Ryan Vickers had shown what he was capable of with some very consistent lapping in qualifying, then translated that to metronomic pace, setting fastest times, lap after lap for a Brands Hatch masterclass in race one.

The OMG Grilla Yamaha rider got a great start with only Danny Kent going with him, then falling out of contention soon after – a welcome change to the sickness and falls over the last few rounds after a positive start to the season where he took both wins at the season opener in Navarra:

“An amazing race, amazing start, amazing weekend really, so thanks to the OMG Grilla Racing Yamaha, we’ve had a couple of bad rounds now and some of our own fault and some out of our control, so thanks to their belief in me, you know. First of all they believed in what I’ve been saying about the bike and stuff and we’ve made considerable changes for this round, so yeah really great, cracking job to those boys, they work so hard.

I just want to deliver what I know is possible and what everyone deserves, so we did that today. Got out front, Set some really good lap times. You know my first flying lap I think it’s low, low 25, I believe I was setting the fastest laps of the race quite often, so I just tried to keep that pace, I got in a rhythm”.

That blistering pace on repeat saw Vickers able to build a lead of almost nine second on the #7 bike:

I was hitting my mark and the bike was hitting the apexes, you know, where I was breaking and I was thinking ‘right, we’re in sync’ so I just used my head, I kept fully focused, didn’t really slow down much – I backed off a tiny bit in a couple of areas where it was a bit closer to the limit, just to be a little bit safe, but really happy to be in the 25s pretty much every lap of the race”.

Vickers was sure that if pushed he could have picked up the pace even more, and credits his form at the Kent circuit to studying videos of last seasons races, and although he saw success on the opening visit to Brands with a sprint win and a third in race three, it was the Showdown races that were his focus as the riders and bikes are naturally faster as the season goes on, something which he hoped to emulate now instead:

“I believe if we had someone pushing us, we would have been able to go a bit quicker as well.

I’ve been watching the races back from the end of the year here last year and I’ve been telling myself there’s absolutely no reason why I can’t be fast at this first round, you know. I’ve ridden around this track at the end of last year and I’ve done 24s , so to get close to that is really, really good.

I battled for the podium here last year on the second from last lap and set the fastest lap”.

Storm Stacey picked up his first British Superbike win at Snetterton in a difficult race one at the Norwich track, with the weather playing a massive part in the result.

The LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki rider had worked his way forward, pushing with an intermediate tyre in the race which had been declared wet.

When the Red Flag came out for Rory Skinner’s fall, the race had just passed race distance, bur Stacey was waving like a winner:

“I was so nervous to ruin that last half of the race! When the red flag came out before I was looking at the marshals, I was saying ‘is it finished? Is it finished? Have I won? Have I won?’

Like Kyle said, to go for the inter rear it was a stiff choice – I didn’t know whether to do it or not and I did and it paid off”.

That gamble saw the #79 on pole for the restart. Initially under pressure from Danny Kent before he fell, Stacey was expecting Tommy Bridewell, on the same tyres to join him at the front next, that wasn’t to be as the #1 was the next to fall, hitting Kent on the way:

“I thought Tommy was going to be right with me and Tommy didn’t come with me and I was probably the only inter rider that was actually risking riding with the inter rear tyre really – and it felt good to me.

“I didn’t feel like, I didn’t really have many moments – I had moments in places where I knew I would but, yeah – chipping away and I thought ‘right, we’re on here, we’re on for a win’ and then when the red flag came out I was like ‘oh, I’ve been robbed, I’ve been robbed of my first’ I thought I’ve done it”.

Being able to turn around his attitude to not getting a red flag win was key to Stacey being able to come back and ride at the front again, this time in a fully wet race with low visibility and spray – there was a further delay to the start as it rained again- showing his capability in a range of conditions:

“The delay, it gives us another two laps as well to scrub the tyres in, which made me feel a lot better. Then, when I saw Danny lose the front, I thought ‘right. I just need to keep this all together here now’.

Lewis come and I thought oh, he’s going to win the Pathway class and I’ll end up winning outright. That’s how I thought it worked, so I thought, well if I come second at least I’m still going to win the outright, but then I thought, I’m catching him here, I thought I can do this”.

Thankfully Stacey decided to go all in on the final lap of the five in the shortened distance, taking the win outright from the front:

“So I stringed it all together, got it all good and then I thought ‘right, well if I’m going to win it, I may as well win it outright’!

I passed him down the straight, coming on the brakes and managed to make it stick all the way to the line and we brought it home in P1”.

Stacey has been with the same team, through several sponsor name changes for his 128 BSB races so was quick to credit his work and relationship with his team in the win:

“We’ve spent so long trying to do this and not even just trying to do this – trying to do top fives, a podium – a podium would have been enough two years ago, a year ago, it’s what we’re fighting for . We had a lot of problems back end of last year and it probably wouldn’t have happened last year even if we had a wet race -it’s unfortunate that we’ve had to have a wet race to do it but we knew that was probably going to be the case”.

The irony of winning at last on his least favourite track to ride on the calendar wasn’t lost on Stacey either:

“And what is good is to get my first superbike win is around the track I least – my least favourite. I’m not a massive fan of Snetterton so to get a win around here is amazing, it’s a bit annoying really”!

Glenn Irwin has put himself out as the man to beat with the Sprint race completed in fairly controlled style. With the exception of a few corners lead by Jason O’Halloran and some early pressure from Kyle Ryde it was all about the Northen Irish rider.

