Saturday round up from BSB Round Ten at Donington Park

2022 British Superbike Championship
Round Ten – Donington Park – Saturday

Images Dave Yeomans

British Superbike Race One

Tom Sykes delivered a masterful victory in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship eBay Sprint Race at Donington Park, becoming the ninth different race winner of the season to take the MCE Ducati team back to the top of the podium.

Sykes was inch-perfect during the 15-lap Sprint Race and silenced his critics by leading from the start to celebrate victory with MCE Ducati who become the seventh different team to win this season.

At the start, Sykes launched off the line from the front row to lead the field into Redgate for the first time. The previous World Champion then controlled the race, and despite the gap narrowing in the closing stages, he secured victory in Bennetts BSB for the first time since 2010.

However, the chasing pack continued to shuffle, and it was Jason O’Halloran on the McAMS Yamaha who gave a gritty performance following his two high-speed crashes last week to return to the podium.

The Australian had fought his way through the field after dropping to sixth on the opening laps, taking on his rivals to carve his way up the order with determined moves to keep his title competitors behind him.

The final podium position went down to the last lap to be decided as championship leader Bradley Ray held the initial advantage. Peter Hickman was in close contention and at Goddards for the final time, the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha made a small mistake, which gave the FHO Racing BMW rider the opportunity he needed.

Hickman’s third place came in his 400th Bennetts BSB race start with Ray taking fourth, to extend his advantage by five points as some of his closest rivals missed out in the opening race.

Glenn Irwin was leading the next group of Title Fighters in fifth place for Honda Racing UK as he moved up the order in the closing stages, keeping Lee Jackson and Kyle Ryde behind him.

The pair had been dueling throughout the race as they bid to bag the points with just five races now remaining.

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Tommy Bridewell was eighth on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati as he too had been part of an earlier battle with his closest title challengers. Leon Haslam and Ryan Vickers completed the top ten.

Tom Sykes – P1

“I can’t thank the team enough and this win is for them. I was obviously hoping for more this season, but Donington Park’s more of a Superbike circuit and although I still had a couple of limitations with the bike, I was able to ride round them and put the MCE Ducati where I wanted to.

I’ve a lot of experience around here and the two qualifying sessions was more beneficial as it enabled us to understand the bike a bit more.

“We made a small change in between Q1 and Q2 and although I had to be conservative in 3-4 corners and lost a bit of time, it was good to be on the front row. I wanted a good, clean start and get away with the leaders and that’s exactly what I did.

“Winning is fantastic because we know the level here and I always have a lot of emotion here. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Jason O’Halloran – P2

“I’m really happy with that, we came here not sure how I would be on the bike and practice was a nightmare with weather, so to get pole position after the week we’ve had was a real boost. The lap was quicker than I’ve ever been around here so it left me feeling confident for the race.

“I got a good start but unfortunately got a bit beat up in the early laps, but managed to recover and pick our way through to second. I felt really good on the bike and I think without the start we might have been able to take it to Tom so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Josh Brookes – P11

“On the timesheets, it looks a bit better than where we’ve been of late but three leading riders were absent so it’s hard to see the real progress. I got away fine in the race, not losing any places, I just didn’t have the momentum to go forward. I lost two places mid-race eventually regaining one of them but with the limitations, I can’t perform.

“Tom and I have been pretty much glued together all year, in terms of pace and results, so I’m a bit mystified at his gains in performance this weekend although I’m obviously pleased for him and the team. I’d love to replicate what he’s doing here at Donington, so we’ll go again tomorrow.”

British Superbike Race One Results

BSB Qualifying

Jason O’Halloran bounced back with a determined performance in qualifying to claim his fourth pole position of the season for the McAMS Yamaha team by just 0.009s.

O’Halloran set the benchmark lap and despite the best efforts of championship leader Bradley Ray, the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha rider could not topple him from the top of the time-sheets.

Former World Champion Tom Sykes used his Donington Park experience to claim his first front start of the season for the MCE Ducati team to complete the front row.

FHO Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman headed the second row, pipping Kyle Ryde on the second Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha and Andrew Irwin on the leading SYNETIQ BMW.

Glenn Irwin led row three after topping the free practice sessions for Honda Racing UK, just ahead of Ryan Vickers and Title Fighter Lee Jackson on the lone Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki.

Josh Brookes completed the top ten on the second of the MCE Ducatis, with Tommy Bridewell in eleventh place on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati.

British Superbike Race Combined Qualifying

British Superbike Championship Points

British Superstock Race One

Richard Kerr beat Davey Todd to the opening race victory by 0.486 after a dramatic battle.

In a race which had been led for the most part by title hopeful Alex Olsen on the FHO Racing BMW, Todd had looked on course for the win when Olsen dropped back to sixth on the final lap but was unable to stop AMD Motorsport’s Kerr coming through.

Charlie Nesbitt finished third, a second further back as Billy McConnell recovered from running off track and re-joining 10th to finish the race fourth with Tom Ward fifth.

British Superstock One Race Results

British Superstock Championship Points

British Supersport Race One / Sprint

Bradley Perie took the spoils in the Sprint race as he narrowly beat Jamie van Sikkelerus by 0.069secs.

The Appleyard Macadam rider took his third win on the bounce and fifth of the season as he finished just ahead of the Dutchman, with Lee Johnston third.

Polesitter Tom Booth-Amos had to make do with fourth, just ahead of Luke Jones in fifth.

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

Harvey Claridge was the first GP2 rider home as Jack Scott crashed early on, with Mason Law second and Cameron Fraser third.

British Supersport Race One/Sprint Results

British Supersport Championship Points

GP2 Championship Points

British  Junior Superstock Qualifying

Seth Crump beat newly-crowned champ Max Cook to pole for the opening race with a best lap of 1min 33.857secs.

Crump’s time was just 0.119secs quicker than Cook, as Sam Laffins was a very close third.

Fourth fastest was Aaron Silvester with young Kiwi Zak Fuller fifth.

British Junior Superstock Qualifying Results

British Junior Superstock Championship Standings

British Junior Supersport Race One

Mikey Hardie beat James McManus to take the opening Junior Supersport win by 0.150secs.

After a strong start to the weekend, Hardie held off a charging McManus over the line as Joe Ellis took third. Calum Beach was fourth, as Abbz Thomas took fifth.

British Junior Supersport Race One

British Junior Supersport Championship Points