2023 British Superbikes Donington Park Race Results (1)
Results from race one, round three of the 2023 Bennetts Superbike Championship at Donington Park.
A faultless race from Kyle Ryde saw him lead from start to finish as he dominated the sprint race on Saturday at Donington Park.
Polesitter Ryde launched off the line at his home race as the lights went green better than anyone else and kept the momentum from his holeshot to lead over the line with a dominant ride on the LAMI OMG Yamaha.
Under pressure throughout, the #77 kept to his plan, hit his markers and lead over the line to collect the full 18 points.
Initial pressure came form Jason O’Halloran, before the battle for second betwwen Leon Haslam and Tommy Bridewell took over.
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Tyre choice proves key
The hard tyre was essential with the new surface and a resurfaced Donington and all the riders who finished on the podium went out to race on the harder ‘O’ option tyre in the rear, with Ryde and Haslam opting for a hard front.
Jason O’Halloran did not take advantage of his initial early grip from his soft gamble - the ‘X’ option faded quickly and so did the Australian, tumbling every lap with a lack of grip on his way to finish 14th after the short twelve lap duration.
Out front Bridewell was keeping good on his promise to put a PBM bike on the podium in every race, bringing home the BeerMonster Ducati in second, but unable to keep up with the metronomic Ryde, finishing 1.086s behind despite lowering the lap record twice in his pursuit.
After fighting back to hold second he survived a late lunge for position from Leon Haslam who finished with the new lap record to his credit as he in turn kept the #46 honest in front, now a 1m 27.593s - putting his own outfit - the Rokit BMW Motorrad team on pole for the next race.
That chance at on the last lap saw him ahead but with brake issues Haslam ran wide on his local track as he passed allowing Bridewell the chance to be back ahead by Coppice. The #91 has however been incredibly consistent this season it is his fourth consecutive podium finish.
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The rostrum was decided and clear with Lee Jackson a distant but much improved fourth on the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki, also on the hard tyre after trying it out in FP4, crossing the line almost ten seconds after Ryde as the team continue to make adjustments to the bike.
Glenn Irwin came in as the title leader but never really threatened podium pace. The second PBM Ducati came home in fifth as he held off Josh Brookes, who made up for a cautious qualifying performance on the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad bike, moving through to sixth from tenth on the grid.
Ryan Vickers was looking to make an impact as he recovers from his broken wrist and was close behind the duo in ninth seventh on the second LAMI OMG Yamaha.
Danny Kent, like those just in front gained from falls ahead earlier in the race on the way to an lonely eighth place across the line for his own Lovell Kent Racing Team.
Storm Stacey was the highest placing of several riders to make up a huge eight places in the race, taking the flag in an impressive ninth for Starline Racing Kawasaki.
Charlie Nesbitt was the best of the new full time riders to the championship this season, claiming a top ten finish for his MasterMac Honda team.
He held off attention from Peter Hickman, a veteran of the class by comparison, who seemed stuck in the places just outside of the top ten regardless of falls ahead, finishing one place better than he qualified in eleventh for FHO Racing.
Max Cook (Starline Racing Kawasaki) moved up through the pack from 15th to twelfth, while the rest of the points on offer went to Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) in 13th, O’Halloran in 14th and Hector Barbera in 15th for Tag Racing Honda.
The already rapidly dropping ‘O- show’ saw his day go from bad to worse - as he fell back to Hickman's position he was forced wide on to the grass and managed to stay upright to rejoin the track and finish.
Crashes and Injuries
Jack Kennedy put his issues starting the bike from qualifying earlier behind him but instead found himself the first to exit the race sliding out at Goddards.
Christian Iddon has a Oxford Products Ducati that is still plagued by gremlins. With one issue solves another arises but it looked to be possible to ride around his issues as he wasted no time climbing to fourth. Sadly that was as good as it got as contact between himself and Andrew Irwin, who saw a gap and went for it, saw them both end their race in the gravel after strong starts.
The move was still under review after the race drew to an end. Following seeing all footage and accounts from both riders no further action was taken by race direction.
Dean Harrison slid out of contention at the same corner with his bike joining the two already out of action. Tom Neave retired to the pits, while Josh Owens also failed to finish.
Official British Superbike Donington Park Records:
Old BSB Lap Record - Donington Park: Bradley Ray (Yamaha) 1m 28.597s (2022)
Lap record 2023: Kyle Ryde (Yamaha) 1m 17.320s
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
Where does that leave the championship?
Tommy Bridewell takes over at the top after his podium finish - just one point ahead of Glenn Irwin who lead after Oulton Park with a total of 103.
With just five different riders featuring on the podium so far this year it is close behind the duo too. Josh Brookes collected enough points to remain third overall on 97. He now was race winner Kyle Ryde hunting him down on 91 with Leon Haslam one point further adrift after another rostrum visit.