The #2 said it helped him to think of Knockhill as a sort of ‘home’ round:

“I think it’s my first Superbike podium here, …when you’re from Northern Ireland and you come here it’s kind of like you’re home race, it’s like 20 miles across the water and we sort of sound the same, I think the Scottish are a bit like the Irish and stuff, or like cousins or something.

A really enjoyable race, controlled it I think, I tried not to let Jason through at turn one, you know you don’t need to take risks like that…it’s enjoyable there’s a lot of respect amongst the lads.

Other riders seem to think that changes to the Ducati have made it a good match for Knockhill, but with one of the shortest laps and plenty of corners the BeerMonster Ducati rider was not so sure of the impact:

“I know the Ducati’s fast but there’s more to it than just top speed, I think in qualifying we were the fastest bike in sector one which is turn one, two, it wouldn’t matter what engine you have there,similar in sector two so I think for us to come here to grab a win early on in the weekend and have a weekend we’ve has so far of complete progression bodes really well going forward”.

 

 ‘I’m over the moon finishing second at Knockhill’

 

Kyle Ryde had a similar pace to the Ducati ahead but his LAMI ON+MG Yamaha was betetr in places where the Ducati was not and vice vesra, and the result meant the #77 was never quite close enough to find a way around Irwin.

Despit that and like his rival, Knockhill was a track where he had not seen much success before so second felt good:

“Same as Oulton Park really, that felt like a win,there was no chance today I was going to pass Glenn,  couldn’t put myself in any situation to pass him so I kept trying to put the pressure on, hopefully, maybe he’d make a mistake but , no, he rode really well.

I’m over the moon finishing second at Knockhill, I’ve never come anywhere close to a podium at Knockhill, so it shows the confidence and all the hard work the team has done to get the bike better than last year.

 

‘We need to refine our package tonight’

On the flipside Jason O’Halloran has seen plenty of success at Knockhill, last season he featured on the podium in all three races and won both full length Sunday outings. Conversely the Australian has endured a tough start to his 2023, which sees him 50 points down on our new championship leader Glenn Irwin.

That ensured that McAMS Yamaha rider was also happy with his podium start, off to a positive start instead of playing catch up: 

“Really good race for us, always good to get a first race under our belt here at Knockhill, qualified well earlier – on the front row, which is what we needed to do.
Felt like I had good rhythm, good pace,Kyle and Glenn just had a little bit more than us in that race, we need to refine our package tonight”.

With two long races in the heat to contend with on Sunday all the riders will be making the most of the time with their crews to battle it out at the Scottish track.

Behind Irwin is his teammate Tommy Bridewell, who lost his championship lead despite a strong performance battling his hard to stop Ducati from tenth to fourth, with the lead trio in race one long gone. Bridewell is now three points behind on 131.

Kyle Ryde sits third with a nine point deficit, with Josh Brookes fourth on 121, four points behind Ryde.

Leon Haslam has seen a strong string of results keep him fifth, while O’Halloran continues his battle back from sixth on 84. 

The British Superbike season got under way with an entertaining sprint race which was not short of race leaders challenging for the win. It was to be Kyle Ryde who came out winning for LAMI OMG Yamaha, picking up where his title winning team-mate Bradley Ray left victorious for the team last year.

A more relaxed Ryde, now the more senior rider in the team paired with Ryan Vickers for 2023, set the tone for the weekend topping FP1 and going on to prove his pace with a new lap record in FP3.

The #77 missed out on the qualifying deciding FP2, which saw Jason O’Halloran lead the way and pole – which was taken by Tommy Bridewell as Ryde fell pushing for the top spot on the grid, both of whom figured in the battle for the win along with Josh Brookes.

It was however Ryde who came out on top, battling back to first, managing his timing to hit the front and his tyre wear just right to have just enough in the tank to keep Bridewell at bay and puck up the maximum 18 points with the first win of the season.

His tenth podium and fourth win did not come easy:

“There were a lot of moves – at turn one from me – I must have made about fifteen moves but none of them stuck!

For me I think it was a great weekend, I’ve had the same pace all weekend, felt strong, only thing I’ve done wrong is have a silly little crash at the left and that did actually give me a bit of a hindrance for the race because it took ages to get going again and to know where the breaking marker was – Josh and Tommy kept passing me.

Small blip aside, the man from Mansfield was happy to get his season off to a winning start, going one better than he did in 2022 where he was second in the sprint behind triple winner Glenn Irwin.

“I’m really happy to get the win – that was the hardest but most enjoyable race I’ve had in BSB.”.

 

‘Seven laps to go-I better think about getting a gee on here!’

 

Polesitter Tommy Bridewell was all about the positives following his second place in the race after a tough time recently for PBM in BSB.

Always in the fight at the front and the hunt for the victory he expected battles from exactly who he got them from in the war for the win:

“I knew Kyle would be strong, I knew Jason would be strong, I also knew Josh would be strong so it was no surprise to me to be racing with them – I just really enjoyed that race to be fair.

It was clean, I was kind of involved in a lot of the battles to be fair, Kyle would pass me into turn one and then I could get him back with a bit of Ducati horsepower under me!”

