BSB Oulton Park: Tommy Bridewell leads BeerMonster Ducati one-two in race two

Tommy Bridewell secured his first Bennetts British Superbike Championship victory at a BeerMonster Ducati (PBM) rider in the second race of the weekend at Oulton Park.

Bridewell led the majority of the race and didn’t flinch despite being under constant pressure from Leon Haslam. Bridewell posted his fastest lap of the race on lap 16 of 18, and pulled away comfortably to take his first win of 2023.

Victory moves Bridewell up into second place in the championship, just a single point behind Josh Brookes. Despite winning Race One, Brookes could only manage sixth onboard the FHO Racing BMW M1000 RR.

Glenn Irwin moved ahead of Haslam with a couple of laps remaining to complete a special one-two for Paul Bird’s Ducati team. Irwin is three points behind Brookes in the standings after the opening five races of the season.

Behind the Ducati duo there was a fantastic battle for third between Haslam and Andrew Irwin, which went down to the final corner. Irwin pulled a move down the inside of Haslam at Lodge, but Haslam got the smoother corner exit and used the grunt of the BMW to pip the Honda rider to the line.

Kyle Ryde was fifth on the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha ahead of Brookes, whilst Christian Iddon crossed the line in seventh for Oxford Products Racing Ducati. Lee Jackson came home in eighth, with Jack Kennedy and Dean Harrison completing the top 10.

Danny Kent and Tom Neave finished just outside of the top 10, with Luke Mossey and Max Cook ending their races in 13^th and 14^th respectively. Davey Todd secured the final point, but could have had more if not for a slight mistake at Lodge on the final lap.

It was a chaotic start to the race. Peter Hickman went down at the first corner after taking the lead of the race at the start. Moments later, Jason O’Halloran went down at Cascades for the second time this weekend, taking Josh Owens down with him.

Like Race One, Michael Dunlop returned to the pits to retire on lap five. Teammate Charlie Nesbitt crashed out at the end of lap seven after running into the back of Storm Stacey at Lodge. Brian McCormack retired on the same lap.

Stacey’s exhaust was badly damaged and as a result the Starline Racing Kawasaki rider retired at the end of the following lap.

The third and final BSB race at Oulton Park is due to begin at 16:30.

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Josh Brookes has extended his lead in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship after winning the opening race of the weekend at Oulton Park.

The Aussie led the entirety of the race, which came to a premature end when rain began to fall in the Shell Oils section of the circuit with a lap-and-a-half still to go. The riders immediately raised their arms to signal to race control that the circuit was no longer safe.

As a result, victory went to Brookes for the second time in 2023. It’s his second win of the season and BMW’s first at Oulton Park since 2016 when Richard Cooper was victorious for the Buildbase BMW team.

Leon Haslam finished second to take his first podium as a BMW rider, whilst BeerMonster Ducati’s Glenn Irwin completed the podium. Peter Hickman was fourth on the second FHO Racing BMW M1000 RR after closing in on the leading trio midway through the race.

Tommy Bridewell fought his way through the order to finish fifth despite starting the race from 15^th on the grid. He and teammate Glenn Irwin are joint-second in the championship, nine points behind Brookes.

Andrew Irwin was the top Honda rider in sixth, whilst Kyle Ryde and Christian Iddon came home in seventh and eighth respectively. Storm Stacey impressed in ninth after starting the race from third on the grid for Starline Racing Kawasaki.

Lee Jackson completed the top 10 for Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki, finishing ahead of Charlie Nesbitt and Jack Kennedy. Luke Mossey, Tom Neave and Danny Kent secured the final points on offer.

Jason O’Halloran’s race came to an end on the second lap. The Aussie was in fourth place when he lost control of his McAMS Yamaha R1 on the exit of Cascades. O’Halloran was thrown over the handlebars but was able to walk away from the scene. He was taken to the medical centre afterwards for a check-up.

Michael Dunlop returned to the pits at the end of lap seven and retired from the race. Two laps later, Liam Delves also returned to pit-lane and retired.

Tomorrow’s BSB races (May 1) are due to take place at 13:15 and 16:30 respectively.

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Josh Brookes mastered the tricky conditions at Oulton Park on Sunday afternoon to take pole position for the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend.

