BSB: Brookes Secures Title with Victory in Brands Hatch Finale

Josh Brookes secured the 2020 BSB crown with a victory in the final race of the season at Brands Hatch.

The Australian held off the two McAMS Yamahas and took his second title in style. Tarran Mackenzie beat his teammate Jason O’Halloran to second.

With the final round gone, Brookes heads the table on 288 points. O’Halloran finishes runner-up with a 21 points deficit while Christian Iddon is third, 30 points adrift.

Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) had a blistering start from pole and led into Paddock Hill Bend from the two McAMS Yamahas of Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran.

O’Halloran swiftly passed his teammate for second and hunted down Brookes – his championship hopes relying on winning the race and having at least two riders between himself and his countryman. Mackenzie engaged in a scrap with Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) and Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) but managed to keep his opponents behind him.

A leading trio of Brookes, O’Halloran and Mackenzie had broken away by Lap 7, running at superior pace and not looking to get into a fight at this stage. Iddon and Irwin meanwhile fell into the clutches of Danny Buchan (Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki).

Whenever O’Halloran had a closer look at Brookes, the championship leader responded immediately and stayed firmly in the lead. It was not until Lap 14 that the order changed in the front trio.

Mackenzie took his teammate for second and was now looking to sign off the season with a win himself. But again Brookes had an answer to everything thrown at him and kept his opponents at bay.

The Yamahas were left without a chance as Brookes completed a flag to flag run to the race win and to the championship title. Mackenzie was unchallenged by O’Halloran on the final lap and came home in second.

Iddon completed the race in fourth, holding off Irwin by less than a tenth while Buchan was only another tenth behind in sixth. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing) led another close group over the line, taking seventh from Peter Hickman (Global Robots BMW) and Lee Jackson (Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki) while Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) completed the top 10.