After the high of Saturday, which saw the OMG Grilla rider ahead in the overall standings after a hard fought win, Sunday was a big comedown, with Ryde making up the time he missed in morning warm-up to still struggle to keep a points finish in race two:

“The warm-up session wasn’t too good – I was like four seconds off and in race one today, sorry race two, I made a big chunk, I made four seconds, but it still wasn’t fast enough. I ended up finishing 13th, and yeah, was a little disappointed, obviously seeing Tommy come fifth after taking the championship lead yesterday”.

His trye choice, especially his harder compound wet rear, gave the confidence to push over both parts of the final race, split by the red flag, seeing Ryde back to picking up the maximum 25 points again:

“I had a brilliant race then, chose intermediates in the first half – from 19th got up to fourth and the red flag came out.

Didn’t look like there was going to be much rain coming, it did wet the track a little bit in a few areas, but we went with the hard wet and I just wanted to pick up where I left off ten minutes before and got my head down where the track was dry – to make sure the tyre was hot when I got off the slippier stuff.

Got to the front and seen last lap, two and a half seconds – I couldn’t believe my eyes, after the day I’ve had already, with warm-up and the thirteenth place, I’ll take a first all day long”.

That saw the gap narrow again in the championship, with the difference now just six, with only half a point deciding the 2023 winner, every point could prove crucial with six races left over the Donington and Brands hatch rounds:

“Two wins over this weekend, and a race where I didn’t do good, I managed to get a few points – they might count towards the end of the year. So yeah…thanks to all my team that believed in me so much today, biggest thing then – I believed in myself, so yeah thanks everyone”.

Kyle Ryde left Cadwell Park highly decorated after three stunning performances, collecting two wins and a second to rival Tommy Bridewell.

His second win in race three came after he inherited the lead – the OMG Grilla Yamaha rider had intended to sit in behind his speedy teammate, Ryan Vickers, who had earned a front row start but was over-eager to perform after a tough weekend, leading to an early spill through the grass.

Leading from the front for so many laps at the tight, narrow track was tough for Ryde:

“It was obviously a good one, winning it but it was probably one of the longest races I’ve ever done. Eighteen laps around here is very hard, never mind twenty and when you’ve got someone like Tommy breathing down your neck for half an hour – it wasn’t easy!”

Consistent lapping from the lead saw Ryde stay out front, but he had permanent pressure from Bridewell on his arrival in second:

I dug deep, set the same lap time every time, did what I needed to do to win – I still thought he was going to pass me at some point ‘cause the pitboard said plus nothing for about eight laps.

The Honda rider was strong in the first sector, especially though Coppice, but Ryde was bale to regain his gap with some sublime riding later in every lap, allowing him to eventually re-establish a small lead over the closing stages of the race:

“I was real good in the last sector, so I just made sure I got through sector one in front and I tried my best through the last sector and hopefully I’d stay in front”.

In addition to his three podium finish trophies, the #77 left Cadwell Park with the rider of the round award, the King of the Mountain trophy and the Cadwell 90 award for winning race three, to celebrate 90 years of racing at the track. Ryde, having never won any of the ‘extra trophies’ on offer, was emotional to have left Lincolnshire with such a huge collection of silverware:

“Yeah, to win three trophies this weekend and both important ones that come with it – is a first for me – rider of the round as well, so thanks everyone for that and thanks to my team and all my sponsors, everyone that believes in me”.

Kyle Ryde was ready to pick up the pieces as his title rivals faltered with a race one win at Cadwell Park.

The OMG Grilla rider wasted no time in getting his Yamaha to the front from second on the grid, after a few corners tussling for position the injured polesitter, Jason O’Halloran, he was able to break clear. Ryde’s laps were so consistent out front he felt he was riding with an equipment issue:

“Carried much consistency throughout the race – I thought at one point my lap timer and my dash had got stuck as I kept doing the same lap time, but no!

The Lincolnshire track had been a ‘bogey’ track for the #77, though he came close to breaking that last season, only to be denied twice by Ducati’s Glenn Irwin, first in the sprint and then again in race two the next day, something he was happy to rectify:

“Just buzzing, really. I think last year getting second twice – I think I deserved a win – but I got pipped twice by Glenn so yeah – happy. It feels surreal, really!”

