Double Donington delight for Jason O’Halloran

2022 British Superbike Championship
Round Three – Donington Park

Images by David Yeomans

Bennetts British Superbike Race Two

Jason O’Halloran launched off the start to take the lead into Redgate from pole position, ahead of the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha pairing of Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde.

The second lap saw Ray claim the lead; while Tommy Bridewell’s race was over on lap three after a crash at Mcleans.

O’Halloran was under attack from Saturday’s Sprint race winner, Ryde, who moved into second on lap three. However, there was disappointment for the local contender as he crashed out at Mcleans on the sixth lap.

The leading trio became O’Halloran, Ray and Jackson as they had gapped the chasing pack. In the closing stages, the ‘O’Show’ had the pace over Ray and he took his first win for McAMS Yamaha since Silverstone last year.

Ray maintained his position at the top of the standings with a strong second place ahead of Jackson, but in the chasing pack, the fight for fourth became a five-way dogfight.

Peter Hickman claimed the position with three laps remaining after the FHO Racing BMW rider took advantage of the earlier battles between the group to bridge the gap for his best result of the season so far.

Hickman got the better of Leon Haslam as the VisionTrack Kawasaki rider finished in fifth despite still suffering from his sprained ankle from his crash at Craner Curves on Friday.

Tarran Mackenzie celebrated a hard-fought sixth place on the second of the McAMS Yamahas, the reigning champion scoring his best result of the season, holding off Christian Iddon and Rory Skinner.

Ryan Vickers took ninth place after making his way through the pack and Josh Brookes completed the top ten.

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Bennetts British Superbike Race Two Results

Bennetts British Superbike Race Three

Kyle Ryde grabbed the early lead from Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha team-mate Bradley Ray and the Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki’s of Lee Jackson and Rory Skinner.

Skinner was on the attack however and by the fourth lap was into second position behind Ryde, with Ray and Jackson in close contention.

An incredible move at Redgate from Ray on lap four moved him from third to first as he dived ahead of his rivals to put himself at the front.

A huge crash from Leon Haslam at Schwantz also collected Glenn Irwin as the Honda Racing UK rider had nowhere to go. A stricken VisionTrack Kawasaki meant the BMW Safety Car was deployed while the incident was cleared.

The resumed race saw Ray holding the leading position from Skinner and O’Halloran with the pair trading blows for second place. By the eleventh lap, the pair had changed positions several times within one lap as O’Halloran tried to make a break on the McAMS Yamaha.

O’Halloran was closing the gap and captured the lead on lap 17 with a decisive move at Coppice, holding off his Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha rival to take the double win and move up to second in the overall standings.

Ray’s second place saw him lift the Milwaukee Spring Grand Slam trophy and take a 28-point lead in to the next round at Knockhill. Jackson completed the podium for Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki.

Skinner held onto fourth ahead of Ryde, who bounced back from his race two crash to take another strong points haul on the second Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha, crossing the striple narrowly ahead of Buildbase Suzuki’s Christian Iddon.

MCE Ducati team-mates finished in seventh and eighth place respectively as Tom Sykes edged out Josh Brookes.

Danny Buchan in ninth while Chrissy Rouse completed the top ten to claim his best ever Bennetts BSB race finish.

Ray leads on 158-points to O’Halloran’s 130, with third placed Jackson on 125-points.

Two-time champ Josh Brookes currently ranks tenth on the championship points table with 52-points to his name.

Jason O’Halloran – P1-1

“It’s been an amazing weekend, we nearly won yesterday, it was so close and then to take a double win today is excellent. Two pole positions, two wins and a second shows that all the hard work is paying off. I want to say a massive thanks to everyone from the team, when you are working through things and testing things when you are racing it’s never easy but this weekend things have really started to come together. That was probably the best I’ve ever felt on this bike, the way I could come through the pack, get to the front and pull away everything just worked. You have to enjoy these days as they don’t come around all the time, I’m super pleased with it so I can’t wait to get a test under our belt now ahead of the next few rounds.”

