2023 British Superbike Oulton Park- Qualifying Results

Early championship leader after round one Josh Brookes continued his return to form with pole in tricky damp conditions for qualifying for round two of the British Superbike championship at Oulton Park.

Tyre choice proved key, with an out lap on wets for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad rider proving to him a change was needed immediately.

A sketchy few laps on the limit hunting for the thin drying line paid off, with the intermediate front and rear paying off and bringing the Australian the best lap in the

The experienced Leon Haslam also spotted the drying track danger and made sure he got back out on intermediates too. The ROKIT BMW Motorrad team got his rear changed immediately, but hthere was no time for the last minute idea to alter the rear too. Back out on track the #91 hit traffic, with one minute remaining he pushed past his one lap rivals to find as much clear track a possible and finish 0.660s behind Brookes.

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Stacey storms to first front row

Storm Stacey had some time on the track in Q1, which gave him a strong idea of how to approach Q2. With an intermediate in he found himself running on track with Glenn Irwin. His Starline Racing team have continued to work on the Kawasaki engine to make Stacey competitive - earning his first ever front row start for the sprint race later.

Glenn Irwin had asked his brother Andrew how the track behaved in Q1 and used that to help his qualifying charge, taking the BeerMonster Ducati to the fourth best time.

Jason O’Halloran was on a fast final run, but the yellow flags came out for a late fall from Josh Owens, leaving the McAMS Yamaha rider fifth. Owens was fourteenth.

Luke Mossey came through Q1 and again that time on track proved valuable as he improved to sixth for Tactix by Lloyd & Jones BMW.

Andrew Irwin secured seventh and was top Honda.

Peter Hickman lead the way on combined times as the best of the riders to move straight into Q2,but had the wrong tryes at the wrong time leaving the FHO Racing bike well off the pace and down in eighth.

Jack Kennedy also put faith in staying on the wets leaving the Mar-Train Yamaha in ninth. Tim Neave (McAMS Yamaha) continued the success story for those coming through Q1 to complete the top ten.

Danny Kent was the early leader on wets before slipping to twelfth with his Lovell Kent Racing outfit.

Frontrunners Bridewell and Ryde off the pace in drying conditions

Perhaps the biggest surprise was seeing podium finishers and race winners from the first round so far down the timesheets after qualifying.

Tommy Bridewell started Saturday in a positive fashion, topping the damp FP3. That time in similar conditions did not lead to success and the Ducati rider finds himself in 15th on the grid for the sprint, over four seconds off the pole time.

Similarly Kyle Ryde, winner of the first race in Silverstone, has a mountain to climb to repeat his sprint success, more than five seconds away from Brookes’ best the LAMI OMG Yamaha rider is one place further back in sixteenth.

Risk can come with reward, but not for Lee Jackson - a winner at the Cheshire track in 2022, the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki rider was the first to head out on a slicker tyre, but it was too soon, leaving him last and technically outside the qualifying lap time.

Official British Superbike Oulton Park Records:

BSB Lap Record - Oulton Park: Bradley Ray (Yamaha) 1m33.620s (2022)

2022 at Oulton Park:

Round two - pole: Kyle Ryde (2nd Josh Brookes, 3rd Rory Skinner)

Race One:

1:Bradley Ray

2:Rory Skinner

3:Kyle Ryde

Race Two:

1:Bradley Ray

2:Lee Jackson

3: Leon Haslam

Race Three:

1:Lee Jackson

2:Tommy Bridewell

3:Bradley Ray

Round nine(Showdown) - pole: Bradley Ray (2nd , 3rd Jason O’Halloran)

Race One:

1:Bradley Ray

2:Tommy Bridewell

3:Leon Haslam

Race Two:

1:Lee Jackson

2:Tommy Bridewell

3:Bradley Ray

Race Three:

1:Tommy Bridewell

2:Glenn Irwin

3:Lee Jackson

What happened in Q1?

Jackson’s teammate Jack Cook just missed out on moving into the second session in seventh in Q1 he will start 19th.

Ryan Vickers is absent following the injuries he picked up at Silverstone. He is replaced by Luke Stapleford at LAMI OMG Yamaha, going straight from the Profile Road and Racing Performance team Supersport to do the same in Superbikes.

That looked to be an advantage as he was immediatley fast and in the hunt for the top six progression places, but was just shuffled out in the closing seconds of the session, so will line up 20th.

There is no replacement for Danny Buchan, who needs time to heal his vertebrae injury.

Michael Dunlop (Hawk Racing Honda - 26th ) and Brian McCormack (Road house Macau Racing/ FHO BMW -28th) both have wildcard rides this weekend.

Last time at Silverstone

The opening win saw Josh Brookes bounce back with his new team over at FHO Racing BMW Motorrad with his win and two podiums taking him to 48 points.

Tommy Bridewell is just two points behind after PBM had their own resurgence, taking a hat-trick of podium finishes to leave Silverstone on 46 points. Glenn Iriwn also moved to the outfit and saw success again at the track where he opened with a trio of wins in 2022, this time with a podium and a win.

The third win of the weekend went to Kyle Ryde in the Sprint for LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha , leaving him with the fourth best points haul on 45. Jason O’Halloran on the McAMS Yamaha completed the early top five. Danny Kent was the best of the Honda’s on his own Lovell Kent Racing machine, outdoing the factory bikes.