Sunday round up from BSB Round Ten at Donington

2022 British Superbike Championship
Round Ten – Donington Park

British Superbike Race Two

Tom Sykes proved to be unstoppable in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Donington Park this afternoon, snatching the race two win from standings leader Bradley Ray to celebrate a second victory for the MCE Ducati team.

Sykes didn’t get the best start from the front row of the grid and Ray led the pack through Redgate for the first time. Leon Haslam had his hopes of home success cut short as the 2018 champion crashed out on the opening lap.

Sykes wrestled his way back into contention, holding second with a move at the Melbourne Hairpin on Andrew Irwin and then had Ray in his sights.

The MCE Ducati rider then made a decisive move at Redgate on the start of lap three to return to the front and then delivered a textbook performance to secure his second win of the weekend.

Ray returned to the podium in second place, extending his advantage at the top of the standings, but behind Glenn Irwin had charged up the order to claim the final podium position for Honda Racing UK. The third place moved him up ahead of Lee Jackson in the standings by three points ahead of race three.

Andrew Irwin had earlier been scrapping with his brother but he was able to hold off the next group of contenders with a fourth place for SYNETIQ BMW.

Lee Jackson was fifth for the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Racing Kawasaki after a final tussle at Goddards on the last lap to keep Tommy Bridewell and Jason O’Halloran behind him, as the Title Fighters diced for the crucial points.

Peter Hickman had been in the battle for the top five earlier in the race on the FHO Racing BMW but faded to eighth place in the closing stages with Josh Brookes and Ryan Vickers completing the top ten.

British Superbike Race Two Results

British Superbike Race Three

Bradley Ray stormed to victory in the final Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend at Donington Park, holding off the challenge from the Irwin brothers to return to the top step of the podium.

The race had got underway and was red flagged on the opening lap when Chrissy Rouse crashed heavily on the opening lap of the race, exiting Goddards Corner.

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An 18-lap restart began with double race winner Tom Sykes launching off the line into the lead as Jason O’Halloran dived into second ahead of Ray with Glenn and Andrew Irwin in hot pursuit.

On the second lap, O’Halloran took his opportunity to take the lead and made a pass on the brakes into the Melbourne Hairpin but Sykes was instantly back ahead on the MCE Ducati.

Sykes was still holding the advantage, but Ray was soon into second and then grabbed the lead on the fourth lap. Glenn Irwin had also been on the move and he was able to get ahead of Sykes and began his bid to hunt Ray.

As Sykes bid to make a counterattack on the riders ahead of him, he had O’Halloran for company and on the sixth lap, the McAMS Yamaha rider made a mistake into the Melbourne Hairpin, colliding with Sykes and crashing out. Sykes was consequently forced to retire from the race.

The incident between them is under investigation as O’Halloran was attending the Medical Centre after sustaining injuries to his thumb and ankle. It will be heard at Brands Hatch.

There was subsequently a BMW Safety Car intervention until the incident was cleared. Glenn Irwin hit the front of the pack, but Ray fought hard to regain the position. The Honda Racing UK rider was leading until lap 14 when he lost his foot peg at the Fogarty Esses and then it was a damage limitation act.

Andrew Irwin moved into second for SYNETIQ BMW which he held until the finish, whilst Glenn Irwin scrapped with Tommy Bridewell over the final three laps to just hold off his Oxford Products Racing Ducati rival.

Danny Buchan completed the top five for the SYNETIQ BMW team just ahead of Kyle Ryde and Lee Jackson.

Ryan Vickers was eighth ahead of Danny Kent on the Buildbase Suzuki with Leon Haslam bouncing back from an earlier crash to claim tenth at his home round.

Josh Brookes crossed the line outside the points in 16th place after some hanges to the bike after the race earlier in the day didn’t work out as planned.

British Superbike Race Three Results

British Superbike Championship Points

British Superbike Rider Quotes

Tom Sykes

“It’s been great to take another race win today and I’m more pleased for the team than I am myself as they’ve not stopped working all year and deserve the success. I was in third place in the initial stages of today’s first race, but the bike was fantastic and once I’d got the lead, I felt really comfortable and was able to control the race very nicely. We made some small alterations to the bike, nothing major, but with the red flag, the performance with edge grip on the tyre dropped off. I still thought a good podium was on the cards but, unfortunately, another rider made a mistake and hit the back of me, which was obviously not their intention. It’s a shame to end with a DNF but we’ve got to be happy with two wins and have some smiles back in the garage.”

Bradley Ray

“The race was strange and I had to chase Glenn down a bit and then I got into the lead. He then came past me again so I assumed he had a better pace than me, I felt stronger in sector one, but the rest of the track he was a little bit quicker than me, so I was happy to sit there for a bit. Unluckily for him he lost his foot peg and I knew in that moment that I had to pull some clean laps as I knew Andy would be there and ready to pounce if I made a mistake. Overall I am super happy. It is nice to win here and extend the championship lead – I am pretty speechless. I have been dealing with the pressure quite a lot and I have had a strong season and we needed to prove that we can do it in the Showdown as well. It is nice to have a buffer ahead of going to my home round at Brands Hatch.”

