2019 British Superbike Championship Round Two – Oulton Park
Josh Brookes claimed the first Bennetts British Superbike Championship pole position for the new Ducati V4R at Oulton Park for the Be Wiser Ducati team ahead of the Monday races.
Josh Brookes – Be Wiser Ducati Pole position
“I’ve just turned up to Oulton Park with a clear mind and put Silverstone behind me. Luckily we had a test here so we had great momentum, got a good setting of the bike and came here and refined it a little bit further.
“The team have done a fantastic job, we have been working through a lot of fine tuning – nothing big at the moment because the bike’s already in good range so it’s nice to be in that zone where you can do some fine tuning and just work through little areas to just refine the bike, as opposed to having to make big changes and hoping that works.
“I think we’re in a fantastic position, all I can say is that I’m pleased and looking forward to the races tomorrow. I just hope now that I can put this one-lap speed into race-long consistency.”
The 2015 champion set his personal best lap of the Cheshire circuit to lap under the existing record to hold off rivals Tommy Bridewell and Peter Hickman who complete the front row ahead of Monday’s Bank Holiday races.
Brookes had been the fastest rider on track yesterday, but he continued to make strides forward as the Australian upped the pace to give him the edge in the final stage of qualifying to head off Bridewell as Hickman claimed the first front row start for the new BMW S1000RR in third.
A hectic Q2 saw an intense fight to be in the final nine for the last stage of Datatag Qualifying and impressively in only his second round on a Superbike, rookie Ryan Vickers qualified for the first time in Q3. He will start ninth on the grid for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team for tomorrow’s opening race.
Jason O’Halloran bounced back from an earlier crash in free practice to finish fourth fastest to head the second row from Christian Iddon on the Tyco BMW and Danny Buchan for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki ahead of tomorrow’s race one.
Scott Redding continues to try and grasp the technically challenging Oulton Park on his race debut at the track, firing himself into the top nine and qualifying seventh on the grid ahead of Keith Farmer.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Oulton Park, Datatag Qualifying
Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:34.084s
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +0.625s
Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.801s
Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.856s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.929s
Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.938s
Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +1.082s
Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW) +1.143s
Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +1.259s
British Superstock 1000
Buildbase Suzuki’s Richard Cooper took his first pole position of the season at Oulton Park, just 0.419 from Taylor Mackenzie and Billy McConnell.
Cooper set the fastest time early on in the session, and Mackenzie set about chasing it down to leapfrog in to pole position. Although setting his fastest time late on, it wasn’t enough for the BMW man to take pole.
Rounding out the front row is OMG Racing’s Billy McConnell, with Lee Jackson fourth, Olsen fifth and Jones sixth.
Levi day qualified 13th while Brayden Elliott with start from position 32 on the grid.
British Supersport
Jack Kennedy has made it three victories from three races in the Dickies British Supersport Championship, cruising to a dominant victory in the opening Sprint race. It was Kennedy’s Appleyard Integro Yamaha team mate Brad Jones who grabbed the holeshot but the reigning champ had soon made his way past to lead at the end of the opening lap.
Jones did his best to fend of the advances of Alastair Seeley, but the former Champion made his move on lap four. At the front, Kennedy was able to continue to stretch his lead to eventually secure the victory by 3.601s and setting a new lap record in the process. Trying his hardest, Jones just could not find a way past the EHA Racing Yamaha of Seeley, missing out on second place by just 0.081s.
Kyle Ryde was again the leading British GP2 Cup machine, also his third win of the season, in fourth overall ahead of a strong ride from rookie Harry Truelove in fifth with Jamie Perrin sixth on the GP2 machine and Josh Owens seventh.
