BSB Oulton Park: Kyle Ryde doubles up with victory in tricky final race

Kyle Ryde continued his fine form in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship by winning the final race of the weekend at Oulton Park.

The race was restarted due to track contamination as the rain began to fall, and was restarted over five laps, allowing riders to change tyres to match the conditions.

Storm Stacey held a near 10-second lead before the red flags were waved and he led the way again in the opening couple of laps of the five-lap dash. However, Ryde soon made his way by Tommy Bridewell and then Stacey himself to take a comfortable victory (+5.965).

It’s Ryde’s fifth victory in the last nine races, however its’s Bridewell who leaves Oulton Park with the championship lead after finishing second in race three. With six races remaining, Bridewell holds a slender six-point lead over Ryde.

Stacey completed the podium ahead of an impressive Max Cook, who got the better of Danny Kent and Christian Iddon on the final lap. Lee Jackson crossed the line in seventh, whilst Andrew Irwin, Glenn Irwin and Josh Brookes completed the top 10.

Brookes crashed at Druids whilst running in second during the original race, but was able to make the restart thanks to the FHO Racing team being able to rebuild his bike.

Meanwhile, Glenn Irwin was visibly struggling in the conditions and leaves Oulton Park 45 points behind Bridewell.

Peter Hickman was 11^th on the second of the FHO Racing BMWs, crossing the line ahead of Richard Kerr and Leon Haslam. Brayden Elliot and Luke Hedger claimed the final points available in the race.

Billy McConnell crashed out of the race at the first corner, whilst Jason O’Halloran’s race came to an end at Knickerbrook. Bradley Perie crashed out at Shell Oils on lap three.

Ryan Vickers crashed out of the lead at the end of lap three, going down at Lodge, whilst Josh Brookes went down at Druids whilst running in second. The Aussie fell as the rain began to fall on lap six.  

Lewis Rollo crashed at Hizzys on lap eight, throwing mud onto the circuit. As a result, Fraser Rogers crashed at the same corner on the following lap. The red flags were waved as a result.

Charlie Nesbitt pulled off the circuit with a bike issue on the opening lap of the restarted race.

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Glenn Irwin has closed the gap to Tommy Bridewell in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after winning a delayed sprint race at Oulton Park.

Torrential rain meant that it was not safe to race and as a result there was a delay of around 90 minutes from the original start time of 13:15. Once the race, which was also shortened to 10 laps, did get underway it was Irwin who took control.

Christian Iddon, always strong in the wet conditions, but crashed on the exit of Shell Oils moments later. He went down right in front of Irwin, with the PBM rider having to take avasive action onto the grass in order to avoid hitting Iddon.

Irwin dropped off the leading riders but managed to fight back with a fantastic double overtake on Lewis Rollo and Bridewell, before setting his sights on Leon Haslam. The Northern Irishman made his move down the inside of Haslam at Hizzys on the final lap.

It’s Irwin’s seventh victory of the 2024 season and his first since Snetterton in July. Irwin is now 31 points behind Bridewell, who crossed the line in fourth after a last lap move on Rollo (fifth). With Kyle Ryde down in 13^th, Bridewell has retaken the leading of the championship with a lead of nine points over the Yamaha man.

Haslam failed to make the corner during Irwin’s move at Hizzys and ran straight on, dropping him back behind Danny Kent and into third.

Jason O’Halloran was sixth onboard the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki ahead of Lee Jackson and Storm Stacey. Andrew Irwin and Fraser Rogers completed the top 10 on their respective Honda Fireblades.

Billy McConnell came home in 11^th ahead of Ryan Vickers, who had earlier been forced to run off the track when Charlie Nesbitt crashed ahead of him whilst going through Old Hall. Peter Hickman and Max Cook claimed the final points on offer.

Alongside Iddon and Nesbitt, Rory Skinner’s race also came to a premature end on lap seven when he fell at Hizzys.

The third and final BSB race at Oulton Park is now scheduled to begin at 17:15.

