2022 British Superbikes Oulton Park- Race Results (3)

Race three was Tommy Bridewell’s time to shine as he fought his way to the front for his first win of the season at round nine of the championship.

Bridewell was handed a penalty requiring him to drop three grid positions for race three (with two points added to his record) in addition to the penalty he already served in race one.

Lining up fourth the Oxford Products Ducati rider was immediately in podium contention. 

Ray initially lead after passing pole man Glenn Irwin, before both Lee Jackson and Irwin then enjoyed a turn out front.

Moving into second on lap seven he wasted no time getting to the front, forcing the issue at Druids at the end of lap nine.

Once in front the #46 held firm and survived a last lunge from Glenn Irwin to lead over the line by just 0.089s.

The win is Bridewell’s first of the season as he has saved his best form for right as the Showdown kicks in.

Glenn Irwin regards Oulton Park as a ‘bogey track’ so he was already exceeding expectations with two fourth places, building on that with a second ‘felt like a win’ for the Honda rider.

There was a full mix of manufacturers on the podium with Lee Jackson holding third in a tight run to the line for the lead riders, building on his win with round two with Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki.

• British Superbikes Oulton Park: first Showdown success goes to Ray
• 2022 British Superbikes Oulton Park - Race Results (2)
• 2022 British Superbike Oulton Park - Qualifying Results

Danny Buchan broke up the remaining showdown riders with a blistering performance to take fourth in the ultra competitive front group for Synetiq BMW Mottorad.

Ray dropped back with tyre issues again. Coming from first he slipped off of the frontrunners but their buffer back to the chasing pack meant he was safe in fifth for most of the closing stages, though Tom Sykes caught the Rich Energy OMG Yamaha man in the closing stages to give him a run for his money.

The Ducati man couldn’t quite make a way through once on his back wheel so had to settle for sixth.

Peter Hickman ended an eventful weekend seventh for FHO Racing BMW and was right behind Sykes at the line.

Josh Brookes brought the second MCE Ducati home in eighth. It was a lonely ride as he was gapped by the riders in front, but clear of Kyle Ryde in a distant ninth.

Ryde was the lowest placing of the Showdown riders to start the race, but had to come through from 21st on the grid after his double crash from his Rich Energy OMG Yamaha in race two.

Danny Kent also made forward progress, improving on his twelfth placed start to complete the top ten on the only remaining Buildbase Suzuki.

Storm Stacey ((Team LKQ Eori Car Parts KAwasaki) completed a strong meet in eleventh holding off Andrew Irwin after he fell back to twelfth for Synetiq BMW Motorrad.

The remaining points on offer went to Ryan Vickers (FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports) in 13th Leon Haslam , who slipped back after running straight on on the VisionTrack Kawasaki and Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki).

Injury Update

Rory Skinner didn’t start after damage to his hand. Christian Iddon also went to hospital after race two to have his head injury checked. Tarran Mackenzie is reported to have a broken femur. Jason O’Halloran was also too injured to start race three.

Oulton Park Statistics:

Qualifying:

1:Bradley Ray 1m 32.945s (new record)

2:Tommy Bridewell

3: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

Round Two at Oulton Park 2022

Qualifying:

Pole: Kyle Ryde

Race One: Bradley Ray

Race Two: Bradley Ray

Race Three: Lee Jackson

2021 at Oulton Park

Round One:

Qualifying:

Pole:Tommy Bridewell

Race One (sprint): Jason O’Halloran

Race Two: Jason O’Halloran

Race Three: Jason O’Halloran

Round Nine(Showdown):

Qualifying:

Pole: Josh Brookes

Race One (sprint): Tarran Mackenzie

Race Two: Tommy Bridewell

Race Three: Tommy Bridewell

Where does that leave the championship?

Despite a difficult day Ray still leads the way on 1113 points. It is all change behind with Tommy Bridewell having all the momentum to move up from eighth to second over the course of the weekend on a total of 1073 points and now just 40 shy of Ray’s haul.

Jackson is now third on 1065, just ahead of Glenn Irwin on 1062. With no points in any of the races the McAMS yamaha riders amounts remain unchanged, with O’halloran dropping to fifth and Mackenzie sixth. Kyle Ryde added to his tally in race three to move on to 1027, with Rory Skinner also out of action in eighth.

Danny Buchan was the best of the rest in the Rider’s Cup now on 208 points, with Hickman behind on 198 and Haslam next in the order on 192.