British Superbike: Peter Hickman: ‘We are racing, not playing tiddlywinks’: ‘Shocked at race direction’
Peter Hickman had stood by his comments made after race one of the 2022 British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park last weekend, which suggested his clash with title contender Jason O’Halloran was a racing incident.
On the final lap of race one, multi-time Isle of Man TT winner Hickman made a dash to the inside of O’Halloran at turn 14, a corner the McAMS Yamaha rider was struggling at compared to his rivals for most of the weekend.
But with it being one of the fastest corners on the BSB calendar, and one where an inside move is very difficult to see coming, O’Halloran subsequently clipped the back of Hickman who was making his way past the Australian.
As Hickman only just avoided the grass on the outside, O’Halloran was sent barrel-rolling into the gravel along with his R1.
A stern penalty was handed down to Hickman after the race which included disqualification from the results, but after similar comments made on Eurosport, Hickman has since stood by his feelings.
Hickman said: "Of course I’m absolutely gutted that JO [O’Halloran] and Mcams Yamaha didn’t finish that race, that was never my intention and never would be. I’m just glad he’s ok.
"I am however shocked at race direction's decision, don’t get me wrong they have a tough job to do but disqualification, 2 points on my race licence and a 3 place grid penalty is absolutely way over the top. We are racing, not playing tiddlywinks!
"I stand by what I said on Eurosport after the race, there was a gap, he was weak in that area and I was strong, and I had a chance of a podium so of course I had a go.
"It’s a huge shame that he tagged the back of my bike and went down, but we are racing on very small margins and sometimes it happens.
"As for the comments about showdown positions (not having a go at passing someone because they’re in the showdown) and lack of respect etc etc I completely disagree, but each to their own eh!"
Also taking place alongside BSB were MotoGP at Motegi and WorldSBK in Catalunya last weekend - Jack Miller took a dominant victory in MotoGP, while Alvaro Bautista completed his first hat-trick of the year in WorldSBK.
O'Halloran's British Superbike title chances go up in smoke with second crash
O'Halloran, who started the weekend as Bradley Ray’s main title rival, was then involved in a similar incident with Tommy Bridewell in race two, as the pair came together at exactly the same corner.
Unlike Hickman who appeared to be further alongside O’Halloran, Bridewell was the rider who made contact this time with the rear of O’Halloran’s Yamaha, however, a very different penalty was handed out.
While Hickman was awarded two points on his race licence, a three-place grid penalty for the next race and disqualification from race one, Bridewell was initially given a time penalty which then became a grid penalty after the first of two red flags.
But after making progress before the second red flag, and then again after the third race-start, Bridewell came through to claim second place, while Hickman was disqualified from race one.
"Firstly I must apologise to Jason and McAMS for the incident in race two, I’m sorry and that is never my intention to do anything like that and it’s not the way I ride," said Bridewell.
"It was a strong and positive weekend to come away with two seconds and a first. I feel like we made some positive steps to understand the bike and get the best out of the package. I think we can make some good leaps at Donington before the races.
"I’m still in with a chance of this Championship and I will be fighting until the last race at Brands to ensure we do all we can."