British Supersport Championship and GP2 Cup Oulton Park, Sprint Race
Jack Kennedy (Yamaha)
Alastair Seeley (Yamaha) +3.601s
Brad Jones (Yamaha) +3.682s
Kyle Ryde (Kalex GP2) +18.658s
Harry Truelove (Yamaha) +24.965s
Jamie Perrin (GP2) +25.752s
Dickies British Supersport Championship and GP2 Cup Championship Standings
Young guns Josh Elliott and Tarran Mackenzie lead the pack in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship title standings ahead of Britain’s biggest motorsport battle reaching Cheshire’s Oulton Park this May Bank Holiday weekend (May 4/5/6) after the pair both secured debut race wins at the Silverstone opener.
Josh Elliott – OMG Racing Suzuki
“It has been crazy since Silverstone; the phone hasn’t stopped! I am still on a high with the results we had but at the same time I have to stay level headed. The win was big; it was the first for me and the first for the team and it has been a real buzz in the garage. I wasn’t expecting the result at Silverstone; if someone had said before the weekend that would have been the result I would have said they were a bit crazy! I knew we had been working hard as a team and had a good pace but to win was an amazing feeling. I think the result hasn’t changed how we will look at the weekend; our aim still has to be the top six for the Showdown and to be up the front when it counts. We intend on taking the opportunities as they come and you can’t rest as it will only get tougher. Nobody expected us to be joint championship leaders after the first round so we want to come out fighting again next weekend and I think we can work hard and be there or thereabouts in the races again.”
Elliott and OMG Racing Suzuki celebrated the first victory in the series after drama between the McAMS Yamaha teammates as Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran clashed in their battle for victory, whilst Scott Redding was a podium finisher on his first appearance after the switch from MotoGP to the Be Wiser Ducati team.
Jason O’Halloran
“We had a few electronic issues with the bike this morning but it was feeling good and the lap times were great straight away. Unfortunately At the end of the session I ran on at Hizzy’s and as the grass was wet I slipped off. It was the slowest crash ever but I landed on my shoulder a bit funny. When I went back out for the next session my shoulder hurt a lot so I decided to play it safe and called it a day. Silverstone was obviously a let-down for me in the end after so much promise; to lead pretty much all the first race and to end up with nothing wasn’t what I went there for, then we had the problem in race two, but I feel that we have a good pace and I’m chilled about it. I want a podium and I want to be winning; that’s not me being cocky but we have had good pace all pre-season and into the first round. We know that it won’t be easy, because it never is in BSB, but I love Oulton Park and had a podium there last year, so I am hoping it can be good for us. I feel ready to go and I am looking forward to the weekend.”
In the second race, Mackenzie bounced back to score his first race win in the Superbike class and now jointly leads the standings with Elliott ahead of the next two races of the season in Cheshire.
Tarran Mackenzie – McAMS Yamaha
“I think Silverstone probably went better than expected to be honest; to fight for both wins and then take my first BSB win was more than I had expected from the weekend and it was a bit of a dream come true. I think because pre-season testing hadn’t been the best for me and even the official test at Silverstone I was eighth. I wanted to get the first BSB win that weekend, I wanted to get that monkey off my back and that was my goal so to do it felt really good. Now that I have done it though I want to do it again! I want to be in the Showdown for the first time this season. At the test I think we found a good base setting that just needs refining, because we didn’t quite get the chance with the conditions changing but we are not far away it just needs some fine tuning. I had a good round when we went to Oulton Park for the second time last year so hopefully we can keep this momentum going! I’m looking forward to it!”
Tommy Bridewell proved he was a force to be reckoned with on board the Oxford Racing Ducati. He arrives at Oulton Park third in the standings and confident following last week’s official test, just one point ahead of Luke Mossey on the second OMG Racing Suzuki.
Danny Buchan is joint fourth overall following his impressive opening round podium and Luke Stapleford and the Buildbase Suzuki team currently make it five teams inside the top six ahead of the second round.
Honda Racing’s Andrew Irwin and Xavi Forés had a strong start to the season but the former World Superbike contender has to rapidly get to grips with the undulations of the challenging Cheshire circuit, as will Redding after the pair had their initial taste of the track at the official test.
