The ‘showdown' brewing for the Title Showdown; Mackenzie return doubt
A Showdown is brewing for the six available 2019 BSB Title Showdown spots as Tarran Mackenzie remains uncertain for Cadwell Park return
TARRAN Mackenzie’s spot in the 2019 British Superbike Championship Title Showdown will be under threat if he is unable to take up his place on the grid at Cadwell Park this weekend.
The Scotsman crashed heavily during qualifying at Thruxton two weeks’ ago, injuring his wrist and forcing him to sit out the two races. It was the second event he has been forced to miss in 2019 after a crash at Brands Hatch briefly knocked him unconscious, ruling him out from racing.
Despite this, Mackenzie has retained one of the six Title Showdown spots up to this weekend’s eighth BSB round at Cadwell Park but for now he remains a ‘maybe’ to race as he recovers from surgery on that fractured wrist.
“I saw a specialist on the Monday after Thruxton who said I could have a screw put in the fracture, which I had done on Thursday. The latest X-Ray shows that's all gone in nicely and the wrist itself feels pretty strong, but it's fine saying that sat on the sofa, riding a superbike around Cadwell Park might be a bit different!
"I will try and ride in Thursday's private test, see how it feels and go from there. It would be nice to see if we can get a few points for the Showdown, but we need to take each day as it comes. There are a couple more days until the test, so that's more healing time and I'll keep having physio so fingers crossed."
Who is in contention for the 2019 BSB Title Showdown?
With five races - 2 at Cadwell Park, 3 at Oulton Park - to go before the Title Showdown kicks in and the points are equalised (podium credits notwithstanding), no-one is guaranteed to go through as yet but it would take a brave man to bet against Scott Redding, Josh Brookes and Tommy Bridewell progressing.
As it stands, third place Bridewell alone is 57 points clear of fourth place with a maximum of 125 points up for grabs in the next two rounds.
As such, attention switches to who fills 4-5-6, with as many as six riders realistically in with a shot – which spells trouble for Mackenzie, if he doesn’t start this weekend.
| Leading BSB Championship Standings (After 7 Rounds / 2 Rounds until Title Showdown | |||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat | Team | Bike | Points |
| 1 | Scott Redding | GBR | Be Wiser Ducati PBM | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 246 |
| 2 | Josh Brookes | AUS | Be Wiser Ducati PBM | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 226 |
| 3 | Tommy Bridewell | GBR | Oxford Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 207 |
| 4 | Danny Buchan | GBR | FS-3 Racing Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 150 |
| 5 | Tarran Mackenzie | GBR | McAMS Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | 144 |
| 6 | Andrew Irwin | GBR | Honda Racing | Honda CBR1000RR | 139 |
| 7 | Xavi Fores | ESP | Honda Racing | Honda CBR1000RR | 132 |
| 8 | Peter Hickman | GBR | Smiths Racing BMW | BMW S1000RR | 123 |
| 9 | Christian Iddon | GBR | Tyco BMW | BMW S1000RR | 102 |
| 10 | Jason O'Halloran | AUS | McAMS Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | 90 |
Other points of note to watch for is the inter-team Honda battle after Thruxton winner Andrew Irwin bumped out Xavi Fores last time out, while Peter Hickman’s best results generally come in the run up to the cut off points once his road racing season is out of the way.
Christian Iddon and Jason O’Halloran cannot be discounted either based on their ability to produce front-running results – when luck goes their way.