The result saw Ryde cut his deficit to Tommy Bridewell in the overall standings from 25 to nineteen points, though his comeback for fourth ensured the damage to his title hopes was not greater as Ryde pulled out a third win:

“I didn’t think I’d be on the podium after Thursday night, I was so far behind Ryan – it was a bit scary, but yeah made a big step in qualifying which really put me on the front row and with Ryan and Tommy not really setting a lap time I knew I had to try and make the most of it and get a much points back as possible, but obviously it wasn’t that much – Tommy rode a great race to come from 14th or 15th back to fourth”.

Thursday had been the test day at the track before the race weekend proper, and Ryde had seen his teammate dominate proceedings, then practice before the tables turned in his favour:

“After Thursday I’m over the moon… so the win is just a massive bonus”!

Kyle Ryde learned from following Jason O’Halloran out front, and timed his last lap to perfection, with a bit of luck, to come out on top in a huge, exciting seven way battle to the final corner at Thruxton.

The OMG Grilla rider showed he had the pace to be a contender with pole position earlier in the day. The Yamaha rider had never been on the podium before at the Hampshire track, so was keen to show what he could do from further up the grid:

“I’ve always been stronger in the last sector, on any bike, but the last couple of years I’ve not been in a place really to show it because I’ve always been slow around the other bits, so it’s nice to be able to finally figure out how to ride around Thruxton.

Taking a pole position and a race win in the long race – never thought I’d do that this weekend! So yeah, I’ve already ticked many boxes before we’ve even got to Sunday”.

Ryde pointed out that his Yamaha and Jason O’Halloran were battling the wind more out front, while the group behind could slipstream through, which lead to a team1-2 as Ryan Vickers took advantage to go from second back into the pack and still manage to come back out for a rostrum visit:

“The wind has been heading straight in our face down the back straight, which makes our bike basically into a 600 and the slipstream works massively so…Ryan came out of Church in sixth and ended up finishing second – so it’s not a normal situation on a superbike – we’ve got to get used to it because the wind is always in that direction.

I’m sure it was fun to watch on the TV, but for us it was a bit of a nightmare really!”

Ryde felt like he learned a lot from his wise decision to stay behind O’Halloran, who has a superior record at Thruxton:

“Jason set a pace at the front which was saving tyre, so me being – I don’t know the word – I won’t say ‘grown up’ but smart – he’s won many more races than anyone, probably double the amount – so I was clever enough to follow him, learned a lot – because obviously my best finish around here I think has been sixth, so to go from that to a win – I must have done something right!”

With seven riders in contention over the longer twenty lap distance the #77 is expecting the shorter twelve lap sprint on Sunday to be chaotic, Ryde will start 13th on the fairly reversed grid:

“Everybody’s got pace so that sprint race is going to be an absolute maniac festival!”
 

The Yamaha riders were once again the men to beat at the Circuito de Navarra, with a top three in both races, building on a dominant qualifying for the manufacturer.

Ryan Vickers dominated to win both races, but it was more of a mixed bag for his teammate at OMG Grilla with Kyle Ryde picking up second in race one and an equally hard fought third in race two.

Ryde had dominated the pre-season leading the way in both the Donington test and the one at Navarra directly before the race weekend.

That had left expectations high on the man from Mansfield, with two podiums giving a feeling of what might have been as much as celebration.

Ryde boiled his performance down to two main factors – not making a big enough step between races compared to his rivals and a change in temperature.

Ryde explained: “The best thing that happened really was that we made the bike a bit better but I think everybody did at the same time – I think even Ryan was doing high sixes towards the end and I didn’t do one of them so obviously everyone made the bikes better”.

“Unfortunately mine wasn’t a big enough step to follow them to the line”.

The second element the #77 thought factored into his Sunday performance was the change in weather, though noticeably more windy, the temperature was also hugely different to those the riders had been exposed to at the track thus far.

Ryde elaborated:

“I’m happy that we made the bike a bit better, I’m just gutted that obviously we did – probably about 150 laps in certain temperatures and I felt good all week. Then, all of a sudden, I feel not so good, but yeah – to take home two trophies I’m not complaining, I could have crashed so many times in race one earlier.

While Danny Kent backed his weather opinions, Ryde was still pleased with his overall performance – his race two was much smoother with none of the flirting with the green on track that earned him a track limits warning in race one:

“Not dead happy, nut I’m happy that I’ve got 30 points and two trophies to take home and can have a vino tinto tonight!”