Dan Linfoot had a promising start to his season at Silverstone with the Santander Salt TAG Yamaha team and he is looking for another strong performance at Oulton, whilst the title-winning Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team will be eager to fight back at the front with Glenn Irwin and new recruit Ben Currie.
However at last week’s official test 2015 champion Josh Brookes fired his Be Wiser Ducati to the top of the times as the Australian bids to make amends for a double non-point score at the opening round after being hampered with technical issues.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Oulton Park BSB Official Test
Josh Brookes has put a disastrous opening round of the 2019 British Superbike Championship behind him and was back on the front foot this week with the 35-year-old topping the official BSB test at Oulton Park ahead of the Bank Holiday second round next weekend (May 4/5/6), edging ahead of Danny Buchan at the Cheshire circuit.
The 2015 champion topped the opening two sessions in the dry conditions after a tough start to his season at Silverstone last weekend; putting a massive gap of 1.067s between himself and FS-3 Racing Kawasaki’s Buchan on combined times.
Josh Brookes – Be Wiser Ducati
“I am obviously really pleased to have been fastest in the dry as that is everybody’s goal. I am actually really pleased with the progress we made today as there were a few things that we needed to address and explore some setup changes. Leaving Silverstone we were disappointed but I was then focused on here and working through some setting changes we didn’t get the chance to try at Silverstone and the bike performed really well – it has been a really positive day.”
Tommy Bridewell was back at the sharp end on the Oxford Racing Ducati, clocking the third fastest time ahead of next weekend’s next two races, pushing ahead of Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon as the team continue their development work with the new S1000RR.
Peter Hickman also proved the pace of the BMWs by setting the fifth fastest time, maintaining his position ahead of Luke Stapleford on the leading Suzuki on his return to Oulton Park for the first time in three years.
Luke Mossey was seventh fastest for OMG Racing Suzuki ahead of Tarran Mackenzie who ended the day early due to the changing conditions later in the day, forging ahead of Glenn Irwin and Jason O’Halloran, who tipped off in the morning session.
The test marked the first appearance at the Cheshire circuit for Scott Redding and Xavi Forés with the pair utilising the track time to learn the challenging circuit, ending the sessions in 13th and 25th respectively.
Ben Currie continues to adapt to the Superbike and was 19th quickest on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki.
Road race star Michael Dunlop used the day to get some all-important track time on the Tyco BMW S 1000 RR, ending the session 27th on the time-sheets, 4.4-seconds behind pace-setter Josh Brookes.
In the Superstock 1000 category Richard Cooper topped proceedings ahead of South Australia’s Billy McConnell.
Levi Day showed progress to rank inside the STK1000 top ten.
Brayden Elliott was the 16th quickest Superstock machine while Jack Kennedy topped the Supersport ranks ahead of Brad Jones.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Oulton Park BSB Official Test
The opening British Superbike race at Silverstone on the weekend was a battle of the McAMS Yamahas for victory, but it ended in drama as team-mates Jason O’Halloran and Mackenzie went head-to-head on the final lap before O’Halloran was eventually taken out from behind by his team-mate. To add insult to injury O’Halloran’s McAms Yamaha did an engine in the second race, likely due to the tip-over in the opening stoush.
It was also a tale of woe for the bookies favourite for the 2019 British Superbike Championship, Josh Brookes. The 35-year-old suffered an engine failure in qualifying that saw him start from 18th place on the grid, only to then have another machine failure in the opening race. In the second stanza Brookes blew another engine on the Be Wiser Ducati Panigale V4 R to finish the opening round with no points.
Superbike Race One Report
Jason O’Halloran launched off the line into the lead of the pack at the start of the race ahead of Mackenzie and Scott Redding, but a crash involving the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki pairing of Glenn Irwin, Ben Currie and rookie David Allingham bought out the BMW Safety Car.
