Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell shared the victories in today’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship races at Donington Park, as the pair put themselves into contention alongside Jason O’Halloran for the Milwaukee Summer Grand Slam prize.
Championship leader O’Halloran had won the opening race of the weekend yesterday, but if any of the three riders can secure the triple win at Cadwell Park next weekend, then they will win a £10,000 prize.
In the second race of the weekend, Mackenzie won under pressure following an intense final three-lap dash to the chequered flag.
At the start of the race, Mackenzie had grabbed the advantage ahead of teammate O’Halloran, with Peter Hickman and Andrew Irwin in close contention. The McAMS Yamaha pair traded blows at the front, switching positions before local hero Mackenzie maintained the lead.
Andrew Irwin had moved the SYNETIQ BMW into second place ahead of Christian Iddon as the pair battled for second place, however on the seventh lap contact was made at Redgate and the VisionTrack Ducati rider crashed out. The race stewards subsequently issued Irwin a two-second time penalty for his part in the collision.
At the front, Glenn Irwin hit the front, but he was only able to hold off a determined Mackenzie for two laps, as the McAMS Yamaha rider moved back ahead. Glenn Irwin continued to push but his race ended with a crash on lap 17, leaving him with a dislocated shoulder, which was relocated and he was able to return for race three.
Mackenzie was desperately trying to gap the chasing pack, edging out a margin over his rivals. Hickman meanwhile pushed himself into second place ahead of O’Halloran and Bradley Ray as the podium fight continued to rage.
The BMW Safety Car was deployed when Danny Buchan crashed heavily out of the race, making a new race distance of 28 laps, when the race resumed with three laps remaining.
The SYNETIQ BMW rider will miss next weekend’s Cadwell Park event due to a suspicion of concussion.
Mackenzie had backed the pack up and was able to defend hard to keep O’Halloran at bay when the race resumed, whilst Hickman was pushed back to fourth as a hard-charging Ray moved into third place ahead of the final lap.
Ray saved his best until last, making a move on O’Halloran into Roberts for the final time to record the first podium finish for the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team, as O’Halloran completed the top three.
The final race of the weekend produced another different race winner, following a tactical decision of tyre choices. The race initially started in dry conditions and was red flagged for rain after three laps.
The race was then restarted and declared wet, but the shower had passed and tyre options would prove crucial to the outcome of the race result.
At the start, Vickers got off to an incredible start with his choice of a wet front and intermediate rear tyre to lead the pack. However, it was short lived as he crashed out at Coppice on the opening lap.
Mackenzie had opted for a wet front and intermediate rear which had initially given him the edge to then lead the field from Hickman and Glenn Irwin with Bridewell holding fourth position.
As the track started to dry though, Mackenzie was soon dropping back through the order as the riders who had opted for the intermediate front and rear option moved forward, and by lap five Glenn Irwin was leading for Honda Racing.
A lap later and Bridewell had taken control at the front and he soon began to edge an advantage ahead of Glenn and Andrew Irwin, but Iddon was making rapid progress as he was the only rider to opt for an intermediate front and slick rear tyre.
It was soon all over for Iddon though as he crashed the VisionTrack Ducati out of the race with a crash at Craner Curves on the ninth lap after working his way through into fourth place.
At the front, Bridewell bridged the gap to Glenn Irwin to claim his first victory of the season, as the Honda Racing rider finished second, incredibly after dislocating his shoulder in the earlier race of the day!
Andrew Irwin became the eleventh different podium finisher of the season, taking his first top three finish for SYNETIQ BMW.
Reigning champion Josh Brookes had also opted for the same combination of intermediate tyres and he claimed his best result of the season in fourth place for VisionTrack Ducati.
Joe Francis scored his first top five finish of the season for the iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW team, just ahead of Storm Stacey who delivered an impressive performance to claim his best ever finish in Bennetts BSB with a sixth place.
Mackenzie dropped to seventh, but still accumulated the most points to be crowned Milwaukee King of Donington, just ahead of Dean Harrison who celebrated his best ever finish for Silicone Engineering Kawasaki.
Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea completed the top ten as championship leader Jason O’Halloran finished twelfth after opting for a wet front tyre and intermediate rear tyre.
The Donington Park races have put Glenn Irwin and Bradley Ray into the top eight in the standings, whilst the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki pairing of Rory Skinner and Lee Jackson have just dropped into ninth and tenth respectively.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 2 result:
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
- Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.066s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.173s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.636s
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.221s
- Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +1.457s
- Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +2.288s
- Xavi Forés (FHO Racing BMW) +3.220s
- Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +3.253s
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +3.905s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 3 result:
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati)
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +3.404s
- Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +7.211s
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +25.804s
- Joe Francis (iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW) +31.142s
- Storm Stacey (Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki) +37.640s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +42.603s
- Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) +44.391s
- Dan Linfoot (TAG Honda) +45.782s
- Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +45.914s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Donington Park:
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 277
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 223
- Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 203
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 165
- Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 157
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 130
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 121
- Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) 112
Tommy Bridewell – Oxford Products Racing Ducati
Race 3 winner
“That was a nice, clean race – I didn’t go off like a bat out of hell to start with because I wanted to see what the track was like and it was a bit patchy at Coppice, so you had to be careful. Glenn got to the front and went off pretty hard, so I had to push hard to catch him, but I caught him fairly quick and comfortably so I knew I had the better pace.
“When I passed him, I thought ‘right, do I put the hammer down and try to break him or do I chip away’ and I did a bit of both. I put the hammer down to see what reaction I got and then just kept pushing.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved, and proud of the way I rode. I really enjoyed it, but we’ve got to keep the momentum going now and take some points back for the championship. The Showdown’s looking well and I’m looking forward to doing it again in a few days’ time.”
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