Ryde will be looking to take a step forward and claim victory when the BSB championship returns to British soil – at Oulton Park on the May bank holiday weekend.

The BSB title decider, with the relief of the trophy finally being handed out seemed to bring a spirit of camaraderie and positively  to the paddock, with few more affected than third place finisher Kyle Ryde.

Expectations had been high for the Yamaha LAMI OMG rider, who took over the senior role in the team after last season’s winner Bradley Ray made his exit.

Ryde had high hopes himself expecting at least a top three finish, and was pleased with the forward progress made, especially when he excelled at tracks he had considered his ‘bogey’ tracks before:

“I always expected to be in the top three, that was the goal. With two meetings to go I didn’t think it was possible, but obviously being BSB something happened at Donington and I managed to get back within striking distance. Then we’ve come to Brand Hatch and arguably had my best weekend of the year, my first triple podium of the year, actually.

 

Like all of the frontrunners the #77 experienced a few mid season blips, with the title hopefuls managing them best to still be in contention at Brands Hatch. 

Ryde himself arrived in with a shout having kept the gap down to 35 points, picking up six wins along the way in a season dominated by the BeerMonster Ducati duo of Champion Tommy Bridewell and Glenn Irwin. 

Dominating practice, but missing out in qualifying Ryde continued that theme into the final day thanks to a determined win in Saturday’s sprint race after holding of Jason O’Halloran in a photo finish. A further two podium finishes, including the superb third in race three where he have everything to beat the odds, aided by teammate Ryan Vickers, means Brands is no longer a track to be feared for Ryde:

“A few blips in the middle of the season cost us, really close to winning the championship, I’m very proud of my self, especially a couple of tracks I’ve struggled at…Cadwell, Knockhill and obviously I’d never had a podium before ‘til I came to Brands, and I’ve just done a triple podium so yeah – great, great season and a great way to finish”.

Looking ahead, with changes afoot again in the BSB class Ryde is happy to be once again out in LAMI OMG Yamaha colours for 2024:

“I think there’s a couple of different regulations going on, everyone’s bikes are going to be a little bit different, think it’s going to be a bit harder to do some lap times, but yeah I’ve obviously go the same bike, same team, and it worked from last year to this year so hopefully we can make another step for next year”.

The race win went to Glenn Irwin but it was Tommy Bridewell who took the 2023 BSB title in the closest British Superbike finale in history as the result went all the way to the last lap of the last race at Brands Hatch.

The third and final race of the showdown was tense and full of overtakes with all three riders knowing what they needed to succeed.

After a series of lead changes it was Glenn Irwin who found his way to the front, which was whre he had to be but Tommy Bridewell took second at Druids on the last lap ensuring he took home the 2023 title as Irwin took a double and it was still not enough for the crown.

It was not all about the BeerMonster bikes – Ryan Vickers was an early race leader for LAMI OMG Yamaha as he backed up his teammate Kyle Ryde who soon took over out front.

Ryde also had to win, but needed issues for the Ducati bikes, who were riding smooth despite all the lead and title changes.

 

Irwin lunges for the lead 

On lap six the #2 saw an opportunity and hit the front at Surtees, with Vickers following him through. That lead was short lived as Ryde hit the front again. 

The alarm bells went for the Northern Irishman when Bridewell tried a lunge for the lead at Hawthorns heading into lap ten, but Ryde found a way back ahead again.

The three leaders continued to play, dropping Vickers as the pace intensified. 

Lap eleven saw Irwin back in front, and still at the whim of what happened behind regardless of his position.

An error on lap sixteen saw Ryde go one way around the Ducati and Bridewell the other, allowing them back into first and second.

After all the changes it came down to the last lap.

Second enough for Championship win for Bridewell

Irwin moved ahead at Surtees to lead at the start of the final lap, with Bridewell knowing he had to be second in that situation to take the title. The move came at Druids and although no rider gave in, the last and final championship lead change of eight was how they finished at the line, allowing Bridewell to take the title from second.

Irwin picked up a double and a tenth win by 0.372s, and was quick to congratulate Bridewell.

Celebrations ensued including drinking a pint from the crowd, and later champagne from his boot on the podium. The #46 bike was changed to a #1 and liveried in decoration and celebration of Oliie, Tommy’s late brother and Paul Bird, his boss who passed earlier in the season.

Kyle Ryde’s third mirrored his title finish.

Vickers being in the mix up front pulled him clear of the rest four fourth.