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Kyle Ryde has taken the Bennetts British Superbike Championship lead after winning a dramatic opening race at Oulton Park which saw Tommy Bridewell crash on the opening lap.

Bridewell went down at Hizzys in what could prove to be a huge moment in this year’s title fight. It’s only his third DNF of the season and his only dry race crash. The reigning champion suffered a bike problem at Navarra, whilst he also crashed in the rain at Snetterton.

At the front, Glenn Irwin led for the majority of the race thanks to some defensive riding, but Ryde eventually made his move with a few laps remaining. He had to dig deep for the win too, having dropped almost two seconds behind Irwin and Brookes at one stage due to an issue with his dashboard.

It’s Ryde’s fourth win in the last seven races and he’s now six points clear of Bridewell in the standings. It’s also Ryde’s maiden victory at Oulton Park.

Irwin held off Lee Jackson in the closing stages to take second spot and move to within 44 points of Ryde in the standings. Jackson crossed the line in third to secure his fourth consecutive podium, and his 20^th overall in BSB.

Brookes finished fourth to equal his best result of the season, whilst Ryan Vickers completed the top five on the second GRILLA OMG Racing Yamaha R1.

Leon Haslam finished sixth ahead of Danny Kent and Peter Hickman, whilst Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki duo Jason O’Halloran and Max Cook completed the top 10.

Rory Skinner was 11^th in his first race back since breaking his leg at Snetterton, crossing the line ahead of Andrew Irwin and Billy McConnell. Storm Stacey and Bradley Perie claimed the final two points on offer in the opening race.

Danny Buchan suffered a big highside on the exit of Lodge but was able to walk away from the scene of the accident. Charlie Nesbitt crashed out of fourth place on the exit of Hizzys on the fifth lap, whilst Christian Iddon crashed at Brittens on lap 12.

Sunday’s BSB races at Oulton Park are due to take place at 13:15 and 16:15 respectively.

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Kyle Ryde snatched top spot away from Josh Brookes in closing seconds of qualifying at Oulton Park to claim his third pole position of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season.

Ryde’s lap-time of 1:33.715 was just 0.040s quicker than Brookes’ best lap, whilst reigning champion Tommy Bridewell was a mere 0.015s further back in third. Bridewell didn’t set a flying lap until just over five minutes remaining of the session.

Glenn Irwin heads the second row after an eventful session for the Hager PBM Ducati rider. The 2023 runner-up led the session in the early stages, but was forced to pull of the circuit due to a suspected oil leak which saw his V4 R momentarily catch fire.

MasterMac Honda duo Charlie Nesbitt qualified fifth and sixth respectively, whilst Ryan Vickers put his GRILLA OMG Racing Yamaha seventh on the grid. Vickers will be joined on the third row by Leon Haslam and Danny Kent.

Christian Iddon completed the top 10 onboard the Oxford Products Racing Ducati, ahead of Jason O’Halloran and Danny Buchan. O’Halloran’s Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki teammate Max Cook qualified 13^th after making it out of Q1 earlier in the afternoon.

Peter Hickman and Storm Stacey were the final two classified riders in Q2 and will start race one from 14^th and 15^th on the grid.

Rory Skinner was best of the rest in Q1, losing out to Stacey in the closing seconds of the session by 0.073s. As a result, the Scot will start the opening race at Oulton Park from 16^th on the grid.

He’ll be joined on the sixth row by Fraser Rogers and Andrew Irwin, whilst Luke Hedger leads row seven ahead of Richard Kerr. The latter is now riding for the Team IWR Honda squad due to the team mutually parting company with Alex Olsen.

Brayden Elliot qualified 21^st ahead of Billy McConnell, Bradley Perie and Louis Valleley. Lewis Rollo will start from the back of the grid having failed to complete a hot lap onboard the IN Competition SENCAT Aprilia machine.

Franco Bourne has withdrawn from the weekend as he continues to recover from the injuries he sustained at Thruxton last month.

The opening BSB race of the weekend is due to begin at 16:15.