BSB Donington: Tommy Bridewell masters the tricky conditions to win race three

Published: 15 August 2021

Tommy Bridewell - pictured earlier in the weekend - won race three at Donington Park

Tommy Bridewell clinched his first victory of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike season in tricky conditions at Donington Park.

The original race start was red flagged at the beginning of lap three due to rain beginning to fall. Mixed conditions followed, leaving the teams and riders with a tough decision regarding tyres. The grid became a mixture of wet, intermediate, and slick tyres for the restart, with the rain completely gone when the lights went out.

Race Two: Tarran Mackenzie clinches his second win of 2021

Bridewell went for intermediate front and rear tyres and duly reaped the rewards, pulling out a comfortable lead of 3.404s over Glenn Irwin. It’s Bridewell’s fifth BSB victory and his first since his victory at Donington in the opening round of the 2020 season.

Irwin finished second despite dislocating his shoulder during his crash in race two. Brother Andrew Irwin completed the rostrum to clinch his first top three for the SYNETIQ BMW team, whilst Josh Brookes secured his best result of the season in fourth. The top four riders all used intermediate front and rear tyres.

Joe Francis and Storm Stacey rode brilliantly to take fifth and sixth respectively – their best-ever BSB results – ahead of race two winner Tarran Mackenzie, who opted to use a full wet rear tyre. Mackenzie is the winner of the Milwaukee King of Donington trophy after collecting more points than anybody else this weekend.

Dean Harrison was eighth for Silicone Engineering Racing Kawasaki, with Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea completing the top 10. Rory Skinner came home in 11th, ahead of championship leader Jason O’Halloran. Like McAMS Yamaha teammate Mackenzie, O’Halloran had opted to go for a wet rear tyre.

Ryo Mizuno collected more points in 13th, with Peter Hickman and Lee Jackson taking the final points scoring positions. Bradley Ray and Bjorn Estment were the final two riders to finish the race.

Ryan Vickers took the lead at the restart and began to open a gap. However, his race quickly came to an end when he fell at Coppice. Xavi Fores returned to pit-lane and retired from the race, as did Takumi Takahashi moments after being lapped by the leaders.

Christian Iddon’s gamble on a dry rear tyre looked to be paying off when he began setting fastest lap after fastest lap in fourth. However, his race came to an end on lap nine when he crashed heading down Craner Curves. It’s his second DNF of the day.

Brian McCormack, Kyle Ryde, Joe Sheldon-Shaw, and Luke Hopkins all retired from the race.

BSB Donington: Tarran Mackenzie wins enthralling second race

First published: 15 August 2021 at 14:06 by Josh Close

Tarran Mackenzie held his nerve to win a sensational second Bennetts British Superbike race of the weekend at Donington Park.

In a race full of drama, Mackenzie came out on top in a last lap battle with teammate Jason O’Halloran, whilst also keeping a resurgent Bradley Ray at Bay. It’s Mackenzie’s second victory of the season and his eighth podium overall, taking him to 20 podium credits.

Race One: Jason O’Halloran secured his fourth consecutive win

Mackenzie is now 59 points behind O’Halloran in the standings, with a podium credits deficit of 25. O’Halloran was pipped at the final chicane on the final lap by Ray and had to settle for third. It’s Ray’s first podium for the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team, and his first overall since Oulton Park in 2019.

It was an eventful race for Ryan Vickers, who was forced to start from the back of the grid after a bike problem prevented him from taking his front row grid slot. By the fourth lap he’d made his way up to 12th, however he ran on at the final chicane and fell back down to 17th.

Vickers recovered to 12th but was handed a two-second time penalty for overtaking whilst yellow flags were being waved at turn one. The Royal Air Force Regular & Reserve Kawasaki rider eventually crossed the line in fourth but was demoted to seventh because of his time penalty.

Peter Hickman inherited fourth spot as a result, with Tommy Bridewell completing the top five ahead of Kyle Ryde. Xavi Fores ended the race in eighth spot, whilst Andrew Irwin and Josh Brookes completed the top 10.

Andrew Irwin was handed a two-second time penalty following a collision with Christian Iddon earlier in the race. The pair came together at turn one, with Irwin attempting to go back down the inside of Iddon after the Ducati man had overtaken him on corner entry. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough room and Iddon went down as a result.

Iddon falls to third in the championship standings and now has 22 fewer podium credits than series leader O’Halloran. He also only has three more than race two winner Mackenzie.

Dan Linfoot and Storm Stacey were 11th and 12th respectively, with Dean Harrison, Rory Skinner and Ryo Mizuno the remaining finishers – with all riders that finished collecting points. On lap 17 contact between Skinner and Glenn Irwin ended in the latter crashing out of the race at turn seven. Skinner had already been handed a two-second time penalty for cutting the chicane.

Joe Sheldon-Shaw’s race came to an end at Redgate (T1) at the beginning of lap eight. On the following lap Buildbase Suzuki’s Danny Kent fell at Coppice.

Bjorn Estment retired at turn one on lap 19, whilst moments late Luke Hopkins fell at turn seven, with Lee Jackson returning to the pits to retire. Takumi Takahashi fell at the final chicane at the end of lap 20.