The #46 could pinpoint the exact moment in the race when he readied himself for his final attacks for the lead:

“I was just saying to Kyle, I looked at my pitboard – ‘oh seven laps to go’ – so I better think about getting a gee on here! That’s when I started thinking I need to be in a position to attack near the end – I had full intention to have a go on the last lap but I just couldn’t quite get the run onto the back straight.

Still, his positivity for the turnaround at BeerMonster Ducati was clear, though with an underlying feeling of the work to come to keep the momentum up – “translating a pole into a second is a box ticked – for a minute.”

 

‘I think that was a bit of a tactic as there wasn’t anything there!’

 

Josh Brookes had perhaps the most exciting run through the pack on his way to the final podium slot for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad – a true race of ups and downs.

From a cool third on the grid acquired sat in the pits figuring out his plan for the sprint race, the Australian soon slipped back into the pack but with no obvious reason why. Brookes explained that he thinks a loose tear-off was to blame after putting safety first to check the issue:

“I held my position on the first lap and made some passes, and then, coming onto the start/finish straight on the very first lap, something – I guess it was a tear-off or something – was stuck on my leg, on my foot and I could feel this, like, flapping.

I wasn’t sure what it was and obviously, at the speed we were going…it’s dangerous to have something on the bike not right, so I sort of looked down to check it wasn’t anything serious.”

It was here that the Australian suspects that there may have been a little gamesmanship from race rival Glenn Irwin:

“Glenn Irwin comes alongside me and starts pointing down, obviously he could see I was looking foe something and I think that was a bit of a tactic because there wasn’t anything there!”

The two time BSB champion was impressed at how quickly his bike bridged the gap, with tyre wear an issue as he ran wide on more than one occasion late in the race. The good news for him was fellow countryman Jason O’Halloran was having similar issues ahead:

“As the tyres wore and got slippery I started making some mistakes on corner entry and slipped back to fourth. On the last lap Jason looked to be really slowing up with the tyre wear as well and I saw an opening on the last lap and forced my way through a little bit – there wasn’t contact but it was a pretty forceful move.

That left O’Halloran to open his account with fourth for the McAMS Yamaha team.

Glenn Irwin could not match his Honda heroics of last season. Now back at Ducati he was fifth, with Leon Haslam hunting him down on his bike package that he put together late in the pre-season to form his own Rokit BMW Motorrad Team. Danny Kent (ninth) had a similar plan for the year ahead, also with his own team- Lovell Kent Racing Honda.

With his Mar-Train Yamaha team making the move to BSB with him, Jack Kennedy shone on a bigger stage. That familiarity gave him the power to push, building on his track time not only in pre-season but in the handful of rides he had in the class at the end of last season.

The Irish rider was an impressive seventh and closing on the #91 bike, while being well clear of eighth placed Andrew Irwin. His pace sees him able to possibly do more on Sunday as it has earned him a front row start for race two.

Danny Buchan went the wrong way after qualifying sixth to finish tenth for Synetiq BMW Motorrad, as their only entry this season. He was not far behind Kent on track, with Peter Hickman breathing right down his neck looking for a top ten finish before having to settle for eleventh.

Elsewhere, further back the Kawasaki’s have much work ahead of them to be competitive this season. Their highest placed rider was Lee Jackson after a comeback for 14th for the Cheshire Mouldings team.

 

Kyle Ryde got his season of to the best possible start with victory in the Saturday sprint race around Silverstone’s National Circuit.

The LAMI OMG Yamaha rider had been on race pace form all weekend, and although he didn’t claim pole earlier in the day he proved his prowess around the track when he delivered a new lap record in FP3.

The battle for first was fierce over the opening laps with Tommy Bridewell, Ryde and Jason O’Halloran all having stints out front.

The Australian spent the longest leading the train over the line before the #77 made his move.

Ryde had tried all the lines in rehearsal behind and tested out what worked best, while not afraid to get his elbows out to stay in contention. Tyres conserved, when he made his move on the Yamaha with three laps left he made it stick, soaking up the pressure and taking the full 18 points on offer following the allocation changes this season.

It was polesitter Bridewell who kept the pressure on in the closing moments of the race. Pushing all the way the BeerMonster Ducati rider was not quite able to get close enough to make a final lunge for the win, finishing just 0.436s behind.

 

	British Superbike Silverstone- Race results (1) Pos Rider Nat Team Time 1 Kyle Ryde GBR Lami OMG Racing Yamaha 19m 43.658s 2 Tommy Bridewell GBR BeerMonster Ducati +0.436s 3 Josh Brookes AUS FHO Racing BMW Motorrad +1.664s 4 Jason O’Halloran AUS McAMS Yamaha +1.867s 5 Glenn Irwin GBR BeerMonster Ducati +2.541s 6 Leon Haslam GBR Rokit BMW Motorrad Team +2.764s 7 Jack Kennedy IRL Mar-Train Racing Yamaha +3.244s 8 Andrew Irwin GBR Honda Racing UK +8.919s 9 Danny Kent GBR Lovell Kent Racing Honda +9.187s 10 Danny Buchan GBR Synetiq BMW Motorrad +9.307s 11 Peter Hickman GBR FHO Racing BMW Motorrad +9.695s 12 Charlie Nesbitt GBR Mastermac Honda by Hawk Racing +10.190s 13 Ryan Vickers GBR Lami OMG Racing Yamaha +13.393s 14 Lee Jackson GBR Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki +15.669s 15 Dean Harrison GBR DAO Racing Kawasaki +16.212s 16 Tim Neave GBR McAMS Yamaha +16.422s 17 Liam Delves GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +19.662s 18 Storm Stacey GBR Starline Racing Kawasaki +19.815s 19 Bradley Perie GBR Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki +20.030s 20 Max Cook GBR Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki +20.651s 21 Luke Mossey GBR Tactix by Lloyd & Jones BMW +22.110s 22 Davey Todd GBR Milenco by Padgetts Motocycles Honda +22.951s 23 Jack Scott GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +23.053s 24 Josh Owens GBR Crendon Honda by Hawk Racing` +23.021s 25 Hector Barbera ESP TAG Racing Honda +32.071s 26 Christian Iddon GBR Oxfod Products Ducati +32.604s 27 Tom Neave GBR Honda Racing UK 9 laps 28 Luke Hopkins GBR NP Motorcycles Kawasaki DNS

