2022 British Superbikes Oulton Park - Race Results (2)

Lee Jackson came out on top in the seven lap sprint that resulted from two red flags as day two of the Showdown began in dramatic style at Outlon Park.

Lee Jackson took advantage of trouble for leader Bradley Ray to pass and win the second race of the meet at Oulton Park, round nine of the championship.

The third time the grid formed Jackson started from second after making progress in the first two four lap attempts at a race.

Ray was the only rider standing in the way of a win and the championship leader looked out of sorts after changing tyres for the second restart.

Pulling ahead on lap four and holding his line after only initially attempting to pass the then second placed Glenn Irwin, the Cheshire Holdings FS-3 Kawasaki took advantage of the opportunity in front of him, made his move stick and went on to win by 0.289s.

It is just Jackson’s second career win, the first also having come at Oulton Park earlier in the season.

It didn’t take long for Tommy Bridewell to realise there were places and Showdown points to be had and he soon went past Ray too for second.

It marked a massive turnaround in fortunes for the Oxford Products rider. At fault for the O’Halloran fall in the first part of the race, his time penalty became a grid penalty which he soon eradicated on the second start. The number 46 had earned a sixth place start for the third time on the grid, but had a further penalty to overcome after being given a one place grid demotion, along with Storm Stacey, for overtaking under the safety car.

Initially it looked as if ray was set to pick up where he left off having topped warm-up to continue his dominant force, before lining up first for the second and third restart on pole after pulling out a huge advantage before both red flags.

• 2022 British Superbikes Oulton Park- Race Results (1)
• 2022 British Superbike Oulton Park - Qualifying Results
• British Superbikes Oulton Park: first Showdown success goes to Ray

After the seven lap dash the Rich Energy OMG Yamaha rider complained of having no grip at all from his new rear tyre, which looked very worn after the race in parc ferme.

Glenn Irwin was lucky to be on track at all after being in the tangle which brought out the second red flag. With the only four Showdown riders left standing at the front of the race he was the last of the quartet on track in fourth for Honda.

Danny Buchan reeled in the leaders from his enhanced grid position to be in the lead group, but once in the lead group he progressed no further taking fifth for Synetiq BMW Motorrad.

Leon Haslam could be seen closing in behind but couldn’t quite bridge the gap by the chequered flag, finishing sixth for VisionTrack Kawasaki.

Tom Sykes lined up 16th and turned his fortunes around in the limited amount of laps to climb to seventh for MCE Ducati.

His team-mate Josh Brookes was almost a second behind him in eighth, ahead of Andrew Irwin who got a good start from the second row before slipping back to ninth for Synetiq BMW Motorrad.

After all of his dramas Peter Hickman completed the top ten.

 Hickman was pushed back three places on the original  grid after his part in the race one crash right at the end of the race with Jason O’Halloran. 

Judged to have ‘caused an avoidable impact with another rider, which resulted in another rider falling, whilst you continued’,Hickman was handed a disqualification from the race one result, a three place grid penalty and two penalty points.

That served he made progress enough to have been unlucky enough to hit Tarran Mackenzie, who was battling for the podium places. 

His bike was in need of repair, so then had a back of the grid start to work forward from on the FHO Racing BMW.

Storm Stacey was fifth on the new grid before his one place demotion, he went backwards as the seven laps went on to finish eleventh for Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki.

Danny Kent made forward moves for twelfth on the Buildbase Suzuki.

The remaining points went to Ryan Vickers (FHO BMW Racing with Attis Sports) in 13th,
Takumi Takahashi (Honda Racing) in 14th and fellow japanese rider Ryo Mizuno (Honda Racing) in 15th.

There were only 17 finishers with Leon Jeacock and Liam Delves the only other riders to see the chequered flag.

Kyle Ryde took out Tom Neave on the first lap of the final restart.

Disaster for McAMS with both riders out

The mechanics over at McAMS Yamaha had their work cut out with not one but two badly damaged bikes to rework before Sunday’s races.

The team already knew they had their work cut out after Tarran Mackenzie exited the sprint race in dramatic fashion. His bike took long into the evening to be recovered from a tree with the team still working on the machine in warm-up where he was 25th after only going out for three laps as work continued.

Further work was to be done after Hickman took out O’Halloran, his bike too reduced to pieces as it cartwheeled through the grass and gravel.

O’Halloran experienced an almost identical crash at Druids, this time after contact from Tommy Bridewell. The Ducati man was initially handed a long lap penalty but could not serve it before Tarran Mackenzie’s crash brought out the first red flag - off again under his own steam at Druids. 

Neither man or bike could stop their momentum and the defending champion crossed the corner and headed straight back into the path of the bikes slowing to avoid his bike, Peter Hickman could not get out of the way and hit Mackenzie. He was taken from the track by ambulance.

More red flag drama

That start only lasted four laps. Ray started from pole for the first restart and was again clear out front when spitting rain came to play. Hickman and Bridewell found themselves starting from the back row - Hickman was down the order after the crash while Bridewell’s in-race penalty was changed to a grid punishment.

Another four laps had been run when Christian Iddon tried a move, hit the back of Rory Skinner, staring a domino effect - An innocent Kyle Ryde was collected from the battle from second, while Glenn Irwin escaped the mess of bikes by heading up the slip road. A second red flag was produced to allow the riders to be attended to on track.
That crash left Skinner with arm injuries and Ryde sprinting back as his mechanics rushed to fix his bike for the third start, much as Hickman’s had after the first red flag, to join the back of the grid.

Iddon was also removed from the track by ambulance. Skinner did not restart.

Oulton Park Statistics:

Qualifying: 
1:Bradley Ray 1m 32.945s (new record)
2:Tommy Bridewell
3:Jason O’Halloran

Race One:
1: Bradley Ray
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Leon Haslam

Round Two at Oulton Park 2022

Qualifying:
Pole: Kyle Ryde

Race One: Bradley Ray
Race Two: Bradley Ray
Race Three: Lee Jackson

2021 at Oulton Park

Round One:
Qualifying:
Pole:Tommy Bridewell

Race One (sprint): Jason O’Halloran
Race Two: Jason O’Halloran
Race Three: Jason O’Halloran

Round Nine(Showdown):
Qualifying:
Pole: Josh Brookes

Race One (sprint): Tarran Mackenzie
Race Two: Tommy Bridewell
Race Three: Tommy Bridewell

Where does that leave the championship?

Ray still leads the Showdown standings with a total of 1102. Jackson moves into second after his win with a 53 point defecit.

O’Halloran slips to third, now 54 behind, with the same points total as Tommy Bridewell. 

Glenn Irwin is fifth overall with a 68 point gap, while after scoring zero points  Mackenzie, Ryde and Skinner complete the top eight.