2024 British Superbikes: Oulton Park - Qualifying Results

It was straight out to qualify to start Sunday at the second round of the British Superbikes championship at Oulton Park, with Kyle Ryde confidently claiming pole position.

With no early practice due to a track curfew for the local church, followed by a pause for a red flag incident involving Peter Hickman, there was little time to make an impact and Ryde had catching up to to after finishing tenth on Saturday in FP2.

With all issues talked through with the team, the OMG Grilla Yamaha rider was confident of a good lap. Then, with added fortune - he found himself right behind a fast moving Christian Iddon - the #77 got an early best of 1m 33.411s in - that allowed himto stay relaxed in the pit, confident after setting his personal best lap of Oulton Park. 

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Ryde only ventured back out to watch the rest of the session on the team’s pit wall monitors on the way to his ninth British Superbike pole.

Glenn Irwin topped the test at Oulton Park directly before the second round. That continued the trend of the Cheshire track being a success for the Ducati rider  - last season he took wins at both visits to the track, with one at the same round last year and two on the return for the Showdown.

Out on circuit, the PBM rider was unimpressed with slow riding conduct but was also able to find a good lap quickly, his best was 0.202s behind Ryde and saw him also back into the pits for the closing minutes.

Ryan Vickers arrived as the form man after just one round - snatching up both of the available race wins in Navarra to lead with maximum points.

Success was less instant for the championship leader - his tyre strategy had to be changed on the fly after the red flag. The second OMG rider was able to chip away at his time to claim the final front row slot.

Vickers came under pressure for the place late on as Jason O’Halloran found his feet as he continued to get to grips with his new Kawasaki. His late improvements saw him to fourth for Completely Motorbikes.

Danny Kent took pole last time out in Navarra, but is less of a fan of the Cheshire track. Despite that he was in contention for a top three place, close on times in fifth for McAMS racing, setting his best ever lap at the circuit.

Iddon was the first rider to take the chequered flag, but did not slip down as there were few riders improving, holding sixth for Oxford Products Ducati.

Seventh went to Rory Skinner on the Cheshire Mouldings BMW entry, Just ahead of Tommy Bridewell.

After a strong show at the test before the round, finishing second, the reigning champion had high hopes his bike issues from the first race were over, but another unsettled session saw him eighth for Honda.

Josh Brookes was ninth after topping Q1 for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad, with Max Cook completing the top ten on the second Completely Motorbikes entry.

Leon Haslam only just made it back to the pits for the restart after an issue on his ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW saw him limp slowly back in after the red flag. Frantic work in the garage got the #91 back on track, but circulating off the pace for 12th.

Lee Jackson had trouble leaving the pits on the restart, with a bike that wouldn’t. When finally out on the Honda he placed 13th.

Red Flag after huge Hickman crash

Q2 was only a few minutes old when Peter Hickman experienced a strange slide off heading into Brittens, which saw his bike head forward at speed, destroying the foam corner barrier.

Already injured and icing his hand after a crash in the Oulton Park test when his handlebars broke, the damage to his bike was too big to repair in time, leaving Hickman with no time in the session.

Official British Superbike Oulton Park Records:

Lap record: Bradley Ray (Yamaha, 2022) 1m 33.620s

Oulton Park in 2023

Round 2
Qualifying:
1: Josh Brookes
2: Leon Haslam
3: Storm Stacey

Race 1:
1: Josh Brookes
2: Leon Haslam
3: Glenn Irwin

Race 2:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Leon Haslam

Race 3:
1: Glenn Irwin 
2: Leon Haslam
3:Kyle Ryde

Round 9 (Showdown)

Qualifying:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Kyle Ryde

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

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

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

Q1 - No progress for Andrew Irwin

Josh Brookes lead the riders moving into Q2, along with the MasterMac Honda Duo of Charlie Nesbitt and Lee Jackson.

Their late improvements left Dean Harrison just out of luck, as Jackson’s late effort bested his.

His Honda UK teammate Andrew Irwin was fancied to go through, but was coasting out of his final run, leaving him fifth in the session, for 17th on the grid.

Another previous podium contender, Danny Buchan, also found the session tough, in 19th for DAO Racing.

The best pathway rider in the session was Lewis Rollo - 20th aboard his Aprilia.

There was a fall for Billy McConnell in Q1 on his way to 21st for Look Forward Racing.

There were two absentees announced ahead of the track action at Oulton Park, Tom Neave is still recovering after three huge falls in Navarra. Following more swelling to his knee Neave underwent a CT scan, which revealed more damage. He is replaced at Stauff Fluid Power Kawasaki by Eemel Lahti (24th).

Alex Olsen also misses the round but is not replaced, diagnosed with a fractured scaphoid after a fall in the recent test at the track.