2022 British Superbike Donington Park: Kyle Ryde wins race one thriller

Kyle Ryde came out on top in a self proclaimed ‘tough’ race to take his first win of the season after battling hard all race in the sprint around Donington Park’s National layout.

Starting third after a strong showing in qualifying, Ryde did not have things go his way initially - getting caught up in a fight for position with his Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha team-mate Bradley Ray, which he was coming off the worst in, in fourth.

• 2022 British Superbike Donington Park - Qualifying Results
• 2022 British Superbike Donington Park- Race Results (1)
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Biting back and showing no signs of the arm pump issue he had been suffering wuth, Ryde decided with the lead group all bunched up it was worth a shot at leading:

‘I just saw my opportunity - if I don’t do it now, I never will, so I had a go and, to be honest, I come round and thre was twelve laps to go and I thought I’ve gone way too early here.’

Despite that the #77 was able to hold on at the front. The race, in the end came down to the very last lap with Jason O’Halloran looking to complete his race with a win. 

‘Nearly backfired’

Despite being out in front for almost half the race, the risk paid off as there was no way around for his Australian rival, who also lead briefly earlier in the race himself.

‘I had half a second on the last lap and Jason managed to bridge the gap and as he said, he ran wide at the old hairpin’.

That sealed the victory for Ryde, at his home track, which he described as ‘mega’. The Yamaha rider is the fourth different winner so far this season and this victory is his first since 2020.

Entertaining race for second place O’Halloran

Jason O’halloran provided plenty of action on his way to second. Starting from pole the McAMS Yamaha rider finally brought the team some podium success, with his first rostrum finish this season.

The Australian did it the hard way, falling back into the lead group, he too rallied to get back to the front:

‘I lost my rhythm a little bit in the middle and I had a big fight with Lee (Jackson) and Glenn (Irwin), the one with Lee was fairly entertaining…’

The in-pack fighting had allowed Ray and Ryde to escape up front with winner Ryde lining up his move to take over from his team-mate for the lead.To be in with a shot O’Halloran needed a fightback.

Once back in touch he set his sights on Ryde, putting everything on the line for a last lap win:

‘I would have liked to have made the move at the old hairpin…I had to have a go to see if I could make it. I couldn’t do more than I did or I would have run on the green and lost position anyway'.

O’Halloran was just 0.038s behind at the line in an incredibly close finish.

The final spot on the all Yamaha podium went to Bradley Ray. The #28 had wanted to gap the field while leading, but his plan was not to be:

‘I tried to get to the front but I didn’t have the pace to make a gap and Kyle (Ryde) came back through and had pretty good pace so I sat in behind him. Jason passed me with a few laps to go and I just didn’t really have anything to get back at him with’.

Lee Jackson was the best of the rest. Fresh from finally stepping on the top spot of the podium in Oulton Park, the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki rider was brimming with confidence, and full of fight on his way to fourth, taking on both O’Halloran and Glenn Irwin.

Irwin, who still sits second in the championship thanks to his clean sweep at Silverstone, is now eleven points behind Ray in the title hunt after bringing home his Honda in fifth.

Iddon and Bridewell pick up places.

Christian Iddon sits top of the Fast Forward Award chart (jointly with Takumi Takahashi) after scrapping his way up from 14th on the grid to finish sixth. Eighth mid-race the Bulidbase Suzuki rider was still not done, duelling with Peter Hickman and Rory Skinner to gain a further two positions.

Tommy Bridewell’s race ran a similar trajectory as he picked up seven places to finish ninth for Oxford Products Ducati.

Between the duo was Rory Skinner, collecting a seventh place finish. The Cheshire Mouldings Kawaksaki rider got a great start off the line and lead the early stages of the race before fading after a series of fierce battles.

Tarran Mackenzie finally started his defence of his 2021 British Superbike title at Donington Park. Racing, though passed fit to do so was always going to put a strain on the number one racer and after a slow start droppping outside of the top ten, he did everything to hold position, finishing tenth on the second McAMS Yamaha entry.

The experienced Tom Sykes was eleventh for MCE Ducati, clear of Danny Buchan in twelfth for Synetiq BMW Motorrad.

The remaining points on offer went to Josh Brookes (MCE Ducati) in 13th, Chrissy Rouse (Crowe Performance BMW) picking up his first of the season in 14th and Ryo Mizuno (Honda Racing UK) in 15th.

Leon Haslam was already managing injury after spraining his ankle in FP2. This time it was his bikes turn to give out, seeing him return to the pits early in the race with electrical issues.

Dan Jones also made his way back to the pits but before the race had started. 

Ryan Vickers and Storm Stacey both crashed out of contention. Danny Kent was absent after being diagnosed with concussion after his practice fall.