Brayden Elliott wins STK Race 1 | Saturday Donington BSB Report

2022 British Superbike Championship
Round Three – Donington Park

Bennetts British Superbike Qualifying

Jason O’Halloran smashed the fastest Bennetts British Superbike Championship lap at Donington in the SUPERPICKS Qualifying session, firing the McAMS Yamaha to his first pole position of the season by just 0.004s above the record, and 0.018 ahead of Bradley Ray.  His Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha teammate Kyle Ryde as Yamaha completed a lock out of the front row.

Rory Skinner headed the second row for the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki team ahead of teammate Lee Jackson, with Peter Hickman completing the top six.

Tom Sykes had his best qualifying performance of the year for the MCE Ducati team in seventh place ahead of returning champion Tarran Mackenzie on the second of the McAMS Yamahas. Glenn Irwin and Ryan Vickers completed the top ten.

Bennetts British Superbike Combined Qualifying

Bennetts British Superbike Race One

The first eBay Sprint race didn’t disappoint as it became a last lap dog fight for the win between Ryde and O’Halloran, who were both targeting their first race victory of the season.

Rory Skinner had taken the initial advantage at the start after an incredible move around the outside into Redgate for the first time to put the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki ahead. Pole sitter O’Halloran and the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha pairing of Ryde and Ray led the chasing pack.

A lap later and O’Halloran grabbed the lead with a move on Skinner into Redgate, but behind them, the teammates were scrapping for third after Ray moved ahead of Ryde at Redgate on the third lap.

Championship leader Ray then had his turn at the front by lap six, as he carved his way through, but two laps later, his Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha teammate Ryde had claimed the position.

Ryde then held the lead, despite coming under immense pressure from Ray and O’Halloran plus the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki pairing of Lee Jackson and Skinner. Jackson and O’Halloran had a huge dice for position, and on lap ten, it was so close that it cost the pair time, which also meant that Glenn Irwin was then in the mix.

Ryde was determined at the front; meanwhile O’Halloran had regained ground and was into second with three laps to go ahead of Ray. The McAMS Yamaha had his sights firmly set on Ryde ahead of him, closing him down onto the final lap when he made a move at the Old Hairpin, but his rival fought back.

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Ryde led O’Halloran into Roberts Chicane as the pair were side-by-side and it was a drag to the line between the pair in a dramatic finish, where the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha rider emerged ahead.

Ray completed the podium ahead of Jackson and Glenn Irwin who completed the top five. Meanwhile Christian Iddon scored a sixth place finish for Buildbase Suzuki as he holds joint position in the eBay Fast Forward Award after making up eight positions from his starting place on the grid.

Skinner finished seventh ahead of Tommy Bridewell on the leading Ducati with Peter Hickman and returning champion Tarran Mackenzie completing the top ten.

Australia’s Josh Brookes meanwhile, fought his way up to 13th for three hard-earned points.

Kyle Ryde – P1

“It was very difficult race at the start, obviously there were five or six of us all sort of bunched up and I didn’t really get a chance to look at my pitboard! I just saw my opportunity and thought if I don’t do it now, I never will! I had a go and to be honest I came round and there were 12 laps still to go and I was in the lead. I thought ‘I’ve gone way too early here’ because I know how good Jason is, especially at the end of a race. It nearly backfired but I just managed to win. It was a difficult end to the race as I had about half a second and Jason just bridged the gap and he ran wide into the Old Hairpin, luckily as I think he may have had a bit more speed in the rest of the lap. I knew this win would come at some point and luckily for me it was at my home track.”

Jason O’Halloran – P2

“It has been a really, really good day for us. We took pole with the fastest ever lap here, finished second in the race and set a new lap record. I was feeling really good on the bike, I got onto Kyle with a lap to go and wanted to try and win but we just missed out. I think we’re in a really strong place for tomorrow and I think the longer races tomorrow will suit us, we had great pace at the end and the others seemed to be dropping off a bit. I’m sure we’ll make some small improvements with the information from the race so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Glenn Irwin – P5

“We had a frustrating qualifying session where everything seemed to go wrong. On the grid I knew I had to make a good start, Taz (Mackenzie) is carrying an injury, Tom (Sykes) is incredible on the brakes and I wanted to get in with the three boys at the front. I managed to do that and had a good start, passing Tom at the end of the first lap and worked my way up to third at one stage. All weekend we’ve struggled a little with the front end and I think I could have used my experience to point the guys in the direction to help with front end entry, and the race today highlighted where we were struggling. That being said I scored 11 points and to come here after the two wins at the North West 200 and to have a fifth in the first race back at BSB pleases me.”

Tom Sykes – P11

“We are making improvements in certain areas, which could be seen in qualifying and had it not been for a yellow flag costing me three tenths we could have been on the front row. The limitations we’ve had in previous rounds are still there and are ultimately holding me back. It’s really frustrating as I could see the leaders ahead of me but couldn’t go with them whilst having had previous success in the past at this circuit, it gives us more of a reference. We’re not able to show the potential of either myself, the bike, or the team at the moment but we’ll keep working hard to get to where we want to be.”

Josh Brookes – P13

“Certain aspects of today have been promising but others not so and after going well in Josh BrookesQ1, I didn’t string the laps together in Q2 which ultimately compromised my grid position. I also suffered in the early stages of the race as there was something on my visor which was really distracting. I hadn’t done the helmet prep myself so removing the tear-offs didn’t alter the issue and I dropped back in the early laps. I got going a bit in the second half of the race but am still struggling for rear grip. We’ve been putting more weight on the rear to get better grip but have exhausted all those options now so need to maybe go the other way to see if we can improve and get a better feeling.”

