Luke Hedger – BSB Brands Hatch – Round 5

The PistonClick photographers are following the progress of a few motorcycle racers this season. #23 Luke Hedger, the 2023 Pirelli National Junior Superstock Champion who is racing a Honda Fireblade with the Whitecliffe CDH Racing, is one of them. Racing in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with Pirelli, this is Luke’s report from Round 5. 

Luke Hedger

Brands was a very solid weekend overall. On Friday, the plan for Free Practice 1 was just to shake off the cobwebs and get the bike dialled in—nothing too crazy, just me looking to find a rhythm. Then for Free Practice 2, we turned it up a notch. I got my head down and really got stuck in. The pace was strong, and time-wise, I was just a couple of spots off making the cut for Q2, which gave me a ton of confidence heading into Saturday.

Practice and Qualifying

Free Practice 3 on Saturday started as I hoped, and I was sitting in P12, lapping close to my FP2 times even though I was running scrubbed tyres. The bike felt mega, so I knew we were there or thereabouts. Qualifying followed, and I gave it everything, but ultimately missed out on a Q2 spot by a single position—frustrating, but also a big positive knowing the pace was there.

Race 1

Race 1 followed shortly after. I got a clean start, settled into a fast midfield group, and had some good battles. I eventually brought it home in 15th, which secured some points and, importantly, a strong lap time placed me well on the grid for Race 2.

Race 2 and 3

Sunday was a double race day—sprint and feature. I knew the sprint was my chance to really get amongst it, and that I did. I got off the line well and fought in the top-10 group, eventually crossing the line in 13th. Well, I couldn’t be happier with that one!

After such a positive result, I was fired up for the feature race. Another strong start and I settled in and got stuck into the pack. Proper elbows-out stuff, but good clean racing all the way. I came home 14th, so that’s three point-scoring finishes out of three.

All in all, a solid points haul and some proper battles—we’re in a great spot heading Thruxton. Let’s keep the momentum and my points streak going!

Thanks to Mic Pringle Motorsport Photography and David Harbey Photography for the images used in this report. You can find out more about these photographers from the links below.

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Our previous British Superbike reports from the 2025 season.

All of our other BSB reports from 2018 – 2025 can be found here.