When the race resumed O’Halloran, Mackenzie and Josh Elliott edged away at the front of the pack and the McAMS Yamaha pair were intensely mirroring each other as the O’Show held the advantage.
On the final lap however Mackenzie went for a lunge on the inside, causing contact with O’Halloran, who subsequently crashed out of the race. Mackenzie took the chequered flag ahead of Elliott, claiming his first Bennetts BSB podium finish and Redding on his debut.
Post-race following an investigation, Race Direction imposed a Long Lap equivalent time penalty of 3 seconds on Mackenzie for contact causing O’Halloran to crash at Turn 6 on Lap 30.
The penalty awarded the victory to Elliott and the first for OMG Racing Suzuki, pushing Mackenzie back into second ahead of Redding with OMG Racing Suzuki celebrating both riders in the top five as Luke Mossey claimed fourth place.
Josh Elliott – OMG Racing Suzuki – Race One Winner
“I am a bit shocked with today if I am honest! It has been a mega weekend and we have been improving all through the weekend. It was mega to be up fighting for the win in both races and I just don’t have words for it! I would never have expected for the weekend to have gone as well as it has. The OMG team have done a fantastic job and I can’t wait for Oulton Park now.”
Tommy Bridewell and Andrew Irwin fought all race long with the Oxford Racing Ducati rider having the edge at the line from Luke Stapleford and Claudio Corti for Team WD-40 Kawasaki. Danny Buchan and Xavi Forés completed the top ten.
2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round One – Silverstone – Race One
Josh ELLIOTT – OMG Racing Suzuki 27:44.547
Tarran MACKENZIE – McAMS Yamaha +0.017
Scott REDDING – Be Wiser Ducati +4.118
Luke MOSSEY – OMG Racing Suzuki +5.472
Tommy BRIDEWELL – Oxford Racing +7.505
Andrew IRWIN – Honda Racing +8.236
Luke STAPLEFORD – Buildbase Suzuki +11.554
Claudio CORTI – Team WD-40 +11.900
Danny BUCHAN – FS-3 Racing Kawasaki +12.024
Xavi FORÉS – Honda Racing +13.210
Christian IDDON – Tyco BMW Motorrad +17.124
Ryan VICKERS – RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki +19.372
Dan LINFOOT – Santander Salt TAG Yamaha +20.305
Peter HICKMAN – Smiths Racing +22.321
Keith FARMER – Tyco BMW Motorrad +22.977
Bradley RAY – Buildbase Suzuki +23.620
Sylvain BARRIER – Brixx Ducati +26.220
Matt TRUELOVE – Raceways Yamaha +33.244
Dean HIPWELL – CDH Racing +33.360
Fraser ROGERS – Gearlink Kawasaki +33.522
Joe FRANCIS – Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad +34.574
Sam COVENTRY – Team 64 Motorsports +43.723
James HILLIER – Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki +1 Lap
Conor CUMMINS – Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles +1 Lap …DNF. Jason O’HALLORAN – McAMS Yamaha …DNF. Josh BROOKES – Be Wiser Ducati …DNF. Ben CURRIE – Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki
Superbike Race Two Report
On the opening lap of race two Mackenzie hit the front of the pack, but he didn’t hold it for long as Dan Linfoot stormed ahead onboard the Santander Salt TAG Yamaha with Elliott in close contention after winning the opening race.
There was more disappointment for O’Halloran who was forced to retire with a technical problem on lap four.
At the front Elliott and Linfoot were scrapping for the lead and the OMG Racing Suzuki rider was able to get back to the front, but behind a collision between Andrew Irwin and Redding caused the Be Wiser Ducati star to crash out on lap six. Andrew Irwin was subsequently handed a Long Lap penalty that dropped him down the order, but he was able to climb back into seventh before the chequered flag.
