BSB Donington: Gino Rea completes the double with another wet weather masterclass

Updated: 04 October 2021

Gino Rea completed the double after mastering the wet conditions on Sunday

Gino Rea has doubled his Bennetts British Superbike win tally with another dominating display in the wet at Donington Park.

The start of the race was delayed after a heavy rain shower hit the area. Within a few moments the conditions became too dangerous to race. The race was eventually reduced to 15 laps.

Race Two: Tarran Mackenzie secures his seventh win of 2021

Rea, who won in torrential conditions on Saturday, once again launched perfectly off the line and took the lead of the race on the first lap. From that moment on, the Buildbase Suzuki rider didn’t look back and withstood some pressure from Christian Iddon.

It completes an impressive weekend for Rea, who goes home with a pole position, two wins and a fourth from his trip to Donington Park. Meanwhile, Iddon clinched a hat-trick of podiums in what could turn out to be a vital weekend for his championship hopes.

The title fight took yet another dramatic twist with a bike problem causing Tarran Mackenzie to retire from the race. The race two winner was fourth when the problem struck.

Iddon’s podium means that he’s now only 15 points behind Mackenzie with three races remaining, with Jason O’Halloran now 10 points adrift in second after ending race three in eighth. Tommy Bridewell, who finished fourth, is still in the mix too, 21 points behind the series leader.

After coming close multiple times this season, Lee Jackson finally secured the podium that he’s deserved in recent weeks. The FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider crossed the line in a lonely third.

Andrew Iriwn completed the top five for SYNETIQ BMW, ahead of Ryan Vickers and Peter Hickman. O’Halloran was eighth, whilst Joe Francis and Glenn Irwin completed the top 10. Irwin returned to the pits at the end of his first warm up lap and had to start from pit lane.

Josh Brookes fell out of the race at Craner Curves on the second lap, whilst Jesse Trayler crashed out on the same lap. Danny Buchan retired on lap four due to a problem with his SYNETIQ BMW. Brian McCormack returned to the pits at the end of lap eight and retired.

BSB Donington: Tarran Mackenzie storms to victory and retakes championship lead

First published: 3 October 2021 at 14:09 by Josh Close

Tarran Mackenzie leads the Bennetts British Superbike Championship once again after storming through the field to take victory in race two at Donington Park.

After yesterday’s wet race, Mackenzie had to start the race from 13th on the grid. Mackenzie, who used the softer SCO rear tyre, began making his way through the order and moved up into the podium positions at turn one on lap 14.

Race One: Gino Rea mastered the wet conditions to win

Mackenzie set his sights on leaders Danny Buchan and Christian Iddon, who were enjoying their own battle for the win. Mackenzie made the move on Iddon at the Melbourne Hairpin, with slight contact on the exit of the corner almost throwing Mackenzie over the handlebars.

Undeterred, Mackenzie regrouped and took the lead heading into the Fogarty Esses on the penultimate lap, going down the inside of Buchan. Mackenzie set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap and secured his seventh victory of the season.

With McAMS Yamaha teammate Jason O’Halloran crossing the line in ninth, Mackenzie now holds an 18-point lead in the championships. Tommy Bridewell finished seventh, and is now 38 points adrift as a result.

Buchan came home in second to clinch his first podium since race three at Thruxton in August. Iddon secured his second podium of the weekend in third, but is now 38 points behind Mackenzie in the standings.

Race one winner Gino Rea was fourth on the Buildbase Suzuki, with Lee Jackson completing the top five ahead of Kyle Ryde and Bridewell. Andrew Irwin was eighth on the second SYNETIQ BMW M1000 RR, with O’Halloran and Glenn Irwin completing the top 10.

Josh Brookes dropped back to 11th in the closing stages of the race, finishing ahead of Bradley Ray and BSB newcomer Naomichi Uramoto. Ryo Mizuno and Ryan Vickers secured the final two points on offer in this afternoon’s race.

Peter Hickman’s race came to an end on lap 13 when the chain came off his FHO Racing BMW. Hickman was running in seventh at the time.

Rory Skinner retired from the race at the end of lap two, whilst Storm Stacey, who started from the front row and even led in the early stages, retired with a bike issue on lap eight. Joe Francis also retired to the pits and retired.

The third and final BSB race of the weekend at Donington Park is scheduled to begin at 16:15 this afternoon (October 3).

BSB Donington: Gino Rea dominates to secure his maiden victory

First published: 2 October 2021 by Josh Close

Gino Rea dominated in treacherous conditions at Donington Park to secure his first-ever Bennetts British Superbike victory.

The Buildbase Suzuki rider made a fantastic start from pole position and led for the entire race, opening up a lead of over eight seconds at one stage. Rea was able to manage his pace and keep his bike upright, eventually crossing the line with an advantage of just over two seconds.

Qualifying: Gino Rea secures his first pole of 2021 in the wet

Kyle Ryde came out on top in an entertaining scrap with Christian Iddon and Lee Jackson to finish second. That’s his first podium for the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team. Iddon managed to pip Jackson to the line to become the only Showdown contender on the podium, with the latter once again having to settle for fourth. Iddon closes the gap in the championship standings to 26 points.

