Bennetts British Superbikes Oulton Park 23rd-25th September 2022
CLASS, CHAOS AND CONTROVERSY IN CHESHIRE
The Bennetts British Superbike championship descended on Oulton Park for the first races of the 2022 Showdown over the weekend of the 23rd - 25th of September. Championship leader Bradley Ray topped Friday practice and that form would continue into Saturday as Ray set the fastest ever 2-wheeled lap of Oulton Park, a 1 minute 32.948 seconds, on his OMG Yamaha to bag pole by a hefty 0.796 seconds from the Oxford Products Ducati of Tommy Bridewell and the Jason O’Halloran McAMS Yamaha for the 14-lap sprint race on Saturday afternoon.
The Bennetts British Superbike championship descended on Oulton Park for the first races of the 2022 Showdown over the weekend of the 23rd - 25th of September. Championship leader Bradley Ray topped Friday practice and that form would continue into Saturday as Ray set the fastest ever 2-wheeled lap of Oulton Park, a 1 minute 32.948 seconds, on his OMG Yamaha to bag pole by a hefty 0.796 seconds from the Oxford Products Ducati of Tommy Bridewell and the Jason O’Halloran McAMS Yamaha for the 14-lap sprint race on Saturday afternoon.
Sprint Race: O’Halloran got the holeshot to head the field into Old Hall for the first time, his lead was short-lived however as Tommy Bridewell went under him at the Shell Oils Hairpin but poleman Ray soon got into his stride to hit the front at the end of lap one - picking off O’Halloran at Druids and Bridewell at Lodge. O’Halloran briefly moved up to second again and Peter Hickman also momentarily demoted Bridewell but the Ducati man was soon back ahead of both, repeating his earlier move on O’Halloran at the Shell Oils Hairpin. Ray began to gap the group as they squabbled. Showdown contender Tarran MacKenzie had battled his way to the head of the second group in fifth with a move on 2018 champion Leon Haslam during lap ten but a couple of laps later Taz fell at the Shell Oils Hairpin. As Ray moved serenely towards victory into the last lap, the Bridewell, O’Halloran and Hickman trio was being caught by Haslam. Ray took the chequer by a handsome 2.765 seconds from Bridewell but controversy struck behind. O'Halloran and Hickman came together when Hickman dived up the inside at Druids, the Australian sent tumbling and his R1 cartwheeled to destruction. Haslam then nicked third from Hickman, the Kawasaki man passing the FHO BMW on the run to Lodge as Hickman lost momentum in the O’Halloran clash. More controversy followed after the race when Hickman was disqualified from the results for the incident, along with copping a three-place grid penalty and 2 points on his racing licence, which did little to appease the fuming O'Halloran as his title hopes were severely dented.
Race Two: A brief shower of rain just before the pitlane opened for the field to go to the grid only heightened the pre-race tension. O’Halloran lined up on pole with Ray and Bridewell completing the front row. O’Halloran got away best in the cool and overcast conditions to lead into Old Hall for the first of the scheduled eighteen laps but Ray soon came charging through into Cascades. Further round lap one, incredibly O’Halloran was taken down again at Druids in an action replay of Saturday’s last lap incident - this time by Bridewell making a challenge for second. The furious Australian took no further part in the day's racing. Soon after that episode, O'Halloran's teammate MacKenzie tucked the front at Hislops and Hickman was unable to avoid hitting the Yamaha rider as he slid across the track in front of him - the impact left Taz with a broken leg to complete a disastrous weekend for the McAMS team. Unsurprisingly the red flag flew, not for the last time as it would turn out. A restart over an intended twelve laps saw Bridewell dumped down to 22nd on the grid as a fifteen-second time penalty was applied for the O’Halloran incident. Ray aced the start to head Rory Skinner and Kyle Ryde around the opening lap, Ryde then moved past Skinner into Old Hall at the start of lap two. Skinner’s FS-3 Kawasaki compatriot Lee Jackson was also on the move, nipping past his teammate at Hislops before repeating the move on Ryde a lap later to climb into second as spots of rain began to fall. Approaching the Britten’s chicane on lap four, Rory Skinner clipped the rear of a charging Christian Iddon and became trapped in the Suzuki’s rear end in a nasty-looking incident. The rider-less Kawasaki then cannoned into Ryde's Yamaha and brought him down too. Iddon sustained a broken hand and concussion in the melee, whilst Skinner also suffered multiple hand fractures. The Safety Car was summoned and then the red flag flew soon after. The grid reformed for a seven-lap restart with Ray, Jackson and Glenn Irwin forming the front row. Ray made no mistake off the line again to lead Irwin and Jackson. Bridewell, who had made rapid progress through the pack from his lowly start position in the short-lived restart, was pinged one spot on the grid for overtaking under the Safety Car but, undeterred, rose from seventh to fourth on lap one. Ray sat just ahead of a three-way scrap for second in the early laps, which would soon become a four-way fight as Danny Buchan joined the train. However, Ray soon began struggling with grip from his newly fitted rear tyre and was falling into the clutches of the chasing pack. Jackson swept into the lead down Dentons at the start of lap four, Bridewell then took second off Ray into Old Hall on lap five and set his sights on catching the leading Kawasaki. Having closed in on Jackson on the penultimate lap, Bridewell was launched out of the seat exiting Old Hall for the last time as his Ducati spun up trying to get a run on Jackson, costing him his chance of victory. A delighted Jackson crossed the line 0.289 seconds ahead of Bridewell and took his second win at the venue in 2022. A disappointed Ray held on to third having seemed odds-on to add to Saturday’s victory, "a bit of a ballache" was his succinct description!
Race Three: After the earlier chaos, everyone was hoping for a clean fifteen laps as time pressures reduced the number of laps from the original eighteen. Honda's Glenn Irwin sat on pole position, with Jackson and Ray completing the front row. Irwin made a cracker of a start to lead the field away, Ray launched into second from Jackson and Bridewell - who had been given an additional three-place grid drop for the Race Two collision. Eager to make up for his disappointment in Race Two, Ray charged up the inside of Irwin into Lodge to end lap one in the lead. As Ray began edging away from Irwin, Bridewell relieved Jackson of third at Hislops on lap three. Bridewell then started to reel in Irwin, with both closing back up on race leader Ray as the OMG Yamaha’s dominant pace deserted it. Jackson and Buchan were also going with them to form a five-bike train. Irwin sailed back into the lead at Island on lap eight, Buchan also got ahead of Jackson too. Bridewell took second off Ray into Old Hall on the following lap before stealing the lead at Lodge later that same tour. Buchan and Jackson were soon both past Ray too as his tyre struggles continued. Entering the final third of the race, the top four contracted back together, with Jackson moving back up to third after slicing inside Buchan into Old Hall starting the penultimate lap. Irwin had eyes on the race win and was turning the screw on Bridewell, trying to outdrag the Ducati on the run to the flag. Bridewell resisted the Irwin pressure to take a fine win by 0.089 seconds, Jackson rounded out the podium with a mere 0.222 seconds covering the trio. “I needed to win really” said the Wiltshireman.
Ray heads the standings by 40 points from Bridewell, who has rocketed up the leaderboard from eighth. The championship now moves on to Donington Park on the 30th September - 2nd October, before reaching its conclusion on the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch two weeks later.
