tomorrow the Honda Racing UK team will look forward to the last two races of the 2022 season.