A breakaway of four riders at the front was led by Elliott with Danny Buchan, Linfoot and Mackenzie giving chase. By lap 14 Mackenzie had grabbed the advantage and was holding off Elliott and Buchan, but the pack was closed up when Josh Brookes suffered a technical problem and was forced to retire the second Be Wiser Ducati out of sixth place, causing a BMW Safety Car intervention.
When the race resumed Mackenzie was immediately under pressure but held on to edge out an advantage over Elliott to score his first win ahead of Elliott and Buchan, who returned to the podium for the first time since Knockhill.
Tarran Mackenzie – McAMS Yamaha – Race Two winner
“To get my first proper victory is amazing. We didn’t have the best pre-season and struggled quite a lot but we found something on Friday that made the bike a little easier to ride and gave me a lot more confidence. It was unfortunate what happened in race one, I tried to put that to the back of my mind and got on with race two. I was gutted to see Jason break down as I genuinely wanted to have a proper race with him. The safety car coming out towards the end of the second race made things more difficult, but I was able to maintain the gap and take the win.”
Bridewell and the Oxford Racing Ducati team celebrated an incredible fourth place after a challenging start to the weekend, holding off Stapleford who continued to fight his way through the field into fifth place ahead of Mossey.
Andrew Irwin held off his team-mate Xavi Forés for seventh with Linfoot and Bradley Ray completing the top ten.
Superbike rookie Ben Currie bagged some points for 13th place ahead of Peter Hickman, Ryan Vickers and Sylvain Barrier.
2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Round One – Silverstone – Race Two
Tarran MACKENZIE – McAMS Yamaha 30:43.837
Josh ELLIOTT – OMG Racing Suzuki +0.635
Danny BUCHAN – FS-3 Racing Kawasaki +1.004
Tommy BRIDEWELL – Oxford Racing +2.257
Luke STAPLEFORD – Buildbase Suzuki +3.944
Luke MOSSEY – OMG Racing Suzuki +4.813
Andrew IRWIN – Honda Racing +7.368
Xavi FORÉS – Honda Racing +7.587
Dan LINFOOT – Santander Salt TAG Yamaha +7.815
Bradley RAY – Buildbase Suzuki +7.987
Glenn IRWIN – Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki +8.101
Keith FARMER – Tyco BMW Motorrad +8.302
Ben CURRIE – Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki +8.502
Peter HICKMAN – Smiths Racing +10.929
Ryan VICKERS – RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki +11.211
Sylvain BARRIER – Brixx Ducati +14.090
Christian IDDON – Tyco BMW Motorrad +14.903
Matt TRUELOVE – Raceways Yamaha +15.145
David ALLINGHAM – EHA Yamaha +15.422
Joe FRANCIS – Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad +15.626
Sam COVENTRY – Team 64 Motorsports +18.135
Dean HIPWELL – CDH Racing +19.574
James HILLIER – Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki +27.928 … DNF. Josh BROOKES – Be Wiser Ducati … DNF. Jason O’HALLORAN – McAMS Yamaha
2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Points
Josh ELLIOTT (Suzuki) 45
Tarran MACKENZIE (Yamaha) 45
Tommy BRIDEWELL (Ducati) 24
Luke MOSSEY (Suzuki) 23
Danny BUCHAN (Kawasaki) 23
Luke STAPLEFORD (Suzuki) 20
Andrew IRWIN (Honda) 19
Scott REDDING (Ducati) 16
Xavi FORÉS (Honda) 14
Dan LINFOOT (Yamaha) 10
Claudio CORTI (Kawasaki) 8
Bradley RAY (Suzuki) 6
Christian IDDON (BMW) 5
Glann IRWIN (Kawasaki) 5
Ryan VICKERS (Kawasaki) 5
Keith FARMER (BMW) 5
Peter HICKMAN (BMW) 4
Ben CURRIE (Kawasaki) 3
Pirelli National Superstock 1000
Alex Olsen struck back in the third Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race with a dominant victory. As he did in both races yesterday, it was Richard Cooper who grabbed the holeshot but the series leader was unable to fend off a fast charging Olsen, who moved into the lead on lap six.
