BSB Donington: Tom Sykes secures the double in Race Two

Tom Sykes broke the lap record on his way to victory in the second Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Donington Park.

The MCE Ducati rider didn’t get away from the line as well as he did in Race One, but he soon made his way to the front. Sykes went down the inside of Bradley Ray at Redgate on lap three and was left unchallenged for the remainder of the race, posting a record lap-time of 1:28.808.

Ray, who opted to use the harder Pirelli SC0 rear tyre, crossed the line in second spot, extending his series lead to 55 points over Tommy Bridewell, who came home in sixth after losing out to Lee Jackson coming out of the final corner.

Glenn Irwin completed the podium after coming out on top in an exciting battle with brother Andrew Irwin. The former had too much of a gap to chase down once he managed to get by the SYNETIQ BMW rider.

Jason O’Halloran was seventh after being pipped to the finish line by Bridewell, whilst Peter Hickman, Josh Brookes and Ryan Vickers completed the top 10.

Kyle Ryde and Danny Buchan were 11^th and 12^th respectively, whilst Superbike rookie Charlie Nesbitt finished 13^th despite having to start from the back after stalling on the grid – initiating the need for a second warm-up lap.

Danny Kent and Takumi Takahashi secured the final two points available in Race Two.

Leon Haslam crashed out of the race at the very first corner, whilst Tom Neave also went down at Redgate a few laps later. Jack Kennedy returned to the pits and retired on lap 12.

The third and final BSB race of the weekend is due to begin at 16:30.

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BSB Donington: Tom Sykes dominates to secure his first victory of 2022

First published: 1 October 2022 by Josh Close

Tom Sykes stormed to his first victory of the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season in the opening race of the weekend at Donington Park.

Sykes took the lead of the race going through turn one on the opening lap and didn’t look back. Nobody could challenge the MCE Ducati rider, who has nine World Superbike Championship victories at Donington Park.

Remarkably, it’s the first win for Paul Bird’s team since Christian Iddon’s win at Brands Hatch in July 2021. Sykes’ last win in BSB came in 2010 when he returned to the series as a Wildcard entry as a WSB rider for PBM Kawasaki at Brands Hatch.

Jason O’Halloran finished second after overtaking Bradley Ray at the Melbourne Loop on the penultimate lap. Peter Hickman completed the podium in his 400^th BSB race after overtaking Ray at the final corner (Goddards) on the final lap.

Ray had to settle for fourth, but extends his championship lead to 45 points due to Tommy Bridewell finishing down in eighth. Meanwhile, fellow Showdown Title Fighters Glenn Irwin and Lee Jackson were fifth and sixth respectively, with both unable to challenge the top four riders.

Kyle Ryde finished seventh ahead of Bridewell, whilst Leon Haslam and Ryan Bickers completed the top 10. Josh Brookes and Danny Buchan were 11^th and 12^th respectively, with Tom Neave, Takumi Takahashi and Ryo Mizuno securing the final points on offer this afternoon.

Andrew Irwin retired from the race due to a bike problem, whilst Liam Delves crashed out at Craner Curves.

Sunday’s BSB races are scheduled to take place at 13:15 and 16:30.

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BSB Donington: Jason O’Halloran pips Bradley Ray to pole position

First published: 1 October 2022 at 14:20 by Josh Close

Jason O’Halloran bounced back brilliantly from the events of Oulton Park to take pole position for Race One of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship weekend at Donington Park.

The Aussie, who’s still battered and bruised from his crashes last weekend, pipped championship leader Bradley Ray to top spot by just 0.009s, posting a best lap-time of 1:28.338. It’s the McAMS Yamaha rider’s third pole of the season.

O’Halloran and Ryde will be joined on the front row by Tom Sykes on the MCE Ducati. It’s Sykes’ best qualifying performance of the season, one which comes at the circuit where Sykes has won nine times in the World Superbike Championship.

Peter Hickman qualified fourth ahead of his 400^th BSB race start later today. Only Michael Rutter (434) has started more races than the FHO Racing BMW racer.

Kyle Ryde will line-up alongside Hickman, fresh from signing a new deal with the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha team for 2023. Andrew Irwin completes row two for SYNETIQ BMW.