Away from the championship action up front, Leon Haslam looked back to his best to finish the season, moving up to fifth with his Rokit BMW Motorrad bike.

Christian Iddon was back on his Oxford Products Ducati after a big fall in race two, and was an impressive sixth after being stretchered off earlier in the day.

Jason O’Halloran gave the special MCAMS Yamaha livery as the team depart one last spin in eighth, clear of Lee Jackson, who made up places for eighth.

Josh Brookes was right behind in ninth for FHO Racing, with Charlie Nesbitt the top rookie in tenth for MasterMac Honda.

Max Cook was close behind his fellow rookie in eleventh, while Storm Stacey closed out his season with twelfth place for Starline Kawasaki.

The final points of the season went to Honda’s Tom Neave in 13th , Bradley Perie for Lee Hardy Racing in 14th and Niccolo Canepa on the second McAMS bike in 15th.

Fraser Rogers was the best of the ‘pathway’ entries in 19th for In Competition Aprilia.

British Superbikes Round Eleven – Brands Hatch Race Results (3) Pos Rider Nat Team Time 1 Glenn Irwin GBR BeerMonster Ducati 28m 39.857s 2 Tommy Bridewell GBR BeerMonster Ducati +0.372s 3 Kyle Ryde GBR Lami OMG Racing Yamaha +0.671s 4 Ryan Vickers GBR Lami OMG Racing Yamaha +3.576s 5 Leon Haslam GBR Rokit BMW Motorrad Team +5.157s 6 Christian Iddon GBR Oxford Products Ducati +5.583s 7 Jason O’Halloran AUS McAMS Yamaha +5.640s 8 Lee Jackson GBR Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki +7.366s 9 Josh Brookes AUS FHO Racing BMW Motorrad +7.564s 10 Charlie Nesbitt GBR MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing +16.599s 11 Max Cook GBR Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki +19.706s 12 Storm Stacey GBR Starline Racing Kawasaki +23.196s 13 Tom Neave GBR Honda Racing UK +23.315s 14 Bradley Perie GBR Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki +23.681s 15 Niccolo Canepa ITA McAMS Yamaha +25.844s 16 Davey Todd GBR Synetiq BMW Motorrad +26.408s 17 Andrew Irwin GBR Honda Racing UK +34.676s 18 Jack Scott GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +34.851s 19 Fraser Rogers GBR IN Competition/ Aprilia +41.477s 20 Alex Olsen GBR Cumins by Team IWR Honda +44.033s 21 Brayden Elliott AUS DAO Racing Kawasaki +53.573s 22 Tom Booth-Amos GBR TAG Racing Honda +54.423s 23 Louis Valleley GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +1m 01.982s 24 Peter Hickman GBR FHO Racing BMW Motorrad DNF 25 Jack Kennedy IRL Mar-Train Racing Yamaha DNF 26 Shaun Winfield GBR TAG Racing Honda DNF 27 Luke Mossey GBR Tactix by Lloyd & Jones BMW DNF 28 Franco Bourne GBR Honda Marvel HCL Motorsport DNF

 

Crashes, Injuries and Replacements

Franco Bourne suffered an early exit, while Luke Mossey, Shaun Winfield, Jack Kennedy and Peter Hickman all retired to the pits.

How did the championship finish?

The closest season of BSB saw only half a point the difference between the Ducati duo.

Tommy Bridewell’s final total was 455 after his final second place points were added, with Glenn Irwin just short on 454.5.

Kyle Ryde finished 33 points behind with another third, on a total of 422.

The team trophy was picked up by Jordan Bird for PBM, after taking up where her father left off at the team.

Ryde had been dominating for LAMI OMG Yamaha in all the practice sessions, whatever the weather, and although qualifying didn’t go the same way, he quickly got to work from sixth, making brave choices and overtakes to arrive in a position to fight for the win.

‘My FP3 session this morning won me that race today’

It was his time in the FP3 session which was held in similar conditions that the #77 credited with his race success:

“For me I feel like my FP3 session this morning won me that race today.I think a few people opted to just sit the session out , understandably, I nearly did the same with how dodgy it was out the back but obviously I just wanted to keep going around riding my bike, I was enjoying riding my bike that definitely won me the race.

 It was the exact same conditions, same tyres, probably the same temperature as well, just credit to the boys for making the bike a little bit better than  FP3 this morning and just managed to hold Jason off to the line”.

