Glenn Irwin on top in opening Oulton Park bout

2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round Two – Oulton Park – Sunday

British Superbike Race One

Glenn Irwin claimed the poignant first win for the Hager PBM Ducati in their new era as he pushed to the front of the field on the opening laps, hitting the lead on lap three and then held off Christian Iddon to celebrate victory.

At the start of the race, Ryan Vickers had launched off the line to lead the pack from Kyle Ryde, Glenn Irwin and Christian Iddon. The Hager PBM Ducati rider was determined, moving into second at Shell Oils corner on the opening lap, and then made his move on Vickers for the lead at Hizzys a lap later.

As Glenn Irwin held the lead, Iddon was on the move and he moved from fourth into second by lap four with a decisive pass on Vickers at Old Hall.

Iddon then set his sights on his Ducati rival and the gap continued to change between the pair throughout the race, but despite a dramatic last lap moment, Irwin had the edge. The win gives the PBM team an emotional first victory under the new leadership of Jordan and Frank Bird.

Iddon celebrated a strong second place, whilst the battle for third was raging between the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing pairing and a determined Tommy Bridewell. Ryde charged into a podium position on lap 12 at Lodge and was able to bridge a minor advantage. However, Bridewell was in the hunt and he claimed fourth place with five laps to go, pushing Vickers back into fifth.

Vickers and Danny Kent scrapped for fifth with the pair trading places until the finish line, with Vickers holding the advantage from his McAMS Racing Yamaha rival by 0.093s at the chequered flag.

Jason O’Halloran held off the earlier challenges from Rory Skinner to take seventh with Josh Brookes and Leon Haslam completing the top ten.

Brayden Elliott took the flag in 20th place, while countryman Billy McConnell recorded a DNF after suffering a mechanical failure on lap four.

There will be two more races staged on Monday.

Glenn Irwin – P1

“I got quite a good launch off the line, as did Kyle from pole and Ryan. I knew Ryan looked like he had really good pace from the Free Practice runs, so I was quite eager to have a look at him. I managed to get Kyle quite easily out of Turn three, the new tarmac is helping the Ducati and its weaknesses of edge grip because its so grippy round Cascades that we can now match the Yamahas in that corner and use our speed.

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“Ryan was more difficult to pass. They clearly were running two different set-ups in power because his bike was really fast, to be truthfully honest, kind of surprising. I obviously passed him in Knickerbrook which you wouldn’t pass a Yamaha usually in there and that was more for a bit of fun, it was on lap one, that’s all that was. And then you think, ‘oh am I showing my hand too early’ but it was a bit of craic and yeah we enjoyed the race.

“Fair play to Iddo, it’s nice to see him competitive again. I said in the Eurosport interview, I think their bike was not the same spec as ours last year in terms of some chassis components. They now have that and he was really, really strong. So hats off to him, its always good to be competitive after a year or so when you haven’t been.

“I’m happy for other people as well but just grateful to represent this amazing team. Thanks to Hager for stepping up and all the other team sponsors. First monkey off my back this year and we can go and have another two cracks at it tomorrow.”

Tommy Bridewell – P4

“Qualifying was a little difficult to tell the truth because we had to go straight into setting a lap time after being off the bike since yesterday. I prefer to build into it and then have a bit of a time attack after. I think we went a little bit the wrong way in Qualifying, but ultimately it was enough for the top eight, and I can work from there. The race was a bit of a challenge because when you are starting eighth it’s a bit of a dog-fight. I held my own off the line but I had a fair few riders to pass as I was coming through. I knew that I had to be patient and the race slowly came back to me. I was hanging on to the front guys and I am really happy with the way I rode and the way the bike performed. For my second full distance race I can’t be disappointed with fighting for the podium and coming home in fourth. We have the sprint tomorrow and another longer distance race so we will look to make a step overnight and fight for that first podium.”

Josh Brookes – P9

“I was a bit disappointed with first practice yesterday, we’d had a couple of days testing before the event and during the test, I thought we were fairly competitive and felt the times where close. But it seemed in practice everyone else found more time and I couldn’t. In qualifying we made some changes and I made it through Q1 into Q2, I then had a fairly decent time and made it to ninth on the third row for the race. Usually that wouldn’t be a great position but from where I was after practice I guess that was a big improvement. In the race I didn’t get a great start but I don’t think that changed the result too much, I rode the best race I could and again it’s not a result you’d be super-pleased with but I have to accept the position we’re in at the moment, and aim improve again tomorrow.”

Peter Hickman – P13

“It’s been one of those weekends and it’s not going our way at the minute to be honest, but it’s the way it goes sometimes. It’s really frustrating as I feel really good on the bike and fast, which I have done since we got here on Wednesday. I had a big crash on Thursday morning at turn one, which is probably one of the worst places to crash here at Oulton Park and it’s put us on the back foot a little bit. Yesterday I nearly did my fastest-ever time here, even though I have a small broken bone in my hand, I was quite happy and content. Then in qualifying, I don’t know, I didn’t do anything wrong or different, for some reason I lost the front. It looked like a much bigger crash than it was, I hit the big foam wall and it looked a lot more spectacular that it was – I was fine, just really annoyed more than anything, and that yet again put us on the back foot as I started 15th.”