 

Brookes picks up final podium slot.

 

There were races for position as the chequered flag waved up and down the track, with an exciting final run from Josh Brookes pushing for the final podium slot.

The former champion had rode a sensible middle race in the pack from his front row start, using all of his BSB experience.

When the front group of seven finally splintered he was back in fourth and looking at the leaders after a few trips wide aboard the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad.

A final lap lunge saw his move past long time leader O’Halloran stick and claim the final podium spot, with a different manufacturer on every step.

That left his fellow countryman fourth for McAMS Yamaha.

Last years triple winner Glenn Irwin was fifth on his return to Ducati on the second PBM bike cementing a strong first race for the team.

Leon Haslam, in his own Rokit BMW Motorrad team was close behind in sixth and closing on the leaders, while after qualifying seventh Jack Kennedy again impressed in the first race beginnig a full BSB season after after appearances at the end of last year to finish in the same position for Mar-Train Racing Yamaha, the team stepping up from Supersport with their rider.

 

 

There was a significant gap back to Andrew Irwin, who lead the chasing group in eighth for Honda Racing, Just ahead of Danny Kent with his own Lovell Kent Racing Team bike.

He soaked up pressure from Danny Buchan, one of the biggest losers in the race, sucked back into a mid-pack battle after qualifying sixth on the grid for Synetiq BMW, and eleventh placed Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad).

Rookie Charlie Nesbitt enjoyed a run out on the Suzuki at the end of 2022 and his first full season saw him back in the points for MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing, in twelfth.

The remaining points from the sprint race result went to Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) in 13th, Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) in 14th and Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki) in 15th.

Tim Neave was incredibly close to picking up points in his first BSB appearance for McAMS Yamaha but lost out in the battle to the line.

Official British Superbike Silverstone Records:

Old BSB Lap Record – Silverstone: Bradley Ray (Yamaha) 53.102s (2022)

New BSB lap record – Kyle Ryde (Yamaha) 52.953s (2023 – FP3)

2022 at Silversone:

Pole: Glenn Irwin (2nd Kyle Ryde, 3rd Bradley Ray)

Race One:

1:Glenn Iwrin

2:Kyle Ryde

3:Bradley Ray

Race Two:

1:Glenn Irwin

2:Kyle Ryde

3: Rory Skinner

Race Three:

1: Glenn Irwin

2: Bradley Ray

3: Andrew Irwin

 

Work to do after difficult first race for Kawasaki riders

 

After making a move through Q1, Lee Jackson could only manage 13th on the grid after being a Showdown competitor for the same team in 2022.

The race seemed equally tough for the manufacturer with Jackson their best placed finisher in 14th after fighting his way back into the points.

With several riders picked to ride the bikes a nod to the future (Max Cook, Storm Stacey, Bradley Perie) and a few issues along the way (Stacey’s bike brought out the red flag in qualifying with flames pouring out) Jackson remains their benchmark for performance, and has work to do after duelling hard for a lower points finish.

Elsewhere, a bike issue took Christian Iddon out of contention, dropping him out of the fight for a top ten placing.

Tom Neave failed to finish after a mechanical issue.

Jason O’Halloran bridged the summer break by picking up where he left off with a late breakaway win in the Saturday sprint race at Brands Hatch.

The GP circuit had already seen the Australian break the lap record to qualify on pole earlier in the day, with team-mate Tarran Mackenzie giving him a run for his money.

“I felt in control”

That ease of performance continued into the race, with the #22 only ever really challenged when his own errors allowed the competition to hot up.

Speaking after the race O’Halloran expalined the situation:

 

“I wanted to maintain the low 25’s, we probably could have went a bit faster than that but the only wheel I got shown for the whole race was when I made a mistake and nearly went down and then got passed at the end of the back straight – I felt in control”.

The result for ‘The O Show’ really brings the championship to life too, with just for points separating him from title standings leader Bradley Ray, who currently has a total of 229, but finished off the podium today.

O’Halloran admitted his focus is on the podium points for the showdown, which is even closer with just one point between the Yamaha pair:

“I think the overall standings have closed down, but on podium points, we’re probably on top so that’s the table we’re looking at but … I’m not focused on that at the minute, there’s a long way to go in the championship.

O’Halloran now has the title momentum with five wins in seven of the last races, including three in a row bridging the summer gap.

Mackenzie announces return to form with second

Reigning champion Tarran Mackenzie was finally able to put his injury woes to bed, with a superb second at Brands Hatch.