The dash to the line was a full on BSB finale spectacle, with a photo finish. The difference between the duo was just 0.015s after twelve laps.

According to Ryde, even the setting sun, covering the track with a golden light for the sprint race played it’s part as it gave away where O’Halloran was on track:

“With the sun, as you come down the bottom straight here, you cannot see where to brake, so you’re just guessing every lap, luckily for me as you come out of the last corner you can see how close Jason is by the shadow, I knew he wasn’t coming underneath me so I just had to be as smooth as possible over the start line, tuck in as much as possible,  because I knew he had a little bit more grip than me!” 

It was the #77’s sixth win but a special one because of the venue, and the timing:

“I’m very pleased to take my first ever win at Brands, hatch at the last meeting where it means the most”.

 

‘I looked up at the big screens around here and thought “oh, I haven’t got it!”

Jason O’halloran had started from pole after a slipstream in qualifying saw him top the timesheets.

After he too coped well with the conditions, the last lap saw the McAMS rider use a similar idea to get ahead to try and give his team some final wins before the exit the paddock, and it came close to working.

The Australian began by using Ryde being with him on track to help him judge the conditions:

“Difficult race. When it’s patchy conditions like that, you don’t really know how fast to go, probably made it a little easier for me when Kyle came by – to be fair it wasn’t easier because of the pace he was setting, it was harder because of the pace he was setting but easier to judge the conditions. It was much faster than I wanted to go to be honest in the dodgy conditions, but I knew I had to do something to day to keep it alive for tomorrow”.
The #22 went on to describe his overtake attempt at the start of the final lap:

“Felt good – the bike had plenty of grip, the wet parts of the track were difficult to understand but by the end I felt pretty comfortable, past Kyle last lap into turn one but just didn’t quite hold it, tighten off, so he got back past my right away.

 “I was pretty sure I hadn’t got there but also hoping I got there I looked up at the big screens around here and thought “oh, I haven’t got it!”

The front pair were clear on track, but the next battling duo were equally at war.

‘Always the goal and the target is to finish ahead of Glenn’.

Inseparable on wins and close on points, once again, Tommy Bridewell and Glenn Irwin were once again together on track, though this time both parties finished the race.

Bridewell started further up the grid in seventh and the BeerMonster Ducati rider soon made forward progress:

“Made a good start, which was key for me, just to kind of get with the guys I knew had the pace. Felt good at the start and thought ‘I’ve got a good opportunity to perhaps fight for the win here’ but these guys, Kyle and Jase rode a good clean race, no mistakes. They just had a bit more confidence out the back than me in the dry areas.”

The #46 struggled a little in the wet compared to the other podium finishers, but his biggest battle was with the other red bike on track:

“To be honest as a rider it’s probably my biggest weakness but all in all I’m really happy as I had Glenn sort of on my board, plus zero pretty much the whole race.

I feel that good on the bike in quite a lot of areas the fork was diving fast and the rear was sitting, there was no rubber on the track, it was a tough race, always the goal and the target is to finish ahead of Glenn”.

Irwin made rapid forward progress after an issue with his front brake saw him qualify 17th. The Northern Irish rider admitted that with the same bike, a lot of the chance to pass is opportunity and rider confidence:

“When you’re riding against a bike that’s identical to yours, to make a pass is down to the rider, not we can use the speed, we can’t use the drive, grip, whatever.

Felt a lot stronger and noticed Tommy started to struggle with the rear tyre, quite bad at the end, at that stage I knew it was time to pounce, again with the bikes both being so equally matched you kind of have to look at different passes, and the last left…it’s not been in my locker many times to be truthfully honest”.

The pass late in the race saw him wide as he struggled to stop on the wet part of the track and the #2 decided that was risk enough, with the gap back he finished fourth. 

In terms of the title, Bridewell actually extended his lead from third now 10.5 ahead while Ryde picked up 35 to reduce his gap to 27.

Irwin can win both the remaining races and still won’t take the title if Bridewell is second to him both times.
Leon Haslam remains mathematically in contention despite his fall as does Lee Jackson, while the sprint result ended the hopes of both Josh Brookes and Christian Iddon.

The rain returned to play it’s part in the first of Sunday’s feature races, which ended early as the red flag waved as the conditions worsened, with Kyle Ryde ahead at the right time as both Ducati’s ended up in the gravel.

