Saturday round up from Oulton Park BSB – SBK/SS/STK/ST

2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round Nine – Oulton Park
Saturday Round Up

British Superbike Race One

The opening race of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown delivered drama as Kyle Ryde claimed his first Oulton Park victory to take the standings lead by just six-points as reigning champion Tommy Bridewell crashed out on the opening lap. Meanwhile Glenn Irwin kept his title hopes alive with a return to the podium.

Josh Brookes launched off the front row to lead the pack for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team ahead of Ryde and Bridewell, but the reigning champion crashed his Honda Racing UK Fireblade at Hislops on the opening lap to decimate his standings lead.

Brookes was determined at the front, but Glenn Irwin was pushing hard and on lap three he made a move on the brakes into Hislops to fire the Hager PBM Ducati ahead of his rivals as Ryde was also looking to make his move on the Australian in second place.

Charlie Nesbitt had also been in the lead pack at the start, but the MasterMac Honda rider slid out of the action at Hislops on lap five, whilst his teammate Lee Jackson was embroiled in the podium battle later in the race.

The lead trio were inseparable as Irwin held off Brookes and Ryde, but on lap 11, the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider lost ground in third place at Hilltop when he was forced to remove the cover from his dash as it came loose.

That gave Irwin and Brookes a slight gap, as it was a battle of Ducati versus BMW at the front, but Ryde was soon back in a rhythm to close down the lost ground. Ryde also had Jackson for company in fourth and the pair soon made it a quartet at the front fighting for the victory.

Ryde dived ahead of Brookes on lap 15 and a lap later took the lead as the top four were inseparable at the front, with Jackson also moving into third to ease Brookes back into fourth place.

Ryde then held the edge to the finish, able to gap Irwin by 0.303s as he returned to the podium for the first time since Snetterton, whilst Jackson added another podium to his tally to prevent Brookes from taking his first podium finish of the season.

Ryan Vickers was able to get ahead of Leon Haslam for the final place in the top five with Danny Kent and Peter Hickman holding top eight positions. Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki’s Jason O’Halloran and Max Cook rounded out the top ten.

Kyle Ryde – P1

“The plan was to be on pole position and to try and do what I did at Cadwell and then see if I can control the race at the front and make it hard for the guys behind. But Josh [Brookes] was really fast in the first three or four laps, especially in sector one and even when I did use a lot of tyre to try and pass him he passed me straight back.

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“I saved the tyre and sat behind him then it obviously brought Glenn [Irwin] into the picture and when he passed me I thought I was going to be in trouble, because when Glenn gets in his little mood at the front of the race, he’s very hard to pass. He is real late on the brakes and his bike is very good where it needs to be. The only thing I did was save the tyre the best I could so I had a great shot at the end to try and win the race.

“I had a little hiccup! The plastic case on my dash was just rattling and eventually it fell off and I wanted to chuck it off the track safely. I cost myself a second or two and I was lucky really because it gave me a gap, so I ended up setting the fastest lap which put me on pole for tomorrow.

“I just had enough time to pass them both and win the race as well. After the issue I had, I was going to accept third might have been good enough. Anything else was a bonus so to win my first race at Oulton Park was fantastic. I wouldn’t call it the easiest race, there was a lot going on, but it was a good race so roll on tomorrow.”

Tommy Bridewell – DNF

“It goes without saying it’s obviously not the result that we wanted. We were a little lost in setup yesterday in truth so the team made a big change overnight which was the right direction for sure and enabled us to put the bike on the front row. It’s frustrating to crash out and not get any championship points, but look, there is only one time of the year when leading the championship matters and that’s after race three at Brands. There’s work to do tomorrow but we will get our head down and go again.”

British Superbike Race One Results

British Superbike Championship Points

British Superbike Qualifying Results

British Supersport / GP2 Sprint Race

Jack Kennedy found himself back on the top step at Oulton Park today after pipping Luke Stapleford to the Supersport Sprint win by 0.113secs.

Stapleford had been the man to beat ahead of today’s race after the Macadam Triumph Racing rider dominated free practice and qualified on pole.

And he made a good start but was quickly passed by reigning champion Ben Currie before taking the place back a lap later. From here, Stapleford led for most of the race which became a two-man scrap with Kennedy in the closing laps.

Despite his best efforts, he was powerless to hold off Kennedy at the end and had to settle for second, more than two seconds clear of Currie.

Harry Truelove was fourth as Rhys Irwin crossed the line fifth.

ROKiT Rookie Mikey Hardie was the Cup winner after chasing down Cameron Hall and making a pass on lap seven to seal the class win, as Jack Nixon took th GP2 spoils aboard the Kramer Racing machine.

It is tight at the top in British Supersport with only ten-points covering the top three in the championship; Jack Kennedy (Honda), Luke Stapleford (Triumph) and Ben Currie (Ducati).

Jack Kennedy – P1

“I knew the pace was going to be crazy in that race and it absolutely was, we were running at lap record pace once more which just shows how competitive it is this year. I was happy to see that we had a gap behind us that was increasing, which meant it was just the two of us that I had to focus on. Luke was stronger in certain parts of the track and I was stronger in others, and I was just trying to size up a move. It was around the time of the race that I wanted to make a move and he made a small mistake, got a bit of wheelie and missed a gear, and I knew that it was my time to pounce. I wasn’t sure we had got it when the red flag came out but I am more than happy to take the win. To take it to Luke on the bigger capacity bike around here at a circuit that we know he is strong at is testament to the team, myself and all of the work that we have done with the CBR600RR. I’m looking forward to going again tomorrow.”

British Supersport / GP2 Sprint Race Results

British Supersport Championship Points

GP2 Points

HEL Cup Points

Pirelli National Superstock Race One

Scott Swann crossed the line first to take victory in the opening National Superstock race of the weekend this afternoon.

From a second row start, the Swann Racing rider got a good getaway and took the lead early in the 12-lap race and was able to keep his rivals behind him all the way to the flag.

Luke Mossey was second, 0.306secs behind as points leader Davey Todd was third, his main title rival Joe Talbot fourth and Josh Owens fifth.

Pirelli National Superstock Race One Results

British SuperTeen Race One

Kalvin Kelly got the better of Ted Wilkinson with a last corner dive in today’s Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen race to extend his championship lead.

The ROKiT Rookie now sits 29 points clear at the top of the points after his last lap move on rival Wilkinson, which came at the end of a hard-fought race where the top four remained close throughout.

In the end, Wilkinson, who had led a fair chunk of the race, had to settle for second. Carl Harris was third with Australian Brodie Gawith fourth as Calum Beach rounded out the top five.

Henry Snell carded a top seven finish.

British SuperTeen Race One Results