BSB Donington Park: Jason O'Halloran bags first win of 2024 in epic final race

Jason O’Halloran claimed his first Bennetts British Superbike Championship victory as a Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki rider in a thoroughly entertaining finale at Donington Park.

O’Halloran, Tommy Bridewell, Danny Kent and Glenn Irwin put on a show in what was the best race of the 2024 season so far. O’Halloran, Bridewell and Irwin all led the race at one stage or another, putting strong moves on each other at various parts of the circuit. In fact, the quartet completed 14 overtakes on each other during the final two laps.

O’Halloran managed to open up a slight gap at the beginning of the final lap, whilst Bridewell and Irwin resumed their war from the 2023 season. A chaotic final corner saw Bridewell and then Kent fend off Irwin, with the latter losing out on a podium by 0.050s.

It’s the perfect ending to what was a weekend full of bad luck for O’Halloran. The Aussie saw his qualifying lap cancelled for exceeding track limits, whilst he suffered a mechanical failure in race two.

O’Halloran has now won BSB races onboard Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki machinery, and has an overall total of 28 victories. It’s O’Halloran’s first victory since the last visit to Donington Park last October.

In the standings, Irwin leaves Donington with a championship lead of 13 points over Kent. Meanwhile, Bridewell is now fourth overall, only 22 points adrift of his former teammate. Kyle Ryde came home in fifth to remain in the title hunt – 20 points behind Irwin in fourth.

Leon Haslam crossed the line in sixth ahead of Andrew Irwin and Lee Jackson, whilst Christian Iddon and Max Cook completed the top 10.

Charlie Nesbitt was next in 11^th, whilst Fraser Rogers’ impressive weekend continued in 12^th ahead of Dean Harrison. Billy McConnell and Storm Stacey claimed the final points on offer.

Josh Brookes crashed out of seventh spot at the final corner on lap four, whilst Franco Bourne suffered a mechanical problem on lap six.

Round four of the 2024 BSB season takes place at Knockhill on June 14-16.

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Glenn Irwin led from start to finish in the sprint race at Donington Park to secure his fourth Bennetts British Superbike Championship win of 2024.

Irwin made the perfect start and gapped the field by almost a second by the end of the opening lap. From there, the Northern Irishman continue to extend his lead, however Leon Haslam was able to close him down in the second half of the race.

Whilst the gap had been closed, Haslam was unable to attempt an overtake on the championship leader. Irwin extends his lead in the standings to 15 points, whilst Haslam celebrates his second podium of the weekend.

Tommy Bridewell completed the podium for Honda Racing UK to claim his second podium of the meeting, and his third of the 2024 season. Danny Kent finished fourth after getting the better of Kyle Ryde and Christian Iddon, and also set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:27.651 – a new lap record at Donington Park.

Ryde finished fifth, whilst Iddon completed a heroic ride in sixth. Iddon is battered and bruised following his huge crash during the opening race. Charlie Nesbitt came home in seventh, whilst Josh Brookes, Andrew Irwin and Fraser Rogers completed the top 10.

Dean Harrison made it three factory Hondas inside the top 11, with Lee Jackson crossing the line in 11^th. Jackson was caught up in a crash for Ryan Vickers at Melbourne Loop and had to run off the circuit. It’s the second race in a row that Vickers has crashed at Melbourne Loop, and he was stretchered away by the BSB medical team.

On the track, Lewis Rollo, Luke Mossey and Alex Olsen secured the final points on offer.

It was a disastrous race for the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki team, with Jason O’Halloran and Max Cook both retiring with bike issues within a few seconds of one another. O’Halloran pulled off at Goddards on lap seven, with Cook then pulling off at the top of Craner Curves at the beginning of lap eight.

Billy McConnell’s race came to an premature end when he went down at Goddards.

The third and final BSB race of the weekend at Donington Park is scheduled to begin at 16:15.

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Kyle Ryde claimed his first win of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season in the opening race at Donington Park.

The race was brought to a premature end following a crash for Christian Iddon on the exit of turn four. The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider fell from fifth position, and was seen being assessed by the BSB medical team in the aftermath.

An update on Iddon’s condition was posted on the official BSB social media channels which confirms that he is conscious and has been taken to the medical centre with ankle pain. A further release has confirmed that no fractures have appeared on an x-ray, and that Iddon will be reviewed by the BSB medical team in the morning.

The red flags were waved as a result, which gave Ryde the victory, whilst Tommy Bridewell claimed second position for Honda Racing UK. It completes a fantastic turnaround for the 2023 champion, who ended Friday down in 16^th.

Leon Haslam completed the podium to claim his 115^th BSB rostrum. The ‘Pocket Rocket’ was chasing down Ryde for the lead of the race when he ran in too hot at the final corner, allowing Bridewell to go through into second.

Danny Kent continued his strong start to the season in fourth, whilst Glenn Irwin completed the top five for Hager PBM Ducati. Max Cook was the leading Kawasaki rider in sixth, with former teammate Lee Jackson crossing the line in seventh.

Jason O’Halloran recovered from 15^th on the grid to take eighth, whilst Charlie Nesbitt and Josh Brookes completed the top 10.