Glenn Irwin

“I would say I’m speechless about the final race, but I’m never speechless! The first race today I didn’t realise that something wasn’t turned on that should have been turned on, I think it cost us a lot and I could have been up a step. The last race we had everything working as it should, the chassis was really good and the grip that I searched for all weekend was there. It was a very enjoyable race and I felt a lot stronger on the brakes. I had some good moves with Tom [Sykes], it’s nice when you’re fighting with a former World Champion when he’s on top form as well. Also with Bradley [Ray], he’s had a mega season so far, but to be able to fight with him is an amazing feeling. The foot peg snapping off will probably be the talking point, but there’s so many positives to take from this weekend instead. Touching on the foot peg I saw L3 on my board and thought I’m still in third and my foot was at times touching the back tyre, so I had find another place to put my foot. I tried everything I could and if the front was going to fold, then it was going to fold, because I couldn’t do anything to help as my centre of gravity was so high. When Tommy [Bridewell] went by, I don’t know, I just thought to myself ‘imagine if I got a podium with one foot peg!’ My team deserved a win today, and I hope they take the third place like a win because the Fireblade was incredible!”

Josh Brookes

“We made some minimal changes to the bike overnight with ninth place the outcome and I ended up letting the team take responsibility for what we did in race three to try and get us further up the field. Unfortunately, the changes, which were quite substantial, were in the wrong direction and whilst the intentions were good to make the bike shorter to try and improve the rear grip, they were counterproductive. The more I tried, the more it felt like I was going to come off, so it was another difficult day at the office.”

Chrissy Rouse suffered head injuries

In Bennetts British Superbike Championship race three at Donington Park, Chrissy Rouse crashed heavily on the opening lap of the race, exiting Goddards Corner. The race was immediately stopped.

Chrissy Rouse sustained a significant head injury. He was stabilised and put in a medically induced coma at the medical centre by the BSB medical team before being transferred to Queens Medical Centre/University Hospital, Nottingham for further investigations and treatment.

British Superstock Race Two

Davey Todd took the title in style as he powered to the win and the 2022 championship by 1.902secs over Billy McConnell.

After a lights to flag masterclass, the Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles rider backed up yesterday’s second place with the win as he claimed his first national title.

Davey Todd

“I don’t know what to say, I honestly haven’t got any words. I’ve said this all weekend but I’ve not been going out there thinking about the championship, I was concentrating on the race. This is for the team – what an incredible squad they are.”

Billy McConnell

“I felt really good and confident with the bike all weekend but when I went to try and pass Alex in the first race, I found a false neutral when I was changing down to first gear and had no option other than to run straight on. With all the rain, the grass was very slippery, but the bike was unreal and that gave me a real shot at the podium. Unfortunately, I missed a gear coming out of the hairpin, head butting the screen, and ended up fourth.

“Given what had happened, I was happy with the position, but wished it had been a win, obviously! We gave it another go on Sunday and second place gave me mixed emotions; pleased with the way I rode and how the bike performed but disappointed to miss out on the championship. Davey rode fantastically well so fair play to him and we’ve ten podiums now for the season so the aim will be to go to the final round at Brands Hatch and go out on a high with a win.”

Third rider home was FHO Racing with Kobelco’s Alex Olsen, just ahead of Tom Ward as Brayden Elliott took fifth.

Levi Day rounded out the top ten.

British Superstock Race Two Results

British Superstock Championship Points

British Supersport Race Two / Feature

Jamie van Sikkelerus took the win after a dramatic three-bike battle as Jack Scott lifted the GP2 title after crossing the line seventh.

In a dramatic race where yesterday’s race winner crashed out early, it came down to a three-rider scrap between van Sikkelerus, Lee Johnston and Harry Truelove.

Johnston tried to sweep up the inside into the final corner but ran wide allowing van Sikkelerus to storm to his first series win, followed over the line 0.380secs by Truelove with Johnston third and a just 0.134secs further back.

Tom Booth-Amos took fourth with Luke Jones fifth as a thrilled Jack Scott celebrated GP2 race and title victory.

Kiwis Damon Rees and Shane Richardson finished tenth and 11th respectively.

British Supersport Race Two/Feature Results

British Supersport Championship Points

GP2 Championship Points

British Junior Superstock Race

Recently-crowned champion Max Cook was back on the top step of the box for the ninth time this year as he took a commanding 3.466sec win over Seth Crump.

Cook led from the opening lap as he coasted to the win, as Crump enjoyed a lonely race in second place to beat Franco Bourne by a further 3.817secs.

Asher Durham won a three-way battle for fourth as Edmund Best ran wide at the last corner and Owen Jenner took fifth.

Jacob Hatch finished P23 while young Kiwi Zak Fuller recorded a DNF.

British Junior Superstock Race Results

British Junior Superstock Championship Points