British Superbikes Donington Park: Surprising Sykes is ninth different winner

While there was plenty of action going on for the Showdown riders, Sykes had his own script to write as he pulled out a dominant win after a disappointing season in the Sprint race at the Grand Prix layout of Donington Park.

The former World Superbike champion had been one to watch before the season began but something didn’t quite click for rider and team leading to a string of lacklustre results and hard work from both the #66 and his MCE Ducati team.

They looked to have made considerable headway when posting a best result so far of sixth at the last round.

‘I was able to ride around some of the problems’

At a track he knows well and without having to slice through the field, a front row start gave Sykes the opportunity he needed to run his own lines:

“It’s just not happened for whatever reason, so today on a Superbike circuit I was able to ride around some of the problems and utilise the advantages of where we’re strong with the Ducati.

“It worked out. It was important to get that good start to be able to run the lines and do what I wanted with the bike”.

• 2022 British Superbikes Donington Park- Race Results (1)
• Petrucci: More tired, more fast? ‘Okay, I’ll win the race!’
• Crutchlow: Foot is swollen, black, broken underneath the ankle

‘I just wanted to keep it on two wheels’

If Sykes’ win was special as it was unexpected, the Jason O’Halloran’s second was just as important as he battled injury just to be on the grid.

With team-mate Tarran Mackenzie, Rory Skinner and Christian Iddon all out of action after the drama of Oulton Park, as late as Friday the Yamaha man was possibly going to be joining that list, with a break detected in his ankle.

Hobbling and limping off-track, the Australian came alive on the bike. Although he initially struggled, dropping from pole to sixth after a couple of corners, he showed the same determination as he did to make the entry sheet to come back and race Bradley Ray for second and take the place after working his way through the riders ahead.

“I knew for one lap in quali I could put a lap together, which was fine but we weren’t sure how the race was going to pan out…got a little bit of a bad start and beaten up a bit on the first lap - I was sixth or seventh for a little bit - then I had to take my time and get through everyone, I just wanted to keep it on two wheels and bring it home for a finish”.

Ray had looked like he would still hold third but the OMG Rich Energy Yamaha rider was struggling very visibly with grip and a late error saw him wide as he struggled for control, leaving the door open for Peter Hickman, who didn’t need a second invite.

‘I managed to capitalise on it - so thanks Brad!’

Hickman got a good start but it was Kyle Ryde leading briefly before Sykes took over for the duration.

The FHO BMW rider, much like O’Halloran worked to get back to the front and looked to be the man to miss out on a rostrum finish after the Australian made his move - until the opening came his way, handing him a podium for his 400th start:

“second row was a good start, good race, in with the front guys. I made a bit of a mistake, just past the mid-part which meant I dropped back a bit.

I really had to work hard to get back there and I finally did right on the last lap and Brad just made a little bit of an error and I managed to capitalise on it. So thanks Brad!”

Off the podium

That left Ray in fourth, but comfortably as fifth placed Glenn Irwin left it too late to make a run at the leaders once in fifth for Honda.

Lee Jackson made late progress to climb to sixth for Cheshire Holdings FS-3 Kawasaki. After his brief moment in front, Ryde was travelling in the wrong direction on his way to seventh on the second Rich Energy OMG Yamaha.

Tommy Bridewell remained second overall after making up a few places on his eleventh on the grid in qualifying for Oxford Products Ducati in eighth by the end of the race.

Leon Halsam was ninth for VisionTrack Kawasaki, just ahead of Ryan Vickers (FHO Racing BMW).

Josh Brookes was just outside the top ten on the second MCE Ducati, clear of Danny Buchan in twelfth for Synetiq BMW Motorrad.

The remaining points on offer went to the Honda trio of Tom Neave, Takumi Takahashi and Ryo Mizuno in 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.