Dean Harrison – P15

“As a whole I think it went reasonably well, albeit the start wasn’t the best as I haven’t quite got the hang of the start procedure with the lights on the dash. So we will definitely have a look at that and put something in place for tomorrow which will help us get away from the line a little bit better which will then help with the early parts of the race. The mid part of the race was pretty good and I could hang in there with Andrew and some of the others around fifteenth. Ahead of us though there was another group but they had just managed to gap us, which was frustrating as I just couldn’t quite get to them. The times between us in that little battle are super tight, so hopefully we can find a little something and move further forward tomorrow.”

Andrew Irwin – P16

“It isn’t coming so easy at the moment. There are a few things that I need to work on and maybe sometimes I need to remember where I was twelve months ago. There are still some limitations with my arm but I think we can work on that and make a step tomorrow. Honestly, on the bike I don’t feel too bad, the bike and the team are working well, I just need to do some work physically and put things together tomorrow. We have two races to have another go at it.”

British Superbike Race One Results

British Superbike Championship Points

British Superbike Qualifying

Kyle Ryde claimed his first Bennetts British Superbike Championship Qualifying pole position of the season at Oulton Park this afternoon, setting a pace to put the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing team on the Omologato Pole Position by 0.202s from Glenn Irwin on the Hager PBM Ducati.

The Q1 session started with Josh Brookes, Lee Jackson and Charlie Nesbitt locking out the top three, completing the top Speedy Fast 15 to fight for the Omologato Pole Position in Q2.

As the riders started their first flying laps the session was red flagged when Peter Hickman crashed heavily at Brittens, but he was able to walk away from the incident but took no further part in the session.

Ryde though pushed on for his flying lap, holding off Irwin who had been fast throughout the test and the second OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing R1 of Kyle Ryde.

Vickers’ fast lap denied Jason O’Halloran his first front row start for Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki, as the Australian headed the second row ahead of Danny Kent on the McAMS Racing Yamaha and Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Christian Iddon.

Rory Skinner was seventh for Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad, holding off Honda Racing UK’s Tommy Bridewell, whilst just 0.001s separated Josh Brookes and Max Cook.

British Superbike Qualifying Results

British Supersport / GP2 Sprint Race

Luke Stapleford held off former champs Ben Currie and Jack Kennedy to take victory in the Sprint Race at Oulton Park.

The Macadam Triumph Racing rider – who has so far led most of this weekend’s sessions – converted pole into the win at the end of the 12-lap dash, beating Currie by 0.437secs.

After a race long battle, the top three were visibly close on the final lap, but it was soon clear neither would be able to sneak a pass for the lead, as Stapleford led the trio across the line, Kennedy finishing just 0.252secs adrift of Currie in third.

Harry Truelove managed to steal fourth after a battle with Eugene McManus, who had been ahead into the final corner but ran wide, allowing Truelove to take the spot back as McManus was able to salvage fifth.

Owen Jenner was the winner in the GP2 class, beating his Kramer Racing team-mate Jack Nixon as third place went to LCQ winner Lucca Allen.

And in the HEL Supersport Cup, Adon Davie got the better of Joe Farragher, as Cameron Hall secured third.

Jack Kennedy – P3

“We actually had a bit of a frustrating qualifying as we got caught out with the track temperature increase which meant the change we had made didn’t quite work. Despite that though we still stuck it on the front row and got the job done. Then we made a bit of a change heading into the race which I have to say worked perfectly so big thank you to the team at Honda and Ohlins. I could really push and make the difference in the race to stick with the front guys. I am super happy with my race pace, to be under the lap record and to stay with Stapleford and Currie challenging throughout is great. It just goes to show how hard we are pushing at the front as we broke away from the rest of the field. We brought home another podium which is more valuable points and it enables us to keep on building into the year ahead.”

British Supersport / GP2 Sprint Race Results

British Supersport Championship Points

GP2 Points

HEL Cup Points

Pirelli National Superstock Qualifying

Davey Todd continued to dominate the weekend as he powered to the opening pole position of the year ahead of Joe Talbot.

Todd’s best lap of 1min 36.348secs put him 0.484s up on Talbot, as Josh Owens secured the final front row spot.

David Allingham will head Row Two in fourth place, just ahead of Ash Beech.

TT star John McGuinness qualified 17th,

John McGuinness

“I think we have been building into it nicely, a couple of days testing earlier in the week learning the bike and just getting some miles under my belt. The preparation for the road racing has been absolutely excellent, I am loving this new 2024 Fireblade! I loved riding at Navarra on the Superbike and I love riding my Stocker here. I am lapping faster than I have ever gone, y’know I’m into the 37’s which I have never done before. I think the edge of the points is where we are at and if I can score some points tomorrow before packing up my motorhome and heading to the North West 200 I will be a very happy.”

Pirelli National Superstock Qualifying Results

Pirelli National Sportbike Race One

Italy’s Edoardo Colombi saw off a charging Richard Cooper to take victory in the first ever Pirelli National Sportbike with Moneybarn Finance race.

After a hard fight at the front, the race was red flagged after seven laps and a result called, with Colombi taking victory by 0.082secs.

Aaron Silvester took third, Thomas Strudwick fourth as Ash Barnes took fifth.

Pirelli National Sportbike Race One Results

Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen Qualifying

Ted Wilkinson scored the first pole position in the new Tracker Kawasaki Superteen category, with Calum Beach and Lewis Smart completing the front row.

Aussie youngsters Brodie Gawith and Henry Snell qualified eighth and eleventh, respectively.

Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen Qualifying Results