Jason O’Halloran completed the top five for McAMS Yamaha and retakes the championship lead on the count back ruling. He and Tarran Mackenzie, who finished seventh, are now level on points at the top of the standings, however O’Halloran has more victories to his name and therefore is first overall.

Joe Francis came home in sixth after a fantastic performance on his FHO Racing BMW debut. Ryan Vickers was eighth, whilst Bradley Ray and Rory Skinner completed the top 10. Skinner had to start from the back of the grid after crashing at Schwantz during his sighting lap.

Bjorn Estment came home in 11th, ahead of Andrew Irwin, Takumi Takahashi, Josh Owens, and Brian McCormack. All of today’s finishers scored points, however the final five riders were lapped by the leaders.

Danny Buchan crashed out of second on brakes heading into the Melbourne Hairpin, whilst Josh Brookes crashed out of the inherited second spot at Schwantz on the following lap. Tommy Bridewell’s title hopes were dealt a huge blow when he fell at Coppice on lap five.

Second place continued to be a curse for the riders, with Storm Stacey crashing out of the position at the beginning of lap nine. Stacey went down at Redgate whilst being chased down by Jackson.

Peter Hickman and Glenn Irwin both crashed out of the race on lap three. Hickman went down at Starkeys Bridge, whilst Glenn Irwin hit the deck heading into the Fogarty Esses. Ryo Mizunio crashed out of 12th at the Melbourne Hairpin on lap 13.

Naomichi Uramoto’s maiden race came to an end on the opening lap. The Japanese rider fell on the run down to the Fogarty Esses. Dean Harrison also crashed out at the Fogarty Esses on the following lap. Luke Hopkins returned to the pits and retired from the race.

BSB Donington: Gino Rea masters the wet conditions to take pole

First published: 2 October 2021 at 11:42 by Josh Close

Gino Rea secured pole position for the opening Bennetts British Superbike race of the weekend at Donington Park after mastering the wet conditions.

The rain began to fall towards the end of Q1 and is expected to stay put for the remainder of the day. Undeterred, the riders ventured out onto the circuit for Q2 and did their best to stay upright and adapt to the conditions.

Friday: Tarran Mackenzie ends day one on top

Rea, who had to go through Q1, came out on top with a best lap-time of 1:43.279, which was over half-a-second quicker than Danny Buchan in second (+0.696). It’s Rea’s first pole position of the season on the Buildbase Suzuki.

Buchan had been on provisional pole earlier in the session. Glenn Irwin completes the front row after moving up multiple positions with his final flying lap, posting a 1:44.944 (+0.969).

Josh Brookes fought back from a crash early in the session to take fourth with his final flying lap. Brookes crashed coming out of Goddards at the end of his out lap of the session, losing the rear in the slippery conditions.

Lee Jackson completed the top five for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, ahead of Oulton Park double race winner Tommy Bridewell. Joe Francis ended his first qualifying session with FHO Racing BMW in seventh spot, ahead of Kyle Ryde and Rory Skinner.

Title-chasing Jason O’Halloran completed the top 10 on his McAMS Yamaha, ahead of Peter Hickman and Bradley Ray. Ryan Vickers will start race one from 13th, with Storm Stacey, who crashed at Redgate during Q1, and Andrew Irwin completing the top 15.

Championship leader Tarran Mackenzie will start the opening BSB race of the weekend down in 16th after crashing out of Q2 heading into the Fogarty Esses. Meanwhile, Christian Iddon crashed out of the session heading down into Mcleans and will start race one from 17th on the grid. Takumi Takahashi completed the Q2 positions in 18th after falling at Craner Curves.

Josh Owens narrowly missed out on a spot in Q2. Owens, who survived a late scare on the exit of the Melbourne Loop, was just 0.065s outside of the top six. He’ll be joined on the seventh row by newcomer Naomichi Uramoto and Dean Harrison.

Bjorn Estment heads row eight ahead of Brian McCormack and Ryo Mizuno. Mizuno crashed out of the session at the Fogarty Esses and landed awkwardly. The Japanese rider was assessed at the scene and looked to be in some discomfort. Moments later, Jesse Trayler, who starts one position behind Mizuno, went down at Craner Curves.

Luke Hopkins’ session only last a couple of minutes due to a crash at Craner Curves. Hopkins completes the grid for race one as a result.

Race one is due to begin at 12:30 following a revision to the timetable because of the heavy rainfall forecast this afternoon.

BSB Donington: Tarran Mackenzie ends the opening day on top

First published: 1 October 2021 by Josh Close

Bennetts British Superbike Championship leader Tarran Mackenzie ended the opening day at the top of the timesheets at Donington Park.

Mackenzie posted a best lap-time of 1:28.708, under the existing lap record around the Grand Prix circuit, to top the second practice session of the day. That time was enough to give him a 0.121s advantage over Christian Iddon, who moved up into second with only a few seconds remaining.