Round ten continued to be full of chaos with both Ryde and Haslam able to cut chunks out of the title deficit up front as the other big story of the race unfolded – with the BeerMonster bikes out of the points again.

The opening corners were dry and lead by Leon Haslam until Glenn Irwin, who had made quick work of the riders in front, arrived to take over.

The #2 was in a hurry, eager to make the most of his rival Tommy Bridewell’s last place start.

It was while the Northern Irish rider was leading that the rain arrived and an extremely cautious few laps out front allowed a group of eight to bunch up behind, then all realise they were in with a shout of the win if they held their nerve.

Zero to hero and back again for Bridewell.

By that stage Tommy Bridewell who started stone last in 26th had put in the hard work and fastest laps to reach the lead group.

Seventh on lap eight and used to moving faster than the leaders the #46 made quick work of the next few bikes ahead, moving into fourth at turn one on lap four as he hurried past Ryde.

Corners later he was second, and by the end of the lap he was up the inside of his teammate to lead – a wake up call for Irwin.

Rattled, Irwin responded and the pair swapped position over the next few corners as the rain worsened, several riders including Bridewell putting their hands up to express how bad they thought the weather was.

 

Ryde took advantage of the duo focussing on each other to slip between them and in behind Irwin on lap twelve. The Lami OMG rider then lead out of the esses as their tension between the Ducati riders boiled over.

As they reached the Melbourne loop Tommy Bridewell turned in with nowhere to go and cleared out Irwin, both red bikes and riders sent flying into the gravel. The front inpact was hard on Bridewell who had a large piece of paint design missing from his helmet. Irwin was livid and immediately went on the attack, with a marshal pulling him away.

Their issues with each other continued into the garage, with Irwin yelling at the opposite side until the PBM team wisely lowered the shutters. Both later apologised, but feelings were still running high.

Post race, race direction handed out sanctions. Tommy Bridewell who was due to start from pole was haded three penalty points and a three place grid penalty for race three for ‘riding which results in avoidable orunfair contact with another competitor’.

Glenn Iwrin was charged with acting ‘prejudicial to the interests of the MCRCB or of motorsport generally’ for his actions in the gravel, as well as ‘disregard of instructions of an official’ and was handed two penalty points.

Ryde and Haslam eye championship prize

Back on track the race went on until lap seventeen of twenty, with Yamaha’s Ryde leading all of those laps to remain in front and take the race two BSB win having lined up down in 15th on the grid. Ryde credited an extra tear off on his visor with his success, pulling it off gave him the clear vision and clarity he needed to push hard.

Haslam, who had started from pole after a superb race one run saw which saw him set the fastest lap in treacherous conditions as he expertly mastered his difficult tyre choice again proved able in the wet.

The #91 looked for a way past despite the conditions but finished second, 0.224s behind when the red flag came out.

Christian Iddon took advantge of the chaos having moved into the concertinaed lead group, moving into third around the time of the Ducati crash and holding on until the race was declared a result for Oxford Products Ducati. It is his third podium of the season and first since Brands Hatch.

He moved ahead of Lee Jackson, the top Kawasaki in fourth, while Jason O’Halloran staged a huge comeback of his own, coming up from 21st to finish fifth for McAMS Yamaha, following Bridewell forward once he swung past him.

Race one winner Ryan Vickers placed sixth on the second Lami OMG entry.

Charlie Nesbitt finished seventh for MasterMac Honda, just ahead of FHO racing’s Josh Brookes in eighth.

Max Cook was a distant ninth as the rest of the field gapped out. Peter Hickman brought hom the second FHO BMW inside the top ten.

Mar-Train Yamaha rider Jack Kennedy was next to the chequered flag in eleventh, with Niccolo Canepa (in at McAMS Yamaha)twelfth after serving a long lap penalty for an accidental shortcut at the chicane.

The remaining points went to Tom Newve for Honda Uk in 13th, Davey Todd (Milwaukee BMW) in 14th and Alex Olsen on the Superstock ‘Pathway’ Cumins by IWR Team entry.

Only two other riders finished the race, Jack Scott in 16th for Rapid CDH Kawasaki and Brayden Elliott for DAO racing Kawasaki in 17th.