Finishing behind his team-mate the fellow McAMS rider did not have everything in the race go his way at all, battling back from near falls and overtakes after initially sitting in behind O’Halloran when he gained second:

“Jason had a big moment onto the back straight, I went one way, the boys went the other way, kind of got stuck a little bit, regrouped, came back through to second, for another big moment out of Graham Hill and managed to get back past Tommy (Bridewell ) again”.

The result shows progress over the race weekend so far, after starting fourth on Friday and converting that into a front row start. It is Mackenzie’s first podium of the season after an injury plagued first few rounds, something which he was pleased to have out of the way:

“ I was probably a little nervous if I’m honest, just kind of wanted to get one podium out of the way, as I’ve had a long run of no podiums, so to get that monkey off my back has been great”.

Bridewell bounces back

Another rider returning to the podium was Tommy Bridewell, who has only one previous rostrum visit to his name this season, back at Oulton Park.

The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider was able to infiltrate the Yamaha dominance at the front after fighting his way into the lead four, who then provided a fierce battle for position, peppered with clean overtakes and taking advantage of rivals errors.

Bridwell shone a light on the progress his garage had made thay has allowed him to be present and competitive at the front of the race today at Brands Hatch:

“I felt confident coming into this round, we’ve not been on the back foot but we’ve not quite come out of the blocks as strong as what I was hoping. We’ve been making really steady progress inside the garage so I knew if we could go to plan we’d be there and we are”.

The Ducati man felt he could have been in the running later in the race but with “four or five laps remaining it turned into a standard BSB race!”

 

Away from the podium it was Ray on the Rich Energy OMG Yamaha who found himself falling back from the front group, on his way to an eventual fourth,

His team-mate Kyle Ryde had come through Q1 to move up the grid and held his fourth in the early stages before leading the chasing group over the line.

A much improved Josh Brookes was next to finish in sixth for MCE Ducati, just ahead of the battle for seventh, which was won by Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki rider Rory Skinner.

He kept both Leon Haslam (VisionTrack Kawasaki) and Lee Jackson(Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki) behind for eighth and ninth respectively.

Christian Iddon picked up six places to complete the top ten for Buildbase Suzuki.

Old BSB Brands Hatch Lap Record: Josh Brookes – Yamaha – 1m 24.873s (2017)

New BSB Brands Hatch Lap Record: Jason O’Halloran – Yamaha – 1m 24.433s (2022)

2021 Race Winners:

Round 3

Race 1: Tarran Mackenzie

Race 2: Jason O’Halloran

Race 3: Christian Iddon

Round 11 (The Showdown)

Race 1: Tarran Mackenzie

Race 2: Tommy Bridewell

Race 3: Jason O’Halloran

His team-mate Kent was twelfth with the duo split by Peter Hickman on the FHO Racing BMW.

Tom Sykes (MCE Ducati), Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) and Josh Owens (Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki) collected the remaining points on offer, with Owens point his first of the season.

Glenn Irwin, who dominated the opening round of the season fell on the first lap, but was still not the first rider out of the race – Chrissy Rouse pulled back into the pits after the warm-up lap.

Dan Linfoot and Strom Stacey retired soon after. Dean Harrison, Ryan Vickers, Danny Buchan, James East and Liam Delves all also failed to see the end of the race.   

 

Jason O’Halloran continued his winning streak at Thruxton, after a late break as his main rivals battled each other in the Sprint Race on Saturday, round six of the championship.

The McAMS Yamaha rider lead home a team 1-2 and an all Yamaha top three as the manufacturer continued to dominate.

Though the Australian started on pole, the race started with Glenn Irwin vying for the lead, with O’Halloran aware that his best chance to win was to be in front. 

After swapping position over the opening laps,  the championship leader made a move stick and looked to pull out a small lead. Irwin faded and Peter Hickman, who was now second, struggled to match him for pace.

	British Superbikes Thruxton race Results (1)   Pos Rider Nat Team Time 1 Jason O’Halloran AUS McAMS Yamaha 19m 01.073s 2 Tarran Mackenzie GBR McAMS Yamaha +0.039s 3 Bradley Ray GBR RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha +0.032s 4 Glenn Irwin GBR Honda Racing UK +3.545s 5 Peter Hickman GBR FHO Racing BMW +4.081s 6 Lee Jackson GBR FS-3 Racing Kawasaki +6.185s 7 Rory Skinner GBR FS-3 Racing Kawasaki +7.203s 8 Leon Haslam GBR Visiontrack Kawasaki +9.385s 9 Tom Sykes GBR MCE Ducati +9.616s 10 Tommy Bridewell GBR Oxford Products Racing Ducati +11.438s 11 Ryan Vickers GBR FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports +13.735s 12 Christian Iddon GBR Buildbase Suzuki +14.121s 13 Kyle Ryde GBR RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha +14.186s 14 Danny Buchan GBR SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad +16.492s 15 Ryo Mizuno JAP Honda Racing UK +20.723s 16 Tom Neave GBR Honda Racing UK +25.558s 17 Dan Jones GBR Iforce Lloyd & Jones BMW +25.622s 18 Leon Jeacock GBR Specsavers Suzuki +25.792s 19 Liam Delves GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +27.797s 20 Josh Brookes AUS MCE Ducati +28.105s 21 Josh Owens GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +28.208s 22 Dean Harrison GBR DAO Racing Kawasaki +28.429s 23 Takumi Takahashi JAP Honda Racing UK +28.538s 24 Luke Hopkins GBR Black Onyx Security Honda +33.353s 25 Storm Stacey GBR Team LKQ Euro Parts Kawasaki +39.389s 26 Tito Rabat SPA TAG Racing Honda +46.451s 27 James East GBR Kawasaki – NP Racing 10 laps 28 Danny Kent GBR Buildbase Suzuki 1 laps 29 Chrissy Rouse GBR Crowe Performance BMW 0 laps 30 Luke Mossey GBR IForce Lloyd & Jones BMW 0 laps 31 Andrew Irwin GBR SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad DNS

 

 An immediate response came from both Bradley Ray and his McAMS team-mate Tarran Mackenzie, who saw the chance to win vanishing up the track.

