THE CONTENDERS
This great gaggle of riders are scrapping it out to keep title hopes alive
93 POINTS PETER HICKMAN Smiths BMW Wins: 0 Podiums: 0 Best Finish: 4th
Hickman’s BSB season hasn’t been anything to shout about so far, but he has been consistent enough to sneak into the top six with the likes of Glenn Irwin and Christian Iddon on occasion this year. The Smiths BMW rider has shown the pace to be in the Showdown before, but never quite made it. He might hold a top six spot at the moment but he won’t keep it for long unless he can push for better results.
63 POINTS GLENN IRWIN Be Wiser Ducati Wins: 0 Podiums: 2 Best Finish: 2nd
The timing of Irwin’s Knockhill crash couldn’t have been worse as the Be Wiser Ducati rider looked to ride the wave of confidence he’d built from a consistent top-five start to the year. Irwin was ready to launch a title attack at Knockhill but after missing two rounds he’s now 30 points off the top six. But, as long as his fractured elbow and shoulder, allow – he is very capable of bagging big points.
89 POINTS JAKE DIXON RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki Wins: 2 Podiums: 2 Best Finish: 1st
Dixon bagged an unexpected double at Knockhill, and while he might have slipped under the radar with his fourth and fifth at Snetterton, he’s slowly reeling in the Showdown six. Just four points behind Hickman, another weekend near the front will put Dixon in prime position for a showdown spot as the young gun looks to build on his recent success.
60 POINTS DAN LINFOOT Honda Racing Wins: 0 Podiums: 0 Best Finish: 5th
Linfoot hasn’t got to grips with the tricky new Fireblade as well as team-mate O’Halloran and it doesn’t look like he’s going to be strong enough to secure a top six spot, despite being only 33 points behind Hickman. So he needs to make a big step forward pretty quickly if he’s to have any chance of making it into the Showdown for the fourth consecutive year.
86 POINTS CHRISTIAN IDDON Tyco BMW Wins: 0 Podiums: 3 Best Finish: 2nd
Going off his early season consistency, Iddon should currently be fourth in the championship standings but a very heavy crash in practice at Knockhill ruled him out both there and at Snetterton with a nasty arm injury. Now he needs to get straight back in the game and bag some good results at Brands if he is to have any chance of getting back into the championship top six.
51 POINTS JAMES ELLISON McAMS Yamaha Wins: 0 Podiums: 1 Best Finish: 2nd
Bad luck and crashes have so far blighted Ellison’s campaign. There’s been no doubting his speed but as the old adage goes, to finish first, first you have to finish and that’s not something he’s been doing a lot of. The Cumbrian has five DNFs to his name from the 10 races in 2017 so far, and while at least half of those haven’t been his fault, he’ll need a dramatic change in fortunes to secure a top six spot.