The safety car was released on lap 22 following a big crash for Danny Buchan at the Old Hairpin (T4). Joe Francis and Gino Rea also failed to finish the race.

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BSB Donington: Jason O’Halloran secures his eighth win of 2021

First published: 14 August 2021 by Josh Close

Jason O’Halloran’s domination of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship continued at Donington Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Australian secured his fourth consecutive BSB victory in the opening race of the weekend, sealing his eighth victory of the season. O’Halloran crossed the line with a comfortable advantage of 1.866s over Glenn Irwin.

Qualifying: Jason O’Halloran secured pole number three of 2021

O’Halloran now holds a 54-point lead in the championship standings, but more importantly he now has 44 podium credits – which gives him a 21-point advantage over the rest of the grid for the Showdown.

Irwin secured second at the last chicane on the final lap, putting his Honda Fireblade down the inside of Tarran Mackenzie, who completed the podium for McAMS Yamaha. Mackenzie had enjoyed an entertaining battle with teammate O’Halloran in the opening stages of the race.

Christian Iddon secured fourth place ahead of Tommy Bridewell, whilst Ryan Vickers was classified in sixth spot after being handed a two-second penalty, the equivalent of a long lap penalty, for cutting the final chicane. Vickers was challenging Iddon for fourth on the track.

Andrew Irwin finished seventh for SYNETIQ BMW, getting the better of Lee Jackson, Peter Hickman, and Bradley Ray on an entertaining final lap battle. Kyle Ryde was just outside the top 10 in 11th, and was also handed a two-second penalty, the equivalent of a long lap penalty, for cutting the final chicane.

Dan Linfoot finished 12th despite having to start from the back of the grid. Danny Buchan, Xavi Fores and Gino Rea secured the final points scoring positions. Danny Kent was 16th ahead of Rory Skinner, who went off at Redgate on the second lap.

Josh Brookes’ problems continued in 18th, despite the reigning champion having shown some progress during free practice. It’s the fourth time that Brookes has finished outside of the points in 2021.

Joey Thompson crashed at Coppice on the fourth lap, resulting in a two-lap safety car period. Brian McCormack fell out of the race at the final chicane on lap 11. Newcomer Joe Sheldon-Shaw returned to pit-lane at the end of lap 14 and retired from proceedings, whilst Bjorn Estment did the same thing two laps later.

Sunday’s BSB races are due to begin at 13:00 and 16:30 respectively.

BSB Donington: Jason O’Halloran pips Peter Hickman to pole position

First published: 14 August 2021 at 13:58 by Josh Close

Jason O’Halloran went fastest in the closing stages of qualifying at Donington to secure his third pole position of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike season.

Peter Hickman look set to secure his first pole of the year; however, O’Halloran recorded a 1:05.637 with just over two minutes away to steal top spot. It’s O’Halloran’s second consecutive qualifying pole position, having also taken pole at Thruxton two weeks ago – before going on to secure the hat-trick.

Friday: Peter Hickman ends day one fastest overall

Hickman remained in second, whilst Glenn Irwin completed the front row for Honda Racing UK. Both Hickman and Irwin had led the way at one stage during Q2. Irwin topped FP3 this morning and looks strong heading into race one.

Tarran Mackenzie missed out on a front row grid position by 0.105s in fourth spot and will be joined on row two by Andrew Irwin and Bradley Ray. It’s Andrew Irwin’s best qualifying result of the season so far for SYNETIQ BMW.

Tommy Bridewell qualified seventh, whilst Christian Iddon, Kyle Ryde and Gino Rea completed the top 10. Ryan Vickers was only 0.024s off a spot inside the top 10, whilst Lee Jackson was just a further 0.090s back in 12th.

Rory Skinner and Dan Linfoot were 13th and 14th respectively, with the top 14 all under the existing lap record at Donington Park. Josh Brookes was unable to match the improved pace that he’d shown earlier in the weekend, with the reigning champion having to settle for 15th on the grid.

Xavi Fores, Danny Kent, and Danny Buchan completed the Q2 qualifiers, with the top 18 covered by just 0.731s.

Dean Harrison was best of the rest in Q1 and will start the opening race of the weekend from 19th on the grid. He’ll be joined on row seven by Ryo Mizuno and Storm Stacey. Takumi Takahashi heads the eighth row in 22nd, ahead of Luke Hopkins and Bjorn Estment.

Joe Francis qualified 25th, whilst newcomer Joe Sheldon-Shaw, standing in for the injured Josh Owens at Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki, was 26th. Brian McCormack and Joey Thompson complete the grid.

The opening BSB race of the weekend is due to begin at 16:30 this afternoon (August 14).

BSB Donington: Peter Hickman tops the opening day for FHO Racing

First published: 13 August 2021 by Josh Close

Peter Hickman recorded the best lap-time on the opening day of Bennetts British Superbike action at Donington Park.

The FHO Racing BMW rider went to the top of the timesheets with only a few minutes remaining in FP2, getting his lap-time in just before the red flags were waved for track contamination at turn one.