Tom Sykes – P11-7

“We’re continually making changes to understand the bike more and find solutions so a big thanks to the team and whilst we know we’re not where we want to be, everyone’s staying patient. The final race of the weekend was obviously the best and, in some sectors, I was quicker than some of the other riders and able to make some clean passes. With a clear track, I was able to ride more naturally with strong lap times right up until the end of the race. We’ve two strong riders in the team and there’s no doubting the capabilities of anything, anywhere so we’ll keep improving as I’m very keen to taste the champagne again!”

Josh Brookes – P10-8

“We’ve made marginal progress today, but it’s been progress nonetheless and the bike PBMfelt better in the final race. The grip was better and for the first time in a while, I was able to battle with other riders, so it was nice to pass people and race people again! We know we’ve several issues that still need to be resolved and whilst it’s hard to be excited with eighth and 11th, it’s still nice to make a step forward and close the gaps. There’s a long way to go so we’ll keep trying as we all want to be back at the sharp end.”

Glenn Irwin – DNF-DNF

“Today was a day of two halves really. Race 2 I felt good, I could see a few riders ahead dropping back and I was getting closer, but we were so unlucky to have a footpeg break on us. In the last race today I had a bad start, but quite an aggressive first lap, I made moves but also had moves put on me. I started to settle in and I looked to pass Leon [Haslam] into turn one, and in hindsight I should have made the move, as Leon had a massive highside in front of me. I’m glad he’s OK and walked away from it, but I was caught up in it, having to swerve to take avoiding action and thankfully thanks to my kit there’s no scratches on me. I’m a little hurt we didn’t get good points today, as I feel it could have been a weekend of three top fives or a podium, but I’m pleased with the progress we made.”

Bennetts British Superbike Race Three Results

Bennetts British Superbike Championship Championship Standings

Quattro Group British Supersport Race Two

Following his Saturday win, Bradley Perie was back on the pace as the lights changed, hitting the front immediately and leading Kennedy all the way as the duo built up a solid gap to the rest of the pack which stretched to almost 20 seconds by race end.

Kennedy stuck close to Perie for the whole race but was just unable to find the extra needed to get ahead and settled for second and a solid points haul.

Third was Harry Truelove, who overcame a battle with Lee Johnston and latterly Luke Stapleford who took fourth ahead of Ashcourt Racing’s Johnston.

New Zealand’s Damon Rees finished the race in seventh.

In the GP2 class, Jack Scott was again in a class of his own finishing eighth overall but first GP2 machine home ahead of Cameron Fraser and Harvey Claridge.

Kennedy leads the Supersport standings on 140-points to Johnston’s 100. Third placed Truelove is on 90. Damon Rees is 10th on 27-points.

Quattro Group British Supersport Race Two Results

Quattro Group British Supersport Championship Standings

Quattro Group British GP2 Championship Standings

Pirelli National Superstock

Tom Neave was back on the top step of the podium at Donington Park after stealing the win from Davey Todd on the final lap.

Neave, started the year with two victories was back to his best as he made a last lap move on Todd to take his third win of the year by 0.252s.

Richard Kerr was third, more than a second clear of fourth-placed Brayden Elliott as Charlie Nesbitt rounded out the top five.

Race 1 winner Brayden Elliott had to settle for fourth, while Billy McConnell was sixth. Levi Day meanwhile completed the top-10.

Neave now leads the standings on 105-points to Elliott’s 86, with Davey Todd on 73-points. McConnell sits fourth on 51-points, with Levi Day in 12th on 24-points.

Billy McConnell – P6

“I felt it was unfair to put me to the back of the grid as I’d set a lap time in the first part of Saturday’s race whilst it also felt quite dangerous, but I got my head down and was pleased to come through to sixth. The boys did a mega job to get the bike rebuilt so a big thanks to Alan and Andy for working through the night and although the first few laps were a bit scrappy, once I got dialled in and into a good rhythm, I felt really good. I could see the leaders ahead of me and the gap was coming down all the time so, if it wasn’t for the grid position, I think a win was on the cards. All things considered, the result was a good effort, so we’ll look forward now to the next round.”

Levi Day – P10

“Happy with race 2 today at Donington! Started P8 and finished P10. Had a really strong start to the race and just made a few mistakes mid way through and toward the end which perhaps lost us some positions or time. But left everything out there today and gave it everything I had. With our limited budget this season we were unable to test at all before this round, so I hadn’t ridden here since last season. To come away with a top 10 in Superstock 1000 and a new PB around there of a 1:07.5 in race 2 today, I’m pretty proud of! A huge thanks to my crew Nigel Jameison, Graham Miles, Paul Dyason and Katie Day for working hard all weekend and having my back through the good and bad sessions over the weekend. Thank you to Powerslide Racing for all their support and our partners.”