Setting a string of fast laps, Olsen was able to stretch a gap to the chasers to take his maiden victory of the season and move in to just four points of the Championship lead. Taylor Mackenzie secured another second place whilst Cooper finished third. Lee Jackson was again fourth whilst Superstock rookie Eemeli Lahti was fifth.
Billy McConnell finished the weekend with a seventh place result while fellow South Australian Levi Day took 12th place. Brayden Elliott finished just outside the points once again in 16th.
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 – Race Result
Richard COOPER GBR Suzuki – Buildbase Suzuki 22:53.340
Taylor MACKENZIE GBR BMW – Bathams Racing +0.221
Alex OLSEN GBR BMW – Team IMR +0.390
Lee JACKSON GBR Kawasaki – FS-3 Racing Ltd +2.103
Eemeli LAHTI FIN Kawasaki – STAUFF Quick Connect Superstock 100 +7.656
Lewis ROLLO GBR Aprilia – IN Competition +8.155
Billy McCONNELL AUS Suzuki – OMG Racing Suzuki +8.759
Tom NEAVE GBR Honda – Honda Racing +8.884
Leon JEACOCK GBR Suzuki – Geo E Davies Racing +10.245
Luke HEDGER GBR Kawasaki – CPD Kawasaki +10.710
Paul McCLUNG GBR BMW – Paul McClung Racing (PMR) +14.539
Levi DAY AUS Aprilia – IN Competition +19.118
Barry TEASDALE GBR BMW – TwoTwoFour Motorsport –
Michael RUTTER GBR BMW – Bathams Racing +19.303
Craig NEVE GBR BMW – Callmac Scaffolding +19.713
Brayden ELLIOTT AUS Suzuki – No Bull Racing CPE Motosport +22.075
Rob McNEALY GBR BMW – McNealy Brown +22.282
Tom TUNSTALL GBR BMW – Integro +22.988
Daniel COOPER GBR BMW – Impcross Engineering Racing +23.932
Max ALEXANDER GBR BMW – R&T Racing +34.278
James WHITE GBR Kawasaki – Team Afterdark +36.236
Sam WEST GBR BMW – PRL +41.217
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Standings
Richard COOPER 46
Taylor MACKENZIE 43
Alex OLSEN 42
Lee JACKSON 26
Eemeli LAHTI 21.5
Tom NEAVE 18
Lewis ROLLO 16
Luke HEDGER 14.5
Billy McCONNELL 10.5
Leon JEACOCK 9
Michael RUTTER 8
Levi DAY 8
Chrissy ROUSE 4.5
Paul McLUNG 4.5
Andrew REID 4
Benjamin GODFREY 3.5
Tom WARD 3
Barry TEASDALE 3
Joe COLLIER 2
Tim NEAVE 1
Aaron CLARKE 0.5
Craig NEVE 0.5
Dickies British Supersport
Colin Appleyard Macadam Yamaha rider Jack Kennedy doubled up on Dickies British Supersport wins after an epic scrap in the second outing. Alastair Seeley was the early race leader, grabbing the holeshot but with six riders covered by less than one second for the entire 26 lap race it came down to the very final corner as Kennedy slipped his way past to double on wins.
Despite hitting the grass on the final bend, Seeley was able to hold off the pursuing pack to take another second place whilst Brad Jones was again third in the Supersport class. Kyle Ryde finished third on track to win the GP2 class.
Sam Wilford was fifth overall, second in the GP2 class ahead of Lee Johnston and Jamie Perrin, who completed the GP2 podium.