1 Kyle Ryde GBR Lami OMG Racing Yamaha 23m 55.777s 2 Leon Haslam GBR Rokit BMW Motorrad Team 0.224s 3 Christian Iddon GBR Oxford Products Ducati +1.489s 4 Lee Jackson GBR Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki +1.755s 5 Jason O’Halloran AUS McAMS Yamaha +2.138s 6 Ryan Vickers GBR Lami OMG Racing Yamaha +3.791s 7 Charlie Nesbitt GBR MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing +6.387s 8 Josh Brookes AUS FHO Racing BMW Motorrad +6.678s 9 Max Cook GBR Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki +9.655s 10 Peter Hickman GBR FHO Racing BMW Motorrad +10.938s 11 Jack Kennedy IRL Mar-Train Racing Yamaha +11.935s 12 Niccolo Canepa ITA McAMS Yamaha +15.426s 13 Tom Neave GBR Honda Racing UK +16.929s 14 Davey Todd GBR Synetiq BMW Motorrad +17.088s 15 Alex Olsen GBR Cumins by Team IWR Honda +17.570s 16 Jack Scott GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki +33.813s 17 Brayden Elliott AUS DAO Racing Kawasaki DNF 18 Andrew Irwin GBR Honda Racing UK DNF 19 Glenn Irwin GBR BeerMonster Ducati DNF 20 Tommy Bridewell GBR BeerMonster Ducati DNF 21 Bradley Perie GBR Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki DNF 22 Storm Stacey GBR Starline Racing Kawasaki DNF 23 Louis Valleley GBR Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki DNF 24 Luke Mossey GBR Tactix by Lloyd & Jones BMW DNF 25 Michael Dunlop GBR Crendon Honda byHawk Racing DNF 26 Franco Bourne GBR Honda Racing UK DNS 27 Hector Barbera ESP TAG Racing Honda DNS

Official British Superbike Donington Park Records:

Lap Record: Leon Haslam (BMW) 1m 27.593s  (2023)

2022 at Donington Park:

Round Three – pole: Jason O’Halloran (2nd Bradley Ray, 3rd Kyle Ryde)

Race One: 
1:Kyle Ryde
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Bradley Ray

Race Two: 
1:Jason O’Halloran
2:Bradley Ray
3: Lee Jackson

Race Three:
1:Jason O’Halloran
2:Bradley Ray
3:Lee Jackson

Round Ten (Showdown) – pole: Jason O’Halloran (2ndBradley Ray , 3rd Tom Sykes)

Race One: 
1:Tom Sykes
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Peter Hickman

Race Two: 
1:Tom Sykes
2:Bradley Ray
3:Glenn Irwin

Race Three:
1:Bradley Ray
2:Andrew Irwin
3:Glenn Irwin

2023 At Donington Park (Round Three)

Pole: Kyle Ryde (2nd Leon Haslam 3rd Jason O’Halloran)

Race One:
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Leon Haslam

Race Two:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Ryan Vickers
3: Josh Brookes

Race Three:
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Glenn Irwin

Last round –  Oulton  Park (Showdown)

Pole: Tommy Bridewell (2nd Glenn Irwin, 3rd Kyle Ryde)

Race One:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Lee Jackson
3: Leon Haslam

Race Two:
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Lee Jackson
3: Kyle Ryde

Race Three:
1:Tommy Bridewell
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Lee Jackson

Crashes and Injuries and replacements

Franco Bourne did not make it around the warm-up lap as he suffered a mechanical issue.

Michael Dunlop continued his replacement stint for Josh Owens at Hawk Racing but was first into the pits.

Luke Mossey skittled down the order early on and run off again later in the race.

Along with Bridewell amd Irwin, Louis Valleley, Storm Stacey, Bradley Perie and Andrew Irwin all also failed to finish.

Hector Barbera  did not take part after his accident in practice left him sidelined.

 

Where does that leave the championship?

There was no change with the Ducati riders after the sprint result, so the top two were still split by half a point before race two got underway.

That didn’t change as again they were out of the points.

A race win saw Ryde up to third on 324 – now just 31.5 behind Irwin. Similarly Haslam also made gains, moving onto 327 with second.

Lee Jackson also gave himself a distant shout if results go his way, 46 points behind Irwin.

making up the most places in the race sees O’Halloran hold onto a dstant but mathematical shot at the crown. 

Beer Monster Ducati rider Glenn Irwin gave himself every opportunity to succeed after putting the Ducati on the front row for the sprint race at Cadwell Park, very much against the run of play – Jason O’Halloran took the treble at Thruxton and along with his fellow Yamaha riders over at LAMI OMG, Ryan Vickers and Kyle Ryde, had been in charge of the faster dry practice sessions, with Leon Haslam putting in a good showing on the BMW.