The duo reeled him back in, but with podium points up for grabs, their in-fighting for second allowed ‘The O Show’ to pull away again and continue his victorious streak at Thruxton after a triple win at the track in 2021.

It brings up O’Halloran’s 60th podium finish, while his sixth win of the season is also his 21st in British Superbikes.

Behind a photo finish was needed to split Mackenzie and Ray as their battle went all the way to the finish. Just 0.003s separated the pair, with defending champion Mackenzie just ahead for yet another McAMS 1-2, continuing where the team left of in Brands Hatch.

Rich Energy OMG Yamaha’s Ray was clear in third for the final podium spot.

Honda’s Irwin got back in front of Hickman late on and pulled out his own small gap for a solid fourth.

Hickman said ahead of the race that he didn’t feel he had the pace to race the Yamaha’s out front, which proved correct as he finished just over half a second later in fifth for FHO Racing BMW, the top finisher for the manufacturer.

Lee Jackson was next to see the chequerd flag in sixth as top Kawasaki for Cheshire Mouldings FS-3, a position he held throughout the race.

Rory Skinner got back into his BSB groove after a wildcard stint in Moto2 at Silverstone last weekend and climbed to seventh from eleventh on the grid, though the Scottish rider couldn’t quite catch up to Jackson.

Leon Haslam took eighth for VisionTrack Kawasaki, only just keeping ahead of Tom Sykes who pushed him all the way to the line as top Ducati in the race for MCE.

Tommy Bridewell picked up five places in the race to complete the top ten on the Oxford Products Ducati. 

Ryan Vickers also made moves to finish eleventh after dropping back from his twelfth place grid start initially for FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports.

Christian Iddon (Buildbase Suzuki) spent much of his time on track battling with Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Yamaha) after he slipped back into his clutches, to take twelfth.

Danny Buchan’s season continued it’s slide with a 14th place finish for SYNETIQ BMW Mottorad, with the final point on offer collected by Ryo Mizuno in 15th for Honda.

BSB Thruxton Lap Record – Josh Brookes – Ducati – 1m 14.655s (2019)

Thruxton Qualifying front row:
Pole : Jason O’Halloran
Second: Peter Hickman
Third: Andrew Irwin

2021 at Thruxton

Race One (Sprint): Jason O’Halloran
Race Two: Jason O’Halloran
Race Three: Jason O’Halloran

Round Six Results (Brands Hatch)

Race One (Sprint):Jason O’Halloran
Race Two: Tarran Mackenzie
Race Three: Tarran Mackenzie

Disaster for front row starter Andrew Irwin.

Earlier in the day, Andrew Irwin had dug deep to come through Q1 and finish Q2 third for a front row start despite feeling unwell.

The SNYETIQ BMW Motorrad rider had been sat at the top of the Q1 standings when his lap was cancelled, leading to frustration and a return to track, where he once again lead the timesheets after an angry, aggressive lap to move into Q2 with the best time.

He continued that momentum to finish that session third for a front row start. All his hard work was undone by a technical error on his bike at the start of the warm-up lap. Frantically turning the bike on and of to attempt a reset did nothing and he was disappointingly wheeled away from the grid.

Moto2 world champion Rabat finishes 26th.

British Superbikes has world champions up and down the race results, such is the competitive nature of the championship, and previous pedigree means little on race day as Tito Rabat found out as he was the final finisher  in the sprint race at Thruxton.

Learning all the way the former Moto2 champion ginished just over 46 seconds after O’Halloran and enjoyed a battle with Josh Brookes before he picked up some late positions to rise to 20th.  

Brookes himself was not looking forward to Thruxton after a hard time at the track last season, returning with the same bike underneath him.

An early crash for Luke Mossey and Chrissy Rouse saw them both hobble away looking second best and caused a gap early on in the pack.

Danny Kent and James East both also failed to finish.

Bradley Ray took victory from pole position with a dominant performance in the sprint race, restarted after a red flag at Cadwell Park, round seven of the championship.

UPDATE: After the race Christian Iddon was issed a two second equivalent long lap penalty and a three place grid penalty for race two, dropping him to 18th overall and moving Danny Kent into the final points place in 15th.

The Rich energy OMG Yamaha rider got a good start for the secons time of asking, and this time was able to reply every time Rory Skinner behind dropped the gap to win by 0.786s.

His first time at Cadwell Park on a Yamaha had already seen Ray dominate qualifying and he carried that confidence into the race. Skinner had just passed him when the red flag came out on the original start, but learning from that the number 28 on the second time of asking put out a masterclass out front and looked unstoppable.

 

Skinner, fresh from his second Moto2 wildcard in Austria just last weekend, looked invigorated and converted his second on the grid with Cheshire Holdings FS-3 Kawasaki into second in the race, though fading tyres for all stopped any chance of a late overtake.

