2021 British Superbike Championship
Round Five Donington

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British Superbike

Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell shared the victories in Sunday’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship races at Donington Park after Championship leader Jason O’Halloran won the opening race of the weekend on Saturday.

Despite only finishing 12th in the final race, staged under mixed conditions, Jason O’Halloran leaves Donington having improved his lead in the championship. A bad weekend for Christian Iddon saw Tarran Mackenzie move up to second place in the championship, 54-points behind his McAms Yamaha team-mate O’Halloran.

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2021 BSB Donington – Race 1

Jason O’Halloran continued his winning streak in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship by claiming victory in the opening BikeSocial Race at Donington Park, following an intense battle in the opening race of the weekend.

O’Halloran launched into the lead from the pole position, but Glenn Irwin soon grabbed the advantage to put the Honda ahead. Meanwhile though Tarran Mackenzie had moved into second place as championship leader O’Halloran was initially pushed back down the order.

By the third lap, Christian Iddon had carved his way through from fourth to become the third different race leader in as many laps, before Glenn Irwin then regained the position a lap later.

The BMW Safety Car was deployed when Joey Thompson crashed out at Coppice on the fifth lap, with the pack forming up for the restart with Glenn Irwin leading Iddon, O’Halloran, Mackenzie, Andrew Irwin and Ryan Vickers.

Glenn Irwin defended his position hard, holding off the chasing pack as O’Halloran moved up the order and was holding second place by the halfway point of the race.

Two laps later and O’Halloran made a move for the lead into Redgate and started to try and break the pack. The McAMS Yamaha rider edged out a 1.866s advantage at the chequered flag over the final seven laps.

The battle for the final podium positions continued to rage right until the finish line as Mackenzie had fought back into second place, narrowly ahead of Glenn Irwin and Iddon.

However, the McAMS Yamaha rider was demoted to third on the final lap when his Honda Racing rival made a final attempt for second on the brakes at Roberts for the last time and had the edge to the line with Iddon in fourth.

Tommy Bridewell was fifth for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team after Ryan Vickers was issued a two-second time penalty for a course cut on the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki, pushing him to sixth just ahead of Andrew Irwin.

Lee Jackson finished eighth to maintain the final position in the top eight in the standings currently, with Peter Hickman and Bradley Ray completing the top ten. It was another difficult race for defending champion Josh Brookes; he ended the race in 18th position.

2021 BSB Donington – Race 1 Results

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2021 BSB Donington – Race 2

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 team-mate 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.

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.

2021 BSB Donington – Race 2 Results

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2021 BSB Donington – Race 3

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.

2021 BSB Donington – Race 3 Results

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BSB Quotes

Tommy Bridewell

“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.”

Glenn Irwin

“40 points, that’s what we look at this weekend and take away with us. Race 2 we had the crash, and I dislocated my shoulder, but you know we’re not superhuman and this happens. I’m overwhelmed with everyone, like ‘you’re a hero’ but honestly on the bike I was fine, a little sore changing direction. I wouldn’t change that result in Race 3, my boys did a great job, the front tyre was a last-minute call, I don’t know if someone was looking over us but something made me want to change. I don’t normally feel comfortable in those conditions, but we done it and it’s been a great weekend. Eurosport did a fantastic feature on myself this weekend, I’m grateful for being able to talk about mental health and show that the official BSB team riders are all in this together, and to anyone who is struggling, if I bounce back today, you guys can overcome a lot more.”

Christian Iddon

“Some days, things don’t go your way and today was a case of that. I was taken out by another rider in the opening race and the fact he got a penalty tells the story, but it doesn’t get me any points back. Then in race two, I was feeling confident and knew I had the correct tyres as the track dried and was closing on the leaders but the next thing I know is I’m sliding down the track on my backside at 120 mph. I’m not having the best of luck right now, but we’ll go again at Cadwell Park next weekend and try to get things back on track.”

Josh Brookes

“We’ve made progress this weekend but not as much as I would have liked, and I’d say the improvements have been small and results are still nowhere near where they should be. There are still some issues that we need to resolve, the main one being grip which is the one causing the most concern. The issues aren’t what I’d like and that’s having a knock-on effect on the engine braking strategy. It’s difficult to get the correct engine settings and we’re yet to find the balance. We did make improvements today from yesterday and my pace was good in the mixed conditions so there are some positives to take away from the weekend.”

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2021 British Superbike Championship Points

Source: MCNews.com.au