‘It wouldn’t have surprised me if a manoeuvre came into the mountain chicane!’

Starting from the front row, a superb launch, bettered only by Vickers, gave an opportunity to hit the front on a track where overtaking is difficult due to the Lincolnshire circuit’s layout and design, finding a way around on lap one.

Irwin spoke of the need to get a good start with BritishSuperbikes.com after the race:

“I HAD to get a good start, I had to dispose of Leon quite fast, we know the speed of his bike and he’s difficult to pass”.

Leon Haslam wasn’t quite out of the picture, behind, but running in the top three, when a mechanical removed him as a podium option, from there on the BeerMonster rider had just the Yamaha duo to deal with from the front, with his own bike issues playing a part in how he ran the race:

“I felt my lap time came quite easy, also I had quite a lot of chatter, we had a problem in qualifying … we rectified that problem and we had to stiffen the bike up, you could feel every bump in the road and turn two, three – I had huge chatter

I felt like just I decided, we have to rider defensive, it was one of them it’s a hard track to pass, but when people are fighting for a win, it wouldn’t have surprised me if a manoeuvre came into the mountain chicane or something, I did a bit of the old stop/ go tactics, slowed the pace up”.

Though Vickers was able to put one more move on the man from Carrickfergus, he powered back in front and took the maximum eighteen points to pull ever closer to teammate Tommy Bridewell, who in fifth could only ride damage limitation style to reduce the damage to his lead.

Irwin collected his first win at Cadwell Park on his 200th start, and although he lead the majority of laps it was a close run to the line between the three in the lead group and Jason O’Halloran who had caught the trio by the last lap after a poor start for McAMS Yamaha.

‘If I don’t do it now, I’m not going to do it again’

 

Behind It was no longer Vickers in second as his predicament unfolded, trapped between trying to pass Irwin, while needing to defend himself from his teammate Kyle Ryde.

Ryde took advantage as was able to move ahead at Park in the closing stages, one of very few overtaking opportunites on the narrow track:

‘Very hard to pass, Ryan was in Glenn’s slipstream every lap, Ryan was real good at Charlie’s 2, so I could never get close enough. On the last lap, Glenn went real defensive into Charlie’s 2 … and I managed to get a real good run and I was in the bubble and I just thought ‘if I don’t do it now, I’m not going to do it again’. I made the pass and I decided to stay to Glenn’s back wheel, and if I had a chance I was going to have a go at the win’.

Ryde has had a tough time at the last few rounds, going backwards from his grid position, but has surprised himself by performing better than expected at what the #77 regards as his ‘bogey’ tracks:

I’m not thinking about anyone else except myself, I’m so happy with second place, that’s like a massive win, especially being at Cadwell Park!

Before I even started the year, I was cacking my pants about turning up at Knockhill and Cadwell – out of the four races at the two tracks I’ve had a first,a second, a fourth and a second – Maybe I need to put Cadwell Park at the top of my list and Donington at the bottom!

‘Aargh – what can I do more?!’

 

That move left pole man Ryan Vickers third, with pressure still coming from the rapidly closing fourth place rider O’Halloran.

Vickers had been hopeful that if he could hold the Ducati back in the early stages that he might have been able to forge a lead, but it was not to be:

“I lead the first lap into Park, Glenn came straight past me a bit like – that was the goal – was trying to lead ‘til Park, if we lead through Park I knew we would be able to stretch a gap-

That was pretty much the only place I could make the move, which was really difficult and he passed me straight back down the straight, it was like ‘aargh – what can I do more?!’

Talking after the race the #7 was able to explain what happened with his pit board and how it affected his chance at the win and holding onto second:

“Coming up to the last lap, unfortunately, I came down the the start/finish straight I had plus 1.1 on my pitboard – I though I had a gap behind me, so I wasn’t too much in a rush to try and pass, there was one more opportunity where I was going to try and do it and I didn’t make it happen, so I just relaxing a little bit, I saw him (Ryde) come past me into Park and I was like ‘where did he come from?!’ There was a bit of a mistake or miscommunication”.

The result sees Irwin cut Bridewell’s lead to 19.5 points ahead of the Bank Holiday Monday main races, with both Ryde and O’Halloran also making up extra points in third and fourth in the hunt for the 2023 title.