J&S Supported Rider Results - Final Round Brands Hatch

Hi everyone, and welcome to my final instalment and round up of racing action from this seasons British Superbike Championship.

All was to play for in the final round, which came from Brands Hatch but this time on the longer GP circuit.

Mixed weather conditions for all the classes at some point over the weekend caused problems for riders and teams as it was a race against time to find that perfect lap and set up.

In the Junior Supersport class, we had Zak Shelton and Christopher Johnson racing for the final time this season. With Zak getting the better of Christopher in qualifying to secure an 11th  grid place with Christopher behind in 17th.

The first race saw Zak finish in 14th place, with teammate Christopher just ahead in 13th. The second and final race of the season saw a much better result for Zak, who finished inside the top 10 with a solid 8th place finish. Christopher ended his season with a 20th place finish, not what he wanted, but all in all, an excellent season for both riders.

Zak ended the championship in 7th place, and Christopher was down in 25th. Some great results for both riders and something to build on for the 2022 season.

Junior Superstock saw Caolan Irwin and Louis Vallely hoping to end the season on a high. Louis had the better qualifying result and set a time fast enough for 3rd on the grid for the first race of the weekend, with Caolan behind in 11th. Louis made a great start to the race and was in the leading group but slipped down the field to finish in 7th place, with Caolan crossing the line in 12th position.

The second and final race of the season saw Caolan grab the final championship point with a hard-earned 15th place; Louis rounded off his season with another 7th place finish.

Caolan ended the season in 19th place, which is a great result considering he only did half of the championship, Louis ended up in 8th place overall.

In Supersport and GP2, all was to play for in the Supersport championship with Ben Currie still in the title hunt. Ben set a time fast enough form him to start the first race of the weekend from 5th position, Rhys Irwin was just in front in 4th position and Dan Jones qualified in 12th overall on his GP2 machine.

Race one saw Ben make a great start and away with the leading bunch, but he was always up against it with three other riders between him and championship rival Jack Kennedy. Try as he might, he couldn’t close the gap. Ben finished in 3rd place with Rhys 6th overall in the Supersport standings, and Dan Jones was 4th in the GP2 class.

Race two and the last race of the season in the Supersport class saw Dan Jones once again finish in 4th in the GP2 standings. Rhys Irwin ended his season with a well earned 7th place finish overall. Still, it was Ben who stood on the top step of the podium, taking the final race win of the season. Ben got away with the leading group of 4 riders and took his time as the race went on, but two riders in front of him were caught up in a crash with each other, which opened the door for Ben, who gladly took the race lead. But a red flag caused a stoppage to the race, which meant a five-lap restart. Ben led the restart, and that’s where he stayed for the five-lap dash. A great end to his weekend.

Ben sadly ended the championship in 2nd place. Still, great consistency through the season to push Jack Kennedy all year, with Rhys in 9th after finding some feeling and getting comfortable on the Yamaha in his first season in the Supersport 600. Dan Jones was 4th in the GP2 standings after a tremendous final few rounds of the season.

British Superstock and only one race to decide the championship, so it’s all or nothing for the championship rivals. Qualifying saw Billy McConnell start from 4th on the grid giving him the best chance possible of winning the title; Fraser Rogers on the Aprilia in 5th place, Lewis Rollo was down in 11th and Luck Mossey behind in 12th.

So this is the final race and all to play for. Two J&S backed riders ended up on the podium, but who and in what order, down in 13th place was Luke Mossey, a good result for Luke, who had a jam-packed weekend as he was doubling up in the Superbike class, but more on that later. Lewis Rollo just missed out on a podium place by coming home in 4th. Finally, Fraser Rogers stood on the bottom step of the podium in 3rd place and a fantastic way to end his season. Still, Billy did what he had to do and gained as many points as possible and went out and won the final race of the season starting from 4th on the grid. He picked off the riders one by one and took the lead of the race, where it stayed until the checked flag came out and took his first race win of 2021.

But try as he might, it wasn’t enough to secure the championship as he missed out by 5 points.

So Billy ended the championship in 2nd place and only 5 points behind the championship winner. Fraser Rogers in 4th, Luke Mossey in 5th and Lewis Rollo in 8th overall. Race wins for all the J&S Supported riders, so great years racing all around.

Superbike class now and a returning name for this weekend as Luke Mossey was out riding for the TAG Honda team and also securing a ride for that team for 2022. Joe Francis was also back on the FHO Racing BMW team. Qualifying saw Luke Mossey surprise the whole paddock and put the TAG Honda on pole after making the best of the sketchy conditions. Glenn Irwin was in 8th place, with Gino Rea behind in 10th and Joe in 13th after making it into the qualifying shoot out.

The first race saw all the J&S backed riders score points. Luke Mossey, unfortunately, dropped back through the pack as the track was drying out, and he hadn’t had much dry track time on the new bike. So he came home in 15th and scored the final point, Joe was just in front in 14th place and another couple of points added to his total, Glenn finished in a hard-fought 9th place, Gino came home in 12th.

Race two of the weekend and Glenn again finished in 9th place, and the rest of the J&S supported riders all improved the final positions from the previous race. Gino crossed the line in 8th with Joe just outside the top 10 in 11th place and Luke Mossey in 13th.

In the third and final race of the season, Glenn ended his season in the pitlane after a technical problem with the bike forced him to retire. Luke just missed out on scoring another championship point after finishing in 16th place, Joe also had a DNF in the final race but a great end to his season after missing a few rounds and Gino came home in 10th place.

So that’s the season over and done with. Glenn finished in 8th overall but secured the best end of the season after he and his partner welcomed a baby girl into the Irwin family earlier this month. Gino ended the championship in 11th place, but what a season for the Suzuki rider after getting his first-ever BSB wins. Joe completed the year in 20th place overall but a challenging season after switching teams in the late season.

So that’s me done for this year and season. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Congratulations to all the J&S backed riders and teams. We have had wins and podiums throughout the season, so let’s hope 2022 can be as eventful and exciting as this year.

Thanks for reading

Danny