Recapping all the race action from Oulton Park BSB season opener

BSB 2025

Round One – Oulton Park

Superbike Race One

Brad Ray scored the holeshot and then scorched away from the field when the opening British Superbike race of season 2025 got underway at Oulton Park on Sunday. Kyle Ryde second early on, ahead of Max Cook, Danny Kent and Leon Haslam.

Cook was looking hot to trot on the Kawasaki but ultimately got burned when he was trying to put a move on Ryde for second on lap two, crashing out at Shell Oils Corner.

Brad Ray was four-seconds clear of Ryde, Kent and Haslam by lap six.  Further back, Glenn Irwin had forged his way up from his 15th-place start to eighth place and was on the back of the group that were fighting for second.

Irwin continued his progression, moving past Ray and Haslam to move up to second place with three laps to run. At this juncture Ray still led by around four-seconds before ultimately backing off over the final couple of laps to take the victory by two-seconds. Haslam rounded out the podium ahead of Storm Stacey and Kyle Ryde.

Tommy Bridewell took sixth place, ten-seconds behind the winner, and five-seconds behind fifth placed Ryde. Bridewell in close company with Nesbitt, Jackson and Brookes at the flag.

Josh Brookes opening his account with a ninth place finish on the DAO Honda.

Brad Ray

“I wasn’t expecting that, I was expecting a little bit more of a tough race! It was difficult to know where everyone was at pace wise because obviously testing is different. I got a good start and I knew how good I was on new tyres so I just thought ‘you know what, I don’t know what the tyres are going to do towards the end so let’s just push to get a gap and manage what I need to at the end.’

“I had enough tyre, Glenn was closing in at the end but I saw L2 plus three and I thought that was enough to just bring it home. You can feel everything, everything was going through my mind and I was thinking about a lot of things, leading for 18 laps is difficult on your own. I’m just super happy for the team, and Steve and everyone.

“I was missing that winning feeling and being competitive, but I’ve got that back today. It’s going to be a long season for sure, but I’m just super happy for everyone involved and we’ll celebrate at some point.”

Superbike Race One Results

Superbike Race Two (Sprint)

Brad Ray scored the holeshot once more with another lightning start as Storm Stacey, Leon Haslam and Glenn Irwin gave chase when the 12-lap Sprint Race got underway on Monday morning.  Ray pulled out a full-second on those pursuers over the course of the opening lap as Leon Haslam moved up to second place and Glenn Irwin pushed Stacey further back to fourth.

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Once up to second Haslam started to pull some ground back on Ray. Stacey came back at Irwin which slowed up his progress but once clear of Stacey, Irwin left the rest of the pack behind as he started to inch towards Haslam and race leader Brad Ray.

It took Haslam only a couple of laps to close in onto the rear tyre of Ray, the veteran particularly strong through Druids but finally made his move through to the lead at turn one as they started lap five.

With three laps to run Glenn Irwin was just under two-seconds behind the leading duo but the Northern Irishman went on to reel in both of them and was nipping at their heels as they started the final lap. Irwin made his move on Ray up the inside at the final turn to take second place and held the Yamaha man off to the flag.

41-year-old Leon Haslam the victor in BSB for the first time since 2018, with a new Oulton Park BSB lap record to boot.

Leon Haslam

“It’s so good. yesterday I was a little bit nervous to be honest with you, Wilf was saying bring it home, take it easy and by the time I’d got into second yesterday, Brad was long gone. Today I thought I needed to go hard from the start and I managed to make an early move, catch him down, and I didn’t expect to do that lap time.

“To be honest, the last five laps were the longest laps ever, there were a couple of false neutrals and a big moment on the last lap. I was struggling to get back into gears and I went down one too many and it popped in. It was a rookie mistake really on the last lap and I should have kept it smooth. A big thanks to Moto Rapido, all the sponsors involved. It’s been a hard few years and it’s a nice feeling to get back on the top step.”

Kyle Ryde was five-seconds behind the podium getters in fourth ahead of Storm Stacey, Danny Kent and Charlie Nesbitt.

Josh Brookes carded three-points from a 13th place finish while countryman Billy McConnell just missed out on opening his account with a 17th place finish just behind Peter Hickman, whose fellow ‘roads’ star and team-mate Davey Todd finished 21st.

Superbike Race Two (Sprint) Results

Superbike Race Three (Cancelled)

Superbike Points

Supersport Race One

Luke Stapleford took the advantage into turn one ahead of Ben Currie and Jack Kennedy.

