Glenn Irwin arrives to the first Donington Park BSB round of the 2024 season with the championship lead after his treble at the Oulton Park BSB two weeks ago, and also with the momentum of a perfect North West 200 behind him, with three wins from his three NW200 Superbike starts.

Qualifying

Ryan Vickers claimed pole position ahead of this afternoon’s British Superbike Championship race at Donington Park, the OMG Grilla Yamaha Racing rider edging out team-mate Kyle Ryde and Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) in the single lap Superpole

Fraser Rogers (TAG Honda), reigning champion Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing) and Billy McConnell (C&L Fairburn/Look Forward Racing Honda) were the three riders to advance from the qualifying session and it was Bridewell who set the pace initially in Superpole with a 1’28.249.

Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW) fell 0.6s shy of Bridewell’s time to slot into second but places soon began to change as the quicker riders took to the 2.5-mile GP circuit, Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) the first to knock Bridewell off the top spot albeit by just 0.079s.

Ryde was the next rider to claim first place and he was the first in the 27’s too after lapping at 1’27.634, quicker than anyone had managed in Friday’s practice sessions, Danny Kent (McAMS Yamaha) doing the same a few minutes later although he couldn’t topple Ryde from the top of the timesheets.

Championship leader Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) fell almost a second short of Ryde’s time after a few slides, particularly on the way into the Melbourne Hairpin, but Haslam put in a good lap to go second, just over a tenth adrift of his Yamaha rival. Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) then went fourth after almost losing the front at Goddards although his lap time was ultimately cancelled after an indiscretion at the Foggy Esses.

That just left Vickers and he duly claimed the top spot from Ryde, but it was close with just 0.026s separating them at the chequered flag. Haslam completed the front row with Kent, Jackson and Bridewell on the second row as Christian Iddon, Irwin, Max Cook and Brookes rounded out the top ten.

Peter Hickman was an absentee and will take no further part in the meeting, opting instead to give his injured hand a rest ahead of the forthcoming Isle of Man TT Races.

FP3

Ryan Vickers was fastest yet again in BSB FP3 at Donington Park in the finals session before qualifying. Tommy Bridewell appeared to take a step forward in second place, and Kyle Ryde was third on the second OMG Yamaha.

Full BSB FP3 results from Donington are below.

FP2

Ryan Vickers was fastest after FP2 in Donington. He was one of four riders - the others being Jason O'Halloran, Leon Haslam, and Glenn Irwin - to go under 1:28 on Friday afternoon.

Just behind them was Danny Kent in fifth, while Kyle Ryde completed the top six. Christian Iddon, Charlie Nesbitt, Lee Jackson, and Max Cook rounded out the top 10. The final two positions in Superpole were filled by Peter Hickman and Tom Neave's replacement at the Stauff Fluid Power Kawasaki team, Luke Mossey.

Rory Skinner was the only rider to not improve in FP2, as he did not set a time in the later session. His FP1 time put him 23rd overall.

FP1

Lee Jackson produced something of a surprise in FP1 at Donington, ending the first session of the weekend fastest. Jackson currently sits 13th in the standings and has a best result of 11th this season. That said, the #14's best FP1 time was over one second off the pace set by Kyle Ryde at the preseason test held at Donington in April.

Ryde himself was fourth-fastest in FP1, behind Jackson, Ryan Vickers, and Christian Iddon. The #77 was the final rider to lap in under 1:29 in the opening session.

Although championship leader Glenn Irwin was outside the 1:28s, he was less than a tenth slower than Ryde at a 1:29.081. Down in seventh, Irwin had Leon Haslam and Danny Kent between himself and Ryde.

Behind Irwin were Charlie Nesbitt, Josh Brookes, and Jason O'Halloran who completed the top 10.