2023 British Superbikes Donington Park Race Results (1)

A downpour at Donington caused panic on the grid, some strange tyre choices and a confident win for Ryan Vickers, as both of the BeerMonster Ducati riders floundered, finishing without a point.

The round ten sprint was delayed, had sighting laps, time to change tyres and was reduced by a further two laps to a ten lap dash.

Ryan Vickers won the race on that sighting laps, putting his foot down and asking for wets against his LAMI OMG mechanics suggestion after how he felt in the time on track.

The bold decision paid of and he flew to the front of the race from fifth on the grid, part holeshot, part all of his rivals carefully treading their way around in slow motion by comparison.

With nothing to lose in the championship and confidence in his tyre choice, the Yamaha man soon built up a sizeable lead - over five seconds after just a handful of laps.

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From there the #7 controlled the race from the front, crossing the line for his second win of the season 3.742s clear, with a wheelie over the line, such was the faith in his grip.

Leon Haslam knows Donington, well - his local track and his BSB experience paying off, with just the new track surface to factor in. Despite choosing a rear intermediate for his Rokit BMW Motorrad, the #91 got a strong start but then struggled as the rain abated. Haslam found a way to deploy heat into his rear, increasing grip and allowing him to fight back from sixth.

After a few laps racing Jack Kennedy and Luke Mossey to work out the final podium places Haslam pulled clear to claim second.

Mossey returns to rostrum after six year wait

The battle for third then went all the way to the line. Kennedy started the last lap ahead, with Mossey tucked in close after an error from the Mar-Train Yamaha rider. Mossey then took his chance and moved ahead but ran wide. The run to the line saw the Tactix by Lloyd & Jones rider finally able to slipstream his BMW in front.

Mossey, who started from 14th on the grid, was a picture of elation and relief - eleventh was his previous best result this season and third marks his first podium visit since Oulton Park in 2017.

That left Kennedy clear in fourth, making up the most places in the race after qualifying 21st, with a gapped field as the remaining riders struggled to stay upright in groups on track.

Lee Jackson was next to arrive after a three second wait, the best Kawasaki rider once again for Cheshire Mouldings. It was an age before another bike saw the chequered flag, with sixth placed Franco Bourne over twenty seconds behind for Marvel HCL Motorsport.

He was clear of the next battle on track, with Josh Brookes taking seventh for FHO Racing, just ahead of Starline Racing Kawasaki’s Storm Stacey in eighth.

Peter Hickman’s full wet set up had seen him fly up to second on the opening lap, but his choice soon became difficult to manage, fading to ninth on the second FHO Racing entry.

The top ten was completed by rookie Louis Valleley for Rapid CDH Kawasaki, his best result since joining the championship.

Tom Neave was a distant eleventh for Honda, just ahead of Kyle Ryde who slipped back to twelfth from fourth on the grid on the second OMG racing bike as his tyre gamble, as was the way for so many, didn’t pay off.

The remaining points went to rookies Max Cook (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) in 13th and Bradley Perie (Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki) in 15th with Jack Scott seperating the duo on the second Rapid CDH entry.

Christian Iddon had been eleventh when a trip through the gravel ended his hopes of points. Rejoining20th the Oxford Products Ducati rider gave chase as best he could in the conditions, but just missed out in 16th.

Pole man Jason O’Halloran tiptoed around to 17th for McAMS Yamaha - and was no the only ride having a torrid time.

Ducati disaster for Irwin and Bridewell

Tommy Bridewell qualified second and Glenn Irwin sixth, and both seemed assured enough that their tyre choice would keep them in touch with each other, particularly important given the small difference between them in the title hunt.

They were closely matched - but for 23rd and 24th placed finishes.

Both the BeerMonster Ducati riders experienced the same problems - no grip, moving as if they were riding on ice, both had excursions off track and both pulled into the pits to change tyres.

Bridewell’s choice to stay out longer left him slightly worse off, but the duo were both classed as a lap down without a point to either of their names in a sprint to forget for the PBM Team.

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

Crashes and Injuries and replacements

Andrew Irwin was, perhaps surprisingly, the only rider to crash out in the rain.

Niccolo Canepa brought the second McAMS entry back into the pits after his tyre choice left him wobbling all over the place.

Hector Barbera was out after his practice crash.

He joined Danny Buchan out of action on the sidelines.

Michael Dunlop (21st) replaced Josh Owens at Hawk Racing.

Alex Olsen (22nd) was back in BSB using the ‘Pathway’ system for SSTK teams along with his Cumins by Team IWR Honda outfit.

Where does that leave the championship?

Before race one there was only half a point splitting the Ducati duo, with Irwin leading the way. Nine riders were still mathematically in with a shout of BSB victory, given the points on offer for the remainder of Donington and the final round.

That distance stays the same as neither Ducati rider scored a point.

All the movement happened behind, with Leon Haslam’s podium bringing him up to third, now on 305 points and just 55.5 points behind Irwin at a track where his reputation precedes him.

Though he dropped to fourth behind the #91 after his superb performance, Kyle Ryde made gains too by finishing in a points scoring twelfth now on 304 points, just one behind Haslam.