Stapleford and Kennedy went on to break away from their pursuers and battled all the way to the flag for top honours. Triumph’s Stapleford scoring maximum points by a bike length over Honda’s Kennedy when the great race-long dice came to its conclusion at the chequered flag.

Ben Currie held down third place for the opening laps but was ultimately shoved aside, literally, by fellow Ducati rider Eugene McManus on lap five and missed out on a podium finish. The Australian did narrowly card the fastest lap of the race and new lap record.

Kiwi Shane Richardson opened his points account with an 11th place on the Astro Suzuki GSX-R750 while countryman Morgan McLaren-Wood finished 21st.

Underlining the equality of the wildly different machinery was the fact that the top five finishers all recorded fastest laps covered by only a tenth, and top speeds within one mph of each other. Fifth placed Rhys Irwin on a GSX-R750, race winner Stapleford on a Triumph Street Triple 765, McManus and Currie on V-Twin Ducatis and Jack Kennedy on a CBR600RR.

Supersport Race One Results

Supersport Race Two (Cancelled)

An 11-lap pile up on the exit of turn one when the second Supersport race got underway saw the remainder of the meeting abandoned. Two riders lost their lives in the incident. Read the official statement on the disaster here.

Superstock Race

Milenco by Padgetts Honda’s David Allingham led BMW riders Luke Mossey and Ilya Mykhalchyk through turn one when the opening Superstock race of 2025 got underway at Oulton Park.

Mossey shadowed Allingham over the entire 14-lap distance before pouncing underneath on change of direction on the final lap to steal the victory from Allingham.

Mykhalchyk completed the podium nine-seconds further back, but seven-seconds clear of Tom Ward, who got the better of Truelove on the final lap.

Kiwi champ Mitch Rees opening his points tally on debut with a 12th place finish on the Milenco Padgetts Honda, just behind Harrison Crosby and Ian Hutchinson.

Conor Cummins was another ‘roads’ star at the BSB series opener, but the Manxman suffered a DNF on the Burrows BMW.  Dominic Herbertson finished 20th while Brian McCormack finished 23rd on the Roadhouse Macau Racing BMW.

Superstock Race Results

Superstock Points

Sportbike Race One

Dutchman Kas Beekmans scored the holeshot on the VLR/NIWA Racing Suzuki GSX-8R ahead of Fenton Seabright (Aprilia 660) and Harrison Dessoy (Triumph 660).

Seabright took the lead late on lap one and Dessoy then took his turn up front on lap two as Beekmans was shuffled back to fourth by Rhys Stephenson (Triumph 660). That quartet were then joined by Ferre Fleerackers (Aprilia 660) as the order shuffled multiple time across the following laps.

Beekmans and Dessoy went on to break away over the closing laps and battled all the way to the flag, Beekmans with his nose in front when it counted most.

Rhys Stephenson rounded out the podium ahead of Fenton Seabright.

Brodie Gawith made his debut in the class with Macadam Triumph after graduating from the junior category last year. The Australian just missed out on the points with an 18th place finish, while countryman Jayden Martin recorded a DNF.

Roads star James Hillier was making a debut in the class for Kove but he failed to finish the first lap after getting caught up in a crash with Jack Muir.

Sportbike Race One Results

Sportbike Race Two (Cancelled)

SuperTeen Race One

Henry Snell broke away from the pack over the opening laps of the ten-lap SuperTeen season opener at Oulton Park on Sunday.  James Cook, David Lindemann and Calum Beach chased the Australian hard, eventually reeling him in by half-race distance.

Just when things were really hotting up out front a number of crashes further down the field saw officials red flag the race.  Snell credited with the win ahead of Cook and Lindemann.

SuperTeen Race One Results

SuperTeen Race Two Results

Poleman James Cook went down on the warm-up lap and failed to make the start.

Race one victor Henry Snell again scored the holeshot from fourth place on the grid to lead South African David Lindemann and Calum Beach early on in the ten-lap contest.

Marley Mackenzie and Calum Beach pushed Lindemann back to fourth place as the race wore on. Lindemann got them back to move up to second but then lost the rear on lap eight, high-siding out of that second position after the hairpin.

The incident gave Snell some breathing space but Beach and Mackenzie managed to reel him back in over the final two laps, the Australian hanging on to take his second win of the weekend and a perfect points haul from the season opener.

SuperTeen Race Two