Glenn Irwin will start the opening race from seventh, and looked visibly frustrated inside the Honda Racing UK garage after his run came to an end. Ryan Vickers and Showdown Title Fighter Lee Jackson were eighth and ninth respectively, whilst Josh Brookes completes the top 10.

Tommy Bridewell endured a tough session down in 11^th and has work to do if he’s going to close the gap on Ray. Leon Haslam and Danny Buchan qualified 12^th and 13^th, ahead of Honda trio Takumi Takahashi, Tom Neave and Ryo Mizuno.

Chrissy Rouse and Storm Stacey were the final two Q2 qualifiers in 17^th and 18^th.

Danny Kent and rookie Buildbase Suzuki teammate Charlie Nesbitt missed out on a spot in Q2 and will start Race One from 19^th and 20^th on the grid. They’ll be joined on row seven by Liam Jeacock.

Dean Harrison qualified 22^nd ahead of Josh Owens and 2022 British Supersport Champion Jack Kennedy, who joins the BSB grid with Mar-Train Yamaha. Luke Mossey, Liam Delves and Finnish rookie Eemeli Lahti complete the grid.

The opening BSB race of the weekend is due to begin at 16:30 on Saturday afternoon (October 1).

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BSB Donington: Glenn Irwin fastest as heavy rainfall disrupts Friday’s sessions

First published: 30 September 2022 by Josh Close

Glenn Irwin topped the opening day of Bennetts British Superbike Championship action at Donington Park after heavy rainfall bright a premature end to the day’s timetable.

Only Leon Haslam and Dean Harrison ventured out during Friday afternoon’s wet Free Practice Two session, meaning that the combined standings for the day were the results from this morning’s Free Practice One session.

Irwin was the fastest in FP1, a session which saw mixed conditions, setting a best lap-time of 1:30.611 to pip championship leader Bradley Ray to top spot by 0.160s. The Honda Racing UK rider is 51 points behind Ray with six races remaining, but heads into this round having collected four fourths and a second from the previous six races.

In an interview for the official BSB website after today’s session, Irwin said: “I felt good and the momentum that we have had is continuing and that momentum of late has built even more. I feel that we have been getting stronger over the last couple of rounds and today it has continued.

“The bike felt good even though the conditions haven’t been great, even the lap time despite the conditions were reasonable. It is important to top Bradley and that is my goal for this weekend, to keep the Yamaha behind me. That is the first blow as such so now we need to keep it up for tomorrow.”

Peter Hickman completed the top three for FHO Racing BMW, whilst Kyle Ryde and Haslam both finished inside the top five. Danny Buchan was sixth ahead of Takumi Takahashi and SYNETIQ BMW teammate Andrew Irwin.

Ryo Mizuno made it three Honda riders inside the top 10, whilst Australian Josh Brookes ended the day in 10^th place. Showdown Title Fighter Tommy Bridewell and Storm Stacey secured the final two automatic Q2 spots.

Fellow title contenders Lee Jackson (15^th) and Jason O’Halloran (18^th) will both have to go through Q1 on Saturday afternoon (October 1), as will Tom Sykes (19^th) on the MCE Ducati.

Charlie Nesbitt completed 12 laps ahead of his BSB debut with Buildbase Suzuki, ending the day 24^th (+5.521s). Nesbitt replaces the injured Christian Iddon this weekend.

Meanwhile, Jack Kennedy and Mar-Train Yamaha are also competing in the Superbike class, ahead of their full-time switch in 2023, after sealing the Supersport crown at Snetterton. Unfortunately, a crash at the final corner ended the Irishman’s session after only two laps.

Rory Skinner will not take part at Donington Park after breaking several bones in his hand in the incident with Iddon at Oulton Park last week, whilst Tarran Mackenzie’s season is over after he underwent surgery on his broken femur.

Qualifying at Donington Park is due to begin with Q1 at 13:10 on Saturday afternoon (October 1), and will be followed immediately by Q2 at 13:19. The opening race of the weekend is then scheduled to take place at 16:15.

Sunday’s races are pencilled in for 13:15 and 16:30 respectively.