After months of waiting, the British Superbikes Championship got the green light in 2024 under the Spanish sun at Circuito de Navarra.
It was a rather different setting for the BSB curtain raiser, as the MSV-owned track played host to this year’s opening round.
And there was a different face at the front for Sunday’s first race, with Danny Kent taking his first ever pole position in the series aboard the McAMS Yamaha – making it a front three for the Japanese manufacturer as the OMG Racing pair of Ryan Vickers and Kyle Ryde completed the first row.
The Yamaha trio led the way at the beginning of Race 1, albeit with Ryde heading the field ahead of Vickers and Kent from lap four.
Despite a setback after running wide and dropping a place to third Vickers managed to keep the pace to move his way back to the front, as he passed Ryde with three laps to go.
The 25-year-old set the pace from then on, bridging a lead of more than a second by the chequered flag.
The second and final race of the weekend brought more of the same at the front – although there was some late drama to overcome for eventual victor Vickers.
This time it was Kent who held the cards after lap five, taking the lead from Ryde into turn one.
However that lead was relatively short lived – as Vickers eventually took control at the front on lap nine.
It all looked set in stone for Vickers to comfortably take his second victory of the day, however there was a big moment for the Yamaha rider at the last corner of the final lap as he very nearly lost the front-end of the bike – putting his victory in jeopardy.
But a Marc Marquez-style save was all he needed to reach the line, and Vickers did just that as he took the chequered flag 0.277 seconds ahead of Kent and 1.177s ahead of Ryde.
Speaking in the post-race press conference about the near-crash, the championship leader said it came as a result of how close Kent was behind.
“I came on to the last lap and looked at my pit board and I had plus zero [to the rider behind], so I thought ‘I’ve got to do a really good last lap here’,” he explained.
“I didn’t want to defend and slow up the pace because if I did have a little bit of a gap I didn’t want to lose it, so I braked as late as possible and I got on the gas as hard as possible.
“I thought if I did that and anyone comes past me, they’re going to run wide.”
However when it came to the final corner, Vickers added it became a slightly different approach.
“I did the whole lap and got through the last left [turn], and I was like ‘I’ve done the whole lap now, just defend the last corner’,” he said.
“Because I don’t want to lose it on the last corner, and nearly did.
“But that was because I defended and went in at the same pace and it was a little bit tighter – just the nature of the corner really because it’s uphill and you get a lot of load through the front tyre.”
Elsewhere in the field it was a disappointing end to the weekend for reigning champion Tommy Bridewell – who was aboard his new bike after joining the Honda Racing Team for 2024.
After a solid seventh-placed finish in Race 1, Bridewell was in the mix for a podium on the second race.
However that couldn’t come to fruition for the 2023 champion, as he was forced to retire on the ninth lap of the race.
The paddock takes a week off for now, but BSB will return in under two weeks time when the riders face the Oulton Park Circuit in Cheshire.
Find the standings after Round 1 here.
Featured Image Credit: @OfficialBSB on Twitter