Dickies British Supersport & GP2 Race Two – Silverstone
Jack KENNEDY – Integro Yamaha +24:42.420
Alastair SEELEY – EHA Yamaha +0.463
Kyle RYDE – Kovara by RS Racing +0.557
Brad JONES – Integro Yamaha +0.685
Sam WILFORD – IDWe Racing +1.126
Lee JOHNSTON – Ashcourt Racing +2.408
Jamie PERRIN – Nova Racing Transmissions/Go R +10.437
Harry TRUELOVE – Truelove Property & Construction +14.124
Tom OLIVER – SGR Racing +14.263
Bradley PERIE – Diamond H Racing +15.702
Richard KERR – Campbell Motorsport +17.491
Kurt WIGLEY – Sorrymate.com Racing +18.688
Tatsuya YAMAGUCHI – Team ILR/Mark Coverdale +22.545
Ben WILSON – Gearlink Kawasaki +25.526
Charlie NESBITT – Hisc/Rapid Fulfillment Racing +25.741
Jorel BOERBOOM – JB50 Racing +34.260
Thomas STRUDWICK – Case FTR Moto / Spirit Motorcycles +37.860
Ross TWYMAN – Gearlink Kawasaki +8.688
Matt WIGLEY – Sorrymate.com Racing +43.337
Phil WAKEFIELD – PWR +50.199
Jake ARCHER – Kovara projects by RS Racing +1 Lap
Tomás DE VRIES – DAT Racing – Chassis Factory +1 Lap
Tarran Mackenzie claimed his first pole position in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Silverstone this afternoon, holding off his hard-charging team-mate Jason O’Halloran by 0.054s whilst Scott Redding fired himself onto the front row ahead of his BSB race debut tomorrow (Sunday).
There was a dramatic start to the opening Datatag Qualifying session of the season for Josh Brookes, who suffered a technical problem with his Be Wiser Ducati, causing a brief red flag delay and the 2015 champion will start 18th on the grid for tomorrow’s opening race.
It was a close battle to qualify for Q2 with 24 riders covered by just 0.728s and the first rider to narrowly miss out was Quattro Plant – JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Ben Currie in the closing seconds of the opening session.
In Q2 there was another incredible battle to be inside the top nine to qualify for the final Q3 stage; the Honda Racing pairing narrowly missed out on making the cut, just 0.056s putting Andrew Irwin the first in the drop zone adrift of Christian Iddon, who held ninth for Tyco BMW.
When Q3 got underway Mackenzie was straight out of pitlane and instantly on the attack for a flying lap, setting the benchmark early ahead of O’Halloran and Josh Elliot as OMG Racing Suzuki qualified for the final qualifying stage for the first time.
Redding meanwhile had been building momentum during his first Datatag Qualifying experience and he moved into sixth, before a final attack put him into third and on the front row ahead of his much-anticipated race debut.
Elliot was able to hold off his team-mate Luke Mossey to head the second row as the OMG Racing Suzuki celebrated their strongest qualifying performances to date ahead of Dan Linfoot on the Santander Salt TAG Yamaha.
Tommy Bridewell and the Oxford Racing Ducati team will start in seventh place after their hard work to rebuild the stricken machine after yesterday’s crash with Christian Iddon and Luke Stapleford completing the top nine.