Pirelli National Superstock Results

Pirelli National Superstock Standings

Pirelli National Junior Superstock

Max Cook continued his winning ways as he powered to his third of the year at Donington Park, beating Dan Brooks by almost four seconds.

Jack Bednarek was third, almost half a second adrift of Brooks as Franco Bourne took fourth ahead of Sam Laffins.

Seth Crump finished in seventh behind Aaron Silvester.

New Zealand’s Zak Fuller was 12th and young Aussie Jacob Hatch was 22nd.

Cook leads the standings on 75-points, from Brooks on 59 and Valleley on 56. Seth Crump holds 40-points in sixth, Zak Fuller 11th on 17, with Jacob Hatch 16th on eight-points.

Seth Crump

“Not a bad weekend at Donington. Struggled in the race, not so happy with how it went wouldn’t mind another go at it; ended up on the grass.”

Pirelli National Junior Superstock Race Results

Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship Points

HEL Junior Supersport Championship Race One

Mikey Hardie got the better of Charlie Atkins to take the opening Junior Supersport win by 0.207secs as James McManus finished third.

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

HEL Junior Supersport Championship Race One Results

HEL Junior Supersport Championship Race Two

James McManus destroyed the field to win by more than 15 seconds over Joe Ellis.

After his third yesterday, McManus was quick off the line and was able to coast off into the sunset as the pack scrapped behind, with the battle for second much closer, as Joe Ellis beat Charlie Atkins over the line by just 0.071s.

Lewis Jones was the fourth rider home, as race one winner Mikey Hardie took fifth.

McManus now leads the standings on 68-points, three ahead of Hardie, with Atkins four-points further in arrears.

HEL Junior Supersport Championship Race Two Results

HEL Junior Supersport Championship Points

Honda British Talent Cup Race Two

Carter Brown (MLav VisionTrack Academy) and teammate Johnny Garness weren’t split by much in Race 1 at Donington, and by the end of Race 2 it was even less. Nothing, in fact, as the Honda British Talent Cup had the closest finish in a British Championship race in more than twenty years, with both riders getting 25 points and the photo finish proving absolute parity.

Off the line it was Harrison Dessoy (Microlise Cresswell Racing) getting the best launch from third, but the usual suspects were soon fighting the number 55 in the freight train. First it was Garness challenging for the lead, then it was Sullivan Mounsey (Wilson Racing/J&S Accessories). And then it was Garness vs Mounsey, but no one was getting away from the group despite the spectacular but ultimately brief duel.

Lap by lap, the moves came thicker and faster throughout the group, with some incredible quality shining from the field. Mounsey had some serious moves, Garness and Brown made them count, Kiyano Veijer (Microlise Cresswell Racing) forced his way through to the front… and coming into the final lap, it was still anyone’s to win.

Veijer led, but Garness made his move to slice through and Brown followed suit, setting up an MLav VisionTrack Academy showdown into the final chicane and to the line. As they both gassed it towards the flag, each had their own small moment too… and each reached the line at exactly the same time. Split by exactly zero thousandths, and with the photo finish unable to split them. That makes it 25 points each and some incredible history made at Donington.

Just behind the two, Veijer took third place to get back no the podium after a crash out on Saturday, with Bailey Stuart-Campbell (Team 151s/Lextek) taking fourth after a quality final few laps with his elbows out. Mounsey made his return to the BTC more than felt as he took fifth and seriously impressed.

Dessoy was forced to settle for sixth ahead of Ryan Hitchcock (City Lifting by RS Racing), Julian Correa (Microlise Cresswell Racing), Rhys Stephenson (Rocket Racing), Lucas Brown (SP125/Amphibian Scaffolding) and Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing), the latter completing the freight train in P11 – and still only 1.6 off the win after an awesome showing from the top group.

Garness now holds the standings lead on 111-points, from Brown on 92-points. Third placed Veijer holds 87.

Honda British Talent Cup Race Two Results

Honda British Talent Cup Championship Standings