The final rostrum spot went to Danny Buchan. After dropping into the chasing pack in the first start he was moved up to third on the grid on the restart and fought hard with Jason O’Halloran to take back the position for his first podium visit of the season.

The highest placing BMW with the SYNETIQ team also meant a mix of manufacturers on the podium.

Championship leader O’halloran had to settle for fourth but was the best of the McAMS Yamaha riders, as he came close to falling back into the clutches of Tommy Bridewell.

The Oxford Products Ducati rider set a new in-race lap record bringing the gap to the leaders, which sees him start on pole for the second race of the weekend tomorrow.

British Superbikes – Cadwell Park Race Results (1)   Pos Rider Nat Team Time 1 Bradley Ray GBR RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha 17m21.619s 2 Rory Skinner GBR FS-3 Racing Kawasaki +0.786s 3 Danny Buchan GBR SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad +1.293s 4 Jason O’Halloran AUS McAMS Yamaha +3.340s 5 Tommy Bridewell GBR Oxford Products Racing Ducati +3.667s 6 Peter Hickman GBR FHO Racing BMW +8.388s 7 Andrew Irwin GBR SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad +12.418s 8 Leon Haslam GBR Visiontrack Kawasaki +12.719s 9 Glenn Irwin GBR Honda Racing UK +13.136s 10 Josh Brookes AUS MCE Ducati +14.294s 11 Tarran Mackenzie GBR McAMS Yamaha +14.750s 12 Kyle Ryde GBR RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha +14.833s 13 Ryan Vickers GBR FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports +16.148s 14 Tom Neave GBR Honda Racing UK +21.701s 15 Christian Iddon GBR Buildbase Suzuki +25.231s 16 Danny Kent GBR Buildbase Suzuki +26.012s 17 Dean Harrison GBR DAO Racing Kawasaki +26.384s 18 Josh Owens GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +26.811s 19 Storm Stacey GBR Team LKQ Euro Parts Kawasaki +27.274s 20 Ryo Mizuno JAP Honda Racing UK +27.781s 21 Leon Jeacock GBR Specsavers Suzuki +35.656s 22 Luke Hopkins GBR Black Onyx Security Honda +42.073s 23 Liam Delves GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +50.274s 24 Tom Sykes GBR MCE Ducati 10 laps 25 Chrissy Rouse GBR Crowe Performance BMW 9 laps 26 James East GBR Kawasaki – NP Racing 2 laps 27 Lee Jackson GBR FS-3 Racing Kawasaki DNS 28 Takumi Takahashi JAP Honda Racing UK DNS 29 Dan Jones GBR Iforce Lloyd & Jones BMW DNS

 

Peter Hickman lost touch and was a distant sixth for FHO Racing BMW.

Seventh through to the final points spot in fifteenth were all involved in a huge battle for position. 

Andrew Irwin made huge gains after starting twelfth on the restart to come through and take that position on the second SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad entry. 

Leon Haslam was the last man he passed on the penultimate lap, the man with the most Cadwell wins to his name could only manage a best of eighth this time out for VisionTrack Kawasaki.

Glenn Irwin spent much of his time on track near his brother but couldn’t come through with him over the final laps, so was top Honda at their local track in ninth.

Josh Brookes was another rider making late gains, taking tenth in a tight battle to the line for MCE Ducati.

The Australian just held off current champion Tarran Mackenzie in eleventh on the second McAMS entry and Kyle Ryde on the other Rich Energy OMG bike.

The Yamaha pair both fought back for those positions, Mackenzie seemed restrained at the corner where he fell last year, while Ryde, who also had an accident at the Lincolnshire track in 2021 which meant this was his first race at the track, had also had a scary blown tyre to deal with in the red flagged first run.

Ryan Vickers (FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports)was next to see the chequered flag in 13th ahead of Tom Neave, quite a distance back in 14th for Honda.
The final point on offer went to Christain Iddon, but the Buildbase Suzuki rider could have had more, in contention for a top ten finish, his lunge from a distance back didn’t pay off – and collected Tom Sykes ahead of him. His run wide to stay in the race dropping him to 15th.

Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) , Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki) and Joah Owens (Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki)were close an track and behind after that and just missed out on a points finish in 16th,17th and 18th respectively.

Qualifying:
1: Bradley Ray
2: Rory Skinner
3: Lee Jackson

2021 at Cadwell Park

Qualifying:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Jason O’Halloran
3: Peter Hickman

Race One (sprint): Peter Hickman
Race Two: Peter Hickman
Race Three: Jason O’Halloran

Round Six  (Thruxton) 

Race One (sprint): Jason O’Halloran
Race Two: Jason O’Halloran
Race Three: Tarran Mackenzie

 

Where does that leave the championship?

 

Jason O’Halloran still leads the way on 344 points, with Bradley Ray pulling closer after his win, now just 12 points behind. The Australian failed to add to his podium points tally, which remains at 48. Ray moves on to 40 following his victory.

Lee Jackson was out of the race and out of the points so remains third on 219 and 14 podium points.

After a barren spell Rory Skinner is now joint on 219 points with Jackson overall and moves his podium points tally up to nine.

The rest of the top eight remains as Glenn Irwin (199/16) in fifth, Kyle Ryde (177/12) in sixth Tarran Mackenzie (175/24) in seventh and Tommy Bridewell (169/5) in eighth.