2019 British Superbike Round One – Silverstone Qualifying Times
Tarran Mackenzie – Yamaha 53.549 Q3
Jason O’Halloran – Yamaha 53.604 Q3
Scott Redding – Ducati 53.607 Q3
Josh Elliott – Suzuki 53.738 Q3
Luke Mossey – Suzuki 53.808 Q3
Dan Linfoot – Yamaha 53.874 Q3
Tommy Bridewell – Ducati 53.893 Q3
Christian Iddon – BMW 54.081 Q3
Luke Stapleford – Suzuki 54.223 Q3
Andrew Irwin – Honda 54.122 Q2
Xavi Fores – Honda 54.181 Q2
Claudio Corti – Kawasaki 54.238 Q2
Ryan Vickers – Kawasaki 54.274 Q2
Danny Buchan – Kawasaki 54.309 Q2
Glenn Irwin – Kawasaki 54.325 Q2
Bradley Ray – Suzuki 54.381 Q2
David Allingham – Yamaha 54.680 Q2
Josh Brookes – Ducati 54.213 Q1
Ben Currie – Kawasaki 54.380 Q1
Keith Farmer – BMW 54.489 Q1
Peter Hickman – BMW 54.507 Q1
Sylvain Barrier – Ducati 54.656 Q1
Matt Truelove – Yamaha 54.711 Q1
Joe Francis – BMW 54.730 Q1
Shaun Winfield – Yamaha 55.104 Q1
James Ellison – BMW 55.288 Q1
Dean Harrison – Kawasaki 55.332 Q1
Fraser Rogers – Kawasaki 55.341 Q1
Dean Hipwell – Kawasaki 55.357 Q1
James Hiller – Kawasaki 55.568 Q1
Sam Coventry – Kawasaki 55.734 Q1
Conor Cummins – Honda 55.744 Q1
Tarran Mackenzie – P1
“It feels really good to be on pole position as I didn’t have the best pre-season really. I felt good on the bike but I just wasn’t that fast, so coming here after the test I was a bit more confident. In Q2 the bike felt perfect so I felt happy going into Q3, I didn’t expect pole position so this is awesome and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Scott Redding – P3
“If you are an adrenaline junkie that was exactly what you want to do – for me that was insane! I am used to one qualifying session and then maybe a second one. You don’t want to make a mistake in Q1 but then in Q3 you just close your eyes and go all in. That was so much adrenaline and I am super happy with that. I was a bit nervous to start with but this system is amazing as you can get clear laps at the end. I wanted to go for the pole position, that was my mindset and I think how it was for everyone. Unfortunately it wasn’t me today but it is a good start to my season.”
British Superstock 1000
Richard Cooper enjoyed a perfect start to his Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship with a double win in the two opening races.
In the first 24 lap race, it was Cooper who grabbed the holeshot ahead of Taylor Mackenzie and Alex Olsen. Maintaining positions for the opening half of the race, Olsen made his move into the lead but was unable to break away leaving it a battle until the last lap to decide the victor.
Coming into the final corner in the lead, a problem for Olsen saw Cooper slice his way past to take victory with Mackenzie also taking advantage to claim second place.
The start of the second 24 lap race was almost a replica of the first as again Mackenzie, Cooper and Olsen were able to break away from the rest of the field to fight for the victory amongst themselves.
Trading places throughout the race, it came down to another last corner move as Cooper fought his way past Mackenzie and was able to fend off a late challenge to the line to claim a double win. Olsen was again third whilst behind him Lee Jackson took a brace of fourth place finishes.
South Australia’s Billy McConnell scored 18th and 7th places across the two races while Brayden Elliott finished 26th in the first bout before improving to 16th place in the second race of the weekend.
British Supersport
Jack Kennedy kicked off his title defence with victory in the opening Dickies British Supersport race after an epic battle with Alastair Seeley over the final few laps. Kennedy grabbed the holeshot into the first corner, with team mate Brad Jones in close contention behind and Seeley running third.
The two Colin Appleyard Macadam Yamaha riders were able to pull a gap of one second over the Seeley during the opening third of the race but a string of fast laps from the ‘Wee Wizard’ saw him close up, taking the lead at the start of lap. The trio traded places throughout the closing laps, coming down to the final lap as Kennedy past Seeley coming onto the back straight to take victory.
Lee Johnston was fourth whilst Kyle Ryde was the leading GP2 Cup rider in fifth. Sam Wilford was second in the GP2 class, sixth overall, whilst Jamie Perrin was third in the class (ninth overall).
British Supersport Race One Results
Jack Kennedy (Colin Appleyard Macadam Yamaha)
Alastair Seeley (EHA Racing Yamaha) +0.194s
Brad Jones (Colin Appleyard Macadam Yamaha) +0.440s
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