Bennetts British Superbike Race One Results

Bennetts British Superbike Championship Championship Standings

Quattro Group British Supersport Race One

Bradley Perie halted Jack Kennedy’s winning streak with a bold last lap move to take Quattro Group British Supersport Sprint race honours at Donington Park.

After a delayed start the race was run over 16 laps which looked set to be another easy win for the Mar-Train Yamaha man, who had taken the lead on the opening lap.

But Perie was determined not to let him go and stuck with him all the way, closing right in on the final lap before making a move into the chicane, squeezing Kennedy wide and sprinting to the line to just grab the first win of the year for the Appleyard Macadam squad by a mere 0.094s.

In GP2, Jack Scott delivered an impressive result, running as high as fourth at one point before ending the race sixth overall. Harvey Claridge was the second GP2 man home, just ahead of Carl Stevens.

Quattro Group British Supersport Race One Results

Pirelli National Superstock Race One

Brayden Elliott took the opening win at Donington Park after a charge at the end of a shortened race. Following a red flag, the race was run over eight laps and while it had been poleman Davey Todd who led from the start, Elliott took the lead on the fourth lap and would eventually cross the line with a 0.162s lead.

Tim Neave, meanwhile, came through to take second ahead of Davey Todd with just 0.022s between them, while Alex Olsen was fourth well clear of of Richard Kerr in fifth.

Brayden Elliott – P1

“P1 BABY! It’s taken me a while to know what to say, I’m still lost for words. Dreams do come true and we are just at the beginning! What a moment to have Eliza standing up on the podium with me, you deserve every bit of it! We walked out of the airport hand in hand with nothing but a suit case and a dream, today was special.It’s difficult to completely let this feeling sink in with full focus on tomorrows race but I’ll be ready to fight again! Thank you to the believers!”

Tim Neave – P2

“I’m absolutely buzzing with that. Of course it would’ve been nice to win and I think with another lap I could’ve made it stick, but a second place is a great result. In the first race, I was planning my attack but then the red flag came out. The restart wasn’t quite as straightforward, but once I got through I was feeling strong and could make passes so I thought I’d give it a go. We just missed out, but there’s another race tomorrow and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”

Levi Day – DNF

“Qualified 14th today but was pretty happy with my laptimes, there was just a lot of other quick times being out in too! Felt like a Moto3 race in the race with a battle from 7th to 18th in a big group. Race got red flagged and restarted for an 8 lap dash when I had a coming together with another rider and went down at turn 1. All ok and ready to rock for tomorrow, we regroup for tomorrow’s 20 lap race where I will start from eighth position. Looking forward to having another go! Thank you Powerslide Motorcycles Powerslide Racing and all my crew for their hard work, and to our sponsors and partners.”

Pirelli National Superstock Race One Results

HEL Junior Supersport Championship Race One

Mikey Hardie got the better of Charlie Atkins to take the opening Junior Supersport win by 0.207secs, with a more distant James McManus finishing third, 1.1s off the leader.

Kieran Kent – who had been quickest in earlier practice – crossed the line fourth some five seconds behind third place, just ahead of Jack Roach.

HEL Junior Supersport Championship Race One Results

Honda British Talent Cup Race One

Carter Brown (MLav VisionTrack Academy) took his first win of the Honda British Talent Cup season in Race 1 at Donington, the number 74 coming out on top on the drag to the line against teammate Johnny Garness (MLav VisionTrack Academy) in a classic BTC close finish. Harrison Dessoy (Microlise Cresswell Racing) took third, with drama for Kiyano Veijer (Microlise Cresswell Racing) as the Dutchman crashed out.

Off the line it was Garness with the initial launch from pole, but by Turn 1 it was Veijer with the holeshot ahead of an already close battle between Rhys Stephenson (Rocket Racing) and Brown, with the number 23 then through soon after to lead. After the first few shuffles, however, a classic freight train formed at the front.

It was just past a third of race distance, Lap 7, when Veijer crashed out. The Dutchman had duelled Stephenson early on and the two then made contact, with the Microlise bike sliding off into the gravel. That was drama in the standings, and there was more to come.

As the laps ticked down the freight train remained pretty close, with no one able to make a break and split the group, but it soon lost another key name: Stephenson. The number 23 was out of the running, adding another dash of drama.

Starting the final lap though, Brown had a small gap ahead of Dessoy vs Garness, with the number 57 coming through into second at Redgate. But Garness was making progress into the deficit as the freight train navigated back markers, and coming into Coppice he had a look. The number 57 couldn’t quite find a way through from thereon on though, forced to settle for second as he and Brown were separated by just thousandths over the line.

Dessoy took third for another impressive podium finish as his step forward in 2022 continues to pay dividends, and fourth went to Ryan Hitchcock (City Lifting by RS Racing) as he moved forward at Donington. Sullivan Mounsey (Wilson Racing/J&S Accessories) took fifth as the number 4 returns to the fold and gets straight back into the top five, making good late progress through the group.

Julian Correa (Microlise Cresswell Racing) took sixth ahead of Bailey Stuart-Campbell (Team 151s/Lextek), Lucas Brown (SP125/Amphibian Scaffolding) and Luca Hopkins (SP125/Barnsdale Leisure), who completed the front freight train.

Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) won the fight in the second group to complete the top ten.

That’s all from Race 1, with another showdown ready and waiting on Sunday.

Honda British Talent Cup Race One Results