Billy McConnell was 11^th ahead of fellow Honda riders Franco Bourne and Fraser Rogers, whilst Andrew Irwin and Danny Buchan claimed the final two points on offer.

Jaimie van Sikkelerus crashed out of the race at the first corner, whilst polesitter Ryan Vickers crashed out of the lead at the Melbourne Loop on the second lap. Louis Valleley also crashed out of the race at turn one.

Tomorrow’s races (May 19) are scheduled for 13:15 and 16:15.

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Ryan Vickers continued his domination at the top of the timesheets at Donington Park by topping this afternoon’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship Superpole qualifying session.

The OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing racer was the final rider to take on the daunting one-lap challenge, but that didn’t bother Vickers in the slightest. Vickers posted a lap-time of 1:27.608, which was enough to pip teammate Kyle Ryde to pole by just 0.026s.

Leon Haslam completed the front row onboard his BMW M1000 RR, whilst Danny Kent heads row two. Lee Jackson looked to be suffering from severe chatter heading into the Melbourne Loop and Goddards, but still managed to go fastest at the time of his lap. The MasterMac Honda rider finished the Superpole session in fifth.

Tommy Bridewell turned his weekend around onboard in sixth spot. The reigning champion had to go through Q1 after finishing Friday’s practice sessions down in 16^th. Christian Iddon heads row three in seventh.

Glenn Irwin wasn’t able to put a clean lap together and suffered moments coming out of Redgate and then heading into the Melbourne Loop. The championship leader will start the opening race from eighth on the grid. Max Cook completes the third row in ninth spot.

Josh Brookes completed the top 10 for FHO Racing BMW, inheriting the position vacated by his teammate Peter Hickman, who has been withdrawn from the weekend due to a hand injury.

Billy McConnell was the first rider to take on the one-lap shootout and posted a 1.28.984, which was good enough for 11^th on the grid. Fraser Rogers was next out on track but failed to faster than the Australian, crossing the line with a 1:29.165, qualifying 12^th as a result.

The returning Luke Mossey initially completed the 15-rider Superpole session after recording a 1:29.880, however he’s now been promoted to 13^th after Charlie Nesbitt and Jason O’Halloran had their laps cancelled for exceeding track limits at the Foggy Esses.

Alex Olsen was best of the rest in Q1 and will start race one from 16^th on the grid ahead of Franco Bourne. Andrew Irwin endured a tough session onboard the factory Honda, qualifying 18^th on his Fireblade. Irwin was bottom of the timesheets with seconds remaining of the session after seeing one lap cancelled, and having two more ruined after he went in too deep at the Melbourne Loop.

Storm Stacey crashed at Redgate late in Q1 and qualified 19^th ahead of Danny Buchan and Dean Harrison. Jaimie van Sikkelerus was next onboard the Pathway-spec TAG Honda and had to recover from an early crash at Melbourne Loop.

Lewis Rollo, Louis Valleley, Luke Hedger and Brayden Elliot complete the grid for race one, which is due to take place at 16:15 this afternoon (May 18).

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Ryan Vickers was fastest on the opening day of Bennetts British Superbike Championship action at Donington Park.

Vickers, who won the opening two races of the season at Navarra, posted a best lap-time of 1:27.834, which was good enough to pip Jason O’Halloran to top spot by just 0.012s. Vickers completed 35 laps across the two practice sessions.

Leon Haslam completed the top three at Donington on his ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW, whilst Glenn Irwin made it four different manufacturers inside the top four on his Hager PBM Ducati. The championship leader was only 0.124s slower than Vickers’ lap-time.

Danny Kent continued his fine run of form in fifth, ending his day ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Kyle Ryde. Christian Iddon was seventh for Oxford Products Racing Ducati, whilst it was a positive day for Hawk Racing as Charlie Nesbitt and Lee Jackson finished eighth and ninth respectively. Jackson topped the FP1 session.

Max Cook completed the top 10, whilst Peter Hickman and Luke Mossey sealed the final two automatic slots for tomorrow’s Superpole Qualifying session. It’s an impressive outing for Mossey, who is making his BSB return onboard the Stauff Fluid Power Kawasaki as a replacement for the injured Tom Neave. Mossey hasn’t competed since the 2023 season finale at Brands Hatch last October.

Josh Brookes was best of the rest in 13^th and will have to go through Q1 on Saturday afternoon. The Aussie missed out on a Superpole spot by just 0.055s, and ended Friday ahead of Andrew Irwin and Fraser Rogers.

There’s work to do for reigning champion Tommy Bridewell after the Honda Racing UK rider could only manage 16^th onboard the Fireblade. Both he and teammate Andrew Irwin will be in Q1. Billy McConnell, Dean Harrison, Storm Stacey and Jaime van Sikkelerus completed the top 20.

Rory Skinner returned to action after his big crash at Oulton Park and ended FP1 in 13^th, however the Scot has since withdrawn from the race weekend in order to rest and fully recover in time for his home round at Knockhill next month.

Q1 is scheduled to take place at 13:30 on Saturday afternoon (May 18), with the top three from that session going into the Superpole session at 13:52. The opening BSB race of the weekend is due to begin later that day at 16:30.

Sunday’s races are scheduled for 13:15 (Sprint Race) and 16:15.