The riders were met with damp conditions after an earlier rain shower so had to be extra careful whilst trying to find the perfect lap-time. Ultimately, that went to Brookes and FHO Racing BMW, with the Aussie recording a best of 1:42.543. It’s Brookes’ first pole position since round nine of the 2021 season, also at Oulton Park.

Brookes was the only rider to drop into the 1:42s, with second-placed rider Leon Haslam 0.660s slower than the two-time champion. Haslam (9) and Brookes (8) have more Oulton Park victories than anybody else on the current BSB grid.

Storm Stacey produced a stunning performance to qualifying third for Starline Racing Kawasaki, having held provisional pole position with only a few minutes remaining.

Glenn Irwin heads row two for BeerMonster Ducati, just ahead of Jason O’Halloran and Luke Mossey. O’Halloran’s final lap was hampered by yellow flags caused by a crash for Josh Owens at Lodge.

Andrew Irwin and Peter Hickman qualified seventh and eighth respectively. Hickman’s result means that there are three BMW riders inside the top eight. Jack Kennedy and Tim Neave completed the top 10.

Christian Iddon will start race one from 11^th on the grid, whilst Danny Kent and Charlie Nesbitt are next up in 12^th and 13^th. Despite his crash, Owens will start the race from 14^th.

It was a tough session for Tommy Bridewell and Kyle Ryde. The regular frontrunners will have work to do after qualifying down in 15^th and 16^th.

Dean Harrison and Lee Jackson were the final qualifiers in Q2. Jackson opted to gamble on dry tyres but was just under 7.5s off the pace.

Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki teammate Max Cook missed out on a spot in Q1 by 0.035s and will start the opening race of the weekend from 19^th as a result. Luke Stapleford will start that race from 20^th on his return to the Superbike class. Stapleford is standing in for the injured Ryan Vickers at LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha.

Tom Neave qualified 21^st for Honda Racing UK and will line-up just ahead of fellow Fireblade riders Hector Barbera and Davey Todd. Jack Scott and Bradley Perie qualified 24^th and 25^th respectively, whilst Michael Dunlop, Liam Delves and Brian McCormack complete the grid.

The first BSB race of the weekend is due to take place at 16:50.

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Peter Hickman ended the opening day as the man to beat at Oulton Park as mixed weather conditions led to a quiet FP2 session.

The FHO Racing BMW rider was quickest in FP1 with a best lap-time of 1:35.088, which was enough to pip Danny Kent to top spot by only 0.091s. Hickman recorded that lap-time on his final flying lap of the session.

Rainfall in-between the two practice sessions led to mixed conditions out on the Cheshire circuit. As a result, very few riders ventured out until the final 10 minutes and, whilst lap-times were gradually coming down, Josh Brookes was the only rider able to improve his lap-time. Brookes’ improved lap-time was recorded on his final flying lap of the day.

Leon Haslam’s impressive start to life onboard the ROKiT BMW Motorrad M1000 RR continued in third position, whilst Tommy Bridewell was the quickest Ducati rider in fourth.

Brookes made it three BMW riders inside the top five on the second of the FHO Racing BMW machines. It looks promising for the German manufacturer, which hasn’t won a race at Oulton Park since Richard Cooper in 2016.

Kyle Ryde ended his day sixth overall after dropping down a few positions in the dying moments of FP1, whilst Dean Harrison sprung a surprise in seventh onboard the DAO Racing Kawasaki.

Silverstone race winner Glenn Irwin was eighth onboard the BeerMonster Ducati, whilst Jason O’Halloran and Lee Jackson completed the top 10. Jackson won twice at Oulton in 2022 for Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki; the only non-Ducati or Yamaha rider to do so in the last 20 races held at the circuit.

Jack Kennedy was 11^th onboard the Mar-Train Yamaha R1, finishing ahead of Christian Iddon (12^th) and Andrew Irwin (13^th). Charlie Nesbitt and Luke Mossey were 14^th and 15^th respectively.

Q1 is due to take place at 14:30 on Sunday afternoon (April 30), followed by Q2 at 14:49. The opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend is scheduled to take place at 16:50 later that afternoon.