Peter Hickman is still a distant ninth overall, with the only other riders with a podium point to their name – Leon Haslam and Danny Buchan – tenth and eleventh.

Before the red flag

 

As the red flag came out Skinner had just passed Ray cleanly at the front to take the lead.

Third at the time, it was Lee Jackson who was the first to fall coming over the top of the Mountain on lap two. His bike was left in the middle of the track causing a huge ripple of incidents behind.

Kyle Ryde escaped with just a rear puncture, while Takumi Takahashi was left bikeless.

Dan Jones took the biggest impact with an ambulance called in for Dan Jones, who was conscious on transfer from the track. 

Sykes and Buchan had a racing incident prior to that when they came close to clashing after the SYNETIQ riders big move, causing them to drop down into the pack, so both were happy to be given higher grid positions for the restart (fifth and third).

 

 

Bradley Ray had the first race day of the Cadwell Park meeting under full control as he translated his electric, qualifying pace into a racing masterclass to win the sprint race of round seven at Cadwell Park.

The #28 collected his fourth win of the season after converting his record qualifying pace into equally fast race pace as he managed the race from the front to win the shortened twelve lap sprint around the Lincolnshire track.

Initially, before the red flag that came out for Lee Jackson’s crash at the Mountain part of the course, Ray had not had it quite so easy. His main Sunday competition, Rory Skinner had just put in a superb overtaking move to lead.

Ready for a second run and back on pole from position from the last complete lap, this time the Rich Energy OMG Yamaha rider was ready and picked up the pace every time the Kawasaki neared to ease out a dominant win after trying to break away.

On leading Ray said post-race:

“I knew if I got the holeshot and lead – almost like the first lap or the first two laps I could put the hammer down and try to break them.

Sector one and two I’m okay but sector three was where I was able to gain a little bit of time on everyone”.

That was evident from Ray’s pole lap where he was down slightly on then leader Skinner before his blistering third section took him to the top of the timesheets.

“To be second at Cadwell Park is Mega for me!”

 

Skinner had already come closest to Ray in the Superpole qualifying format and seemed happy and brimming with confidence after his second wildcard race in the Moto2 class in Austria.

In just his second year racing around the tricky layout the Cheshire Holdings FS-3 rider shone, but he couldn’t quite get near enough to try another pass as he had before the red flag, with tyres then fading to ensure more defensive riding from the frontrunners.

“To be second at Cadwell Park is mega for me, I never expected to be but yeah, I’m more than happy”.

On tyres Skinner added:

“I was quite comfortable sitting in behind Brad. I think the tyres kind of dropped off a little bit towards the end and, you know, we all struggled a little bit”.

The podium was completed by Danny Buchan – his first rostrum visit of the season.

The SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad rider was grateful that he received a bout of good fortune – he had dropped down into the chasing group forming and hit Tom Sykes while trying to recover just before the red flag occurred – however with the grid going back to the only complete lap and Lee Jackson having filled third originally now unable to rejoin, he was placed on the front row of the grid.

“A monkey on my back”

 

Buchan was grateful for his enhanced grid placing and chance to hit the podium in 2022:

“After the incident with Tom, I was a little bit more tentative in the second part of the race.

Given the opportunity to start third, I knew I had to get away wit Rory and Brad, which I did, but I kind of felt that there was a monkey on my back in terms of getting a podium , so once I got that now, I feel a bit more relaxed”.

No podium points for O’Halloran

 

Moving into the part of the season where riders start to focus on podium points if they have a chance to make the Showdown, it was Jason O’Halloran who missed out in fourth. The McAms Yamaha rider had a spell in third before Buchan regained the place.

Though still clear out front in the overall standings with 344 points, twelve ahead of Ray, missing out on vital podium points sees him stay on 48, while the race winner moves up to 40.

Rory Skinner finishing the race sees him tied with team-mate Lee Jackson overall, both with 219. Jackson has 14 podium points ,while Skinner moves onto nine.

The rest of the showdown places remain filled by Glenn Irwin, Kyle Ryde, Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell.

In the race it was fifth placed Bridewell who set the best time while giving chase – a new fastest race lap – so will start on pole tomorrow for race two on his Oxford Products Ducati.

Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) faded to sixth, while Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) had opposite fortunes, along with tenth placed Josh Brookes (MCE Ducati) he made up the most positions in the race to finish seventh, powering away from his brother Glenn, who finished ninth for Honda.

They were separated on track by Leon Haslam, a multiple former winner at Cadwell, who was ninth in the sprint for VisionTrack Kawasaki.

Reigning champion Mackenzie was eleventh behind Brookes on the second McAMS bike.

The remaining points on offer went to Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Yamaha, who had a rear puncture before the red flag in 12th , Ryan Vickers (FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports) in 13th Honda’s Tom Neave in 14th and Buildbase Suzuki’s Danny Kent, who was promoted to 15th following a penalty issued after the race for Christian Iddon, who took Tom Sykes out of the race.

The race was red flagged just two laps in after Lee Jackson’s crash left his bike on the track and those arriving unsighted behind him to do their best to avoid the machine. Ryde had just the tyre problem, while Takumi Takahsahi was unable to make the restart. The biggest casualty was the unfortunate Dan Jones, who was conscious following the accident but airlifted to hospital to get him the best care as quickly as possible.