2022 British Superbike Donington Park- Race Results (1)

Kyle Ryde becomes the fourth different winner of the season after a close battle with Jason O’halloran in the first British Superbike race of the Donington Park Race weekend.

The Rich Energy OMG Yamaha rider started from third on the grid for the sprint race and immediately slipped back into a battle for position with his team-mate Bradley Ray.

Sat in fourth, he was next passed by Lee Jackson and on lap five looked set for a trip backwards through the field, with Ray leading the way.

Undeterred, the man from Mansfield rallied and by lap eight was back in contention with nothing to chose between himelf and his team-mate.

The #77 then garnered attention from Jason O’halloran on his own late surge with the duo battling all the way to the line, with Ryde securing the 25 points by just 0.038s.

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Side by side early in the last lap, O’Halloran ran wide in the final approach to the line, allowing Ryde the better run to the chequered flag for his first win since 2020.

Starting from pole, second for the Australian marks his first podium visit of the season after a consistent but unrewarding start to the year with McAMS Yamaha.

Third went to Bradley Ray which sees his title lead now stand at a total of 118, eleven clear of Glenn Irwin and twelve ahead of Ryde.

The second of the Rich Energy OMG Yamaha riders completed the podium after providing his share of some incredibly close racing from start to finish, without leaving the top three and leading for a spell from lap six.

Full of confidence following his Oulton Park win Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki) was also a constant feature at the front on his way to fourth. Jackson entertained with notable battles with O’Halloran and Glenn Irwin as he fought for position.

Irwin was fifth to finish for Honda Racing. A previous winner at the track, he rode bravely to climb as high as forurth but ulimatley lost out to Jackson on track.

Christian Iddon put in the hard yards on the Buildbase Suzuki to work his way up from 14th on the grid. Circulating eighth by the half way point, Iddon picked off both Peter Hickman and Rory Skinner later in the race to claim a solid sixth.

Skinner had lead the opening laps for Cheshire Moulding FS-3 Kawasaki before being battled backwards then fading to seventh.

Tommy Bridewell was the best of the Ducatis (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) after making his way through from 15th on the grid to finish eighth, just ahead of Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) in ninth.

Tarran Mackenzie secures top ten finish on return

The sprint race saw Tarran Mackenzie make a comeback after his long absence with injury, unable to defend his title from the start of the season, missing the first two rounds entirely.

After a tentative qualifying where the McAMS Yamaha rider did what was required to get through Q1, before setting a lap which held firm for eighth, allowing him to sit out much of the session and rest.
Pressure on his recovering body was always going to be more of an issue in race trim and lost a place early on. 

Fighting back through the pain barrier, Mackenzie did his number one plate proud, pushing to the limit to claim a hard earned top ten finish, ten seconds off the lead pace.

Former World Superbike champion Tom Sykes used his experience to move into eleventh for MCE Ducati, finshing clear of twelfth placed Danny Buchan for Synetiq BMW Motorrad.

Josh Brookes was a lowly 13th for MCE Ducati, while Chrissy Rouse collected his first points of the season in 14th for Crowe Performance BMW. The final point on offer went to Ryo Mizuno for Honda Racing.

What happened to Leon Haslam?

Leon Haslam sustained a sprained right ankle in his FP2 fall at Craner Curves.  Passed clear to ride the The VisionTrack Kawasaki rider qualified eleventh. The unfortunate luck continued as Haslam pulled into the pits on lap seven, not through injury - but with an electronics issue. An attempt was made to get back on track to set a fast run for Sunday’s grid but Haslam could only last one lap.

Ryan Vickers fell early in the race and was fortunate not to get collected as both bike and rider crashed across the track.

Storm Stacey also fell out of contention,  while Dan Jones needed to return to the pits before the race started.

Danny Kent was absent follwing his concussion diagnosis after his FP3 fall.