2023 British Superbikes Donington Park- Qualifying Results

After a small delay for light rain that arrived, it was Jason O’Halloran who pulled out a late record lap to secure pole position for Saturdays Sprint race.

The McAMs Yamaha rider began by showing his new teammate Niccolo Canepa around for a few laps before going it alone.

The Australian then moved into fifth but was aware of small errors in the final sector of the track, so had one last go with three minutes remaining.

That lap was peppered with purple sectors and clean in the last part of the lap taking the#22 to a new lap record - a 1m 27.196s best.

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Advantage Bridewell in Ducati battle

Sitting half a point behind in the overall standings, Tommy Bridewell placed himself perfectly on track to claim a valuable front row start.

The #46 was quick solo, but found himself slotting in behind Ryan Vickers who impressed on his last visit to Donington. The marker ahead pulled the BeerMonsteter rider into second, just 0.142s shy of pole.

Teammate Glenn Irwin was gaining on every run, with his last lap a personal best for the Northern Irishman, but only good enough for sixth on the grid.

He will need to pass Leon Haslam, who with his small Rokit BMW outfit and acres of time spent on his home track, was able to push for third to complete the front row with a fairly early best which initially was the lap to beat.

Kyle Ryde also stands in the way of the championship leader, having arrived fastest thanks to his best effort in FP2. A double winner at the visit to Donington earlier in the season, including the sprint.

Though the #77 didn’t reach those heights, he recorded a solid lap to place fourth with his Lami OMG Yamaha teammate, Ryan Vickers, who topped the morning free practice session, only just slower in fifth.

After a spell in Q1 to warm him up followed by more track familiarity work behind O’Halloran, former MotoGP and WSBK rider Niccolo Canepa was able to secure seventh on his début, after completing some 2024 testing for Yamaha yesterday evening.

Struggles again at FHO Racing

After a solid Oulton Park with forward progression for both riders, it was back to being just enough off the pace to not make an impact for the experienced FHO Racing pair of Peter Hickman and Josh Brookes.

Though both went straight into Q2 that was where the good news ended. Hickaman made the best recovery moving up from 16th to fifth late on, with that time then pushed back to eighth by the chequered flag.

Brookes, off the back of three much better fifth places at the last round, set a personal best on his last run to remain 17th on the timesheets.

Rookie Charlie Nesbitt claimed ninth as his fastest effort slipped back slightly under late pressure for MasterMac Honda, with Lee Jackson the highest placed Kawasaki rider, completing the top ten for Cheshire Holdings.

An early technical issue saw Storm Stacy pull over and out of contention after coming through Q1 for Starline Racing.

Official British Superbike Donington Park Records:

Lap Record: Leon Haslam (BMW) 1m 27.593s  (2023)

2022 at Donington Park:

Round Three - pole: Jason O’Halloran (2nd Bradley Ray, 3rd Kyle Ryde)

Race One: 
1:Kyle Ryde
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Bradley Ray

Race Two: 
1:Jason O’Halloran
2:Bradley Ray
3: Lee Jackson

Race Three:
1:Jason O’Halloran
2:Bradley Ray
3:Lee Jackson

Round Ten (Showdown) - pole: Jason O’Halloran (2ndBradley Ray , 3rd Tom Sykes)

Race One: 
1:Tom Sykes
2:Jason O’Halloran
3:Peter Hickman

Race Two: 
1:Tom Sykes
2:Bradley Ray
3:Glenn Irwin

Race Three:
1:Bradley Ray
2:Andrew Irwin
3:Glenn Irwin

2023 At Donington Park (Round Three)

Pole: Kyle Ryde (2nd Leon Haslam 3rd Jason O’Halloran)

Race One:
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Leon Haslam

Race Two:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Ryan Vickers
3: Josh Brookes

Race Three:
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Glenn Irwin

Last round -  Oulton  Park (Showdown)

Pole: Tommy Bridewell (2nd Glenn Irwin, 3rd Kyle Ryde)

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

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

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

A fall in the final practice session saw Hector Barbera declared unfit to continue. A previous winner at Donington back in his 125cc days, The Spaniard had been running well and earned a top twelve place, moving him straight to Q2. 

In his absence Luke Mossey was promoted to Q2 directly. The Tactix by Lloyd and Jones BMW rider went on to place 14th.

What Happened in Q1?

Niccolo Canepa eased through on his first flying lap, then sat in the pits as the rest of the Q1 runners chased down  time. He was joined in progressing by Davey Todd (Milwaukee BMW, 12th), Storm Stacey,Honda’s Andrew Irwin, Bradley Perie (Lee Hardy Racing, 18th) and FHO’s Josh Brookes.

Alex Olsen just missed out after regularly moving into the top six only to be shuffled out again, with the same fate for both Honda’s Tom Neave and Mar-Train Yamaha’s Jack Kennedy, who will line up 20th and 21st for the first race.

Absentees and Injuries

Andrew Irwin made his return at Honda Racing, after missing six rounds recovering from the broken humerus he sustained in testing earlier in the season at Knockhill. He starts 16th.

Danny Buchan will not return for his final few races with Synetiq BMW, out with injury again after spending a fair portion of his season sidelined, rider and team have agreed to part ways early.

Olsen (19th) swells the grid further, arriving with his Superstock team. The IWR outfit enjoyed a strong start to the season with five podiums before injury struck, and with title hopes there already over, they move into BSB for the final two rounds using the ‘Pathway’ system to encourage SSTK teams to make the step into the premier class. Olsen has previously had BSB stints with Smiths Racing and FHO Racing.

Michael Dunlop (26th) was filling in again at Hawk racing for Josh Owens.