After Kyle Ryde's Race 1 triumph and the victory of Glenn Irwin over Race 2's 12 laps, Danny Kent started from pole position in search of his first BSB race victory.

Race 3

Jason O’Halloran won the third and final British Superbike Championship race at Donington Park on Sunday afternoon, the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki taking a thrilling victory ahead of Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing) and Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha).

Bridewell grabbed the holeshot from Kent and Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) only for the latter to take second at the Foggy Esses and the running order at the end of the opening lap was Bridewell, Irwin, Kent, Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW), Kyle Ryde (OMG Grilla Yamaha Racing) and O’Halloran. Ryan Vickers was missing though due to a broken collarbone sustained in the earlier Sprint race.

Ryde relegated Kent another spot to fourth after sliding up the inside at the Melbourne Hairpin on lap two only for them to swap places a lap later and Haslam also lost a place on lap three as O’Halloran took over fifth.

The Australian was very much a man on the move and was up to third on lap four, but fellow countryman Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW) was out of luck, crashing out of eighth at Goddards.

Back at the front and Irwin overtook Bridewell on the way into the Foggy Esses on the fifth lap to take the lead for the first time but Ryde was going backwards and found himself relegated to seventh, Max Cook taking over sixth on the second Kawasaki.

Bridewell was back in the lead on lap seven as just two seconds covered the leading eight riders and Irwin found himself pushed back another spot at the Melbourne Hairpin as O’Halloran forced his way through. The Ducati man immediately retaliated though and was back up to second a lap later, aided by the fastest lap of the race.

The order on lap nine was Bridewell, Irwin, O’Halloran, Kent, Haslam and Ryde but the leading five riders had broken away, Ryde a second adrift in sixth and lap ten, half race distance, saw Irwin reclaim the lead once more.

O’Halloran was continuing to make some strong moved, taking second from Bridewell on lap 11, but any of the top five were still in with a good shout although Kent lost a bit of ground, and fourth place to Haslam, after running slightly wide at the Foggy Esses.

Going into the final third of the race, it looked like it would be a straight battle between Irwin, O’Halloran and Bridewell but with Irwin looking to make a break, Bridewell was back into second with just five laps to go. Kent wasn’t out of it either as he fought his way back up to fourth, one second now covering the front four.

With two laps to go, Irwin led by three tenths of a second and although Bridewell nosed ahead at the Old Hairpin, he ran wide which handed the lead back to Irwin, but he made the pass stick at the Melbourne Hairpin with O’Halloran making the most of the opportunity to push Irwin back to third.

O’Halloran then took the lead on the penultimate lap with Kent pushing Irwin out of the podium places at the same time only for the Ducati man to retake the position at the next corner. A late move on Bridewell at the Esses on the final lap saw him take second but Bridewell returned the favour at the Hairpin and with a slight gap, Kent was back up to third with Irwin down in fourth once more.

But it was O’Halloran who got the win by just over a second, Bridewell and Kent joining him on the podium as championship leader Irwin missed out. Four seconds further back, Ryde came through for fifth with Haslam, Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing), Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda), Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) and Cook rounding out the top ten

Race 2

Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) won Sunday’s afternoon’s British Superbike Championship 12-lap Sprint race at a sun-kissed Donington Park, the championship leader taking his fourth win of the season ahead of Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW) and Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing).

Irwin grabbed the lead on the opening lap and he led Haslam by just under a second after the first 2.5 miles, pole man Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) slotting into third from Saturday’s winner Kyle Ryde (OMG Grilla Yamaha Racing), Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) and Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki). Reigning champion Bridewell was seventh just ahead of Ryde’s team-mate Ryan Vickers.

Jason O'Halloran, Charlie Nesbitt, 2024 Donington BSB. Credit: Impact Images.

As the pack squabbled for position, Irwin added almost half a second to his lead second time around with Haslam almost a second clear of the battle for third which was now led by Ryde with Iddon and Bridewell close behind. Vickers was out though having crashed at Melbourne Hairpin for the second time in as many days.

Lap four and Irwin led Haslam by 1.3s with new third placed rider Bridewell now almost two further seconds in arrears. Ryde was now fourth ahead of the injured Iddon and Kawasaki’s Jason O’Halloran who’d pushed Kent back to seventh.

Next time around and Iddon slipped back to seventh after being overhauled by Kent and O’Halloran, but the latter was soon out, running straight on at Goddards with an apparent mechanical issue. Team-mate Cook then followed him out of the race just half a lap later.

Back at the front and Haslam had brought Irwin’s down to less than a second with Bridewell continuing to run strongly in third ahead of Ryde with Kent and Iddon promoted back up to fifth and sixth respectively after O’Halloran’s demise.

With four laps to go, Irwin’s lead was just half a second, but the Ducati man responded and did what he needed to keep Haslam at bay, crossing the line 0.406s clear with Bridewell taking a solid third. Further back Kent, who set the fastest lap of the race, claimed fourth from Ryde with Iddon riding bravely into sixth ahead of Charlie Nesbitt, Josh Brookes, Andrew Irwin and Fraser Rogers.

Race 1

Kyle Ryde won his first British Superbike Championship race of the season at Donington Park on Saturday afternoon, the OMG Grilla Yamaha Racing rider getting the verdict from Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing and Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW) after the race was stopped on lap 15 of 18 when Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) crashed out.

Pole sitter Ryan Vickers grabbed the holeshot going into Redgate on the second OMG machine and he led the field at the end of the lap from Ryde, Haslam, Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha), Bridewell and Iddon with championship leader Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) in seventh although the latter two swapped positions at the Foggy Esses a lap later. And just a corner later there was drama as race leader Vickers crashed out at the Melbourne Hairpin.

That handed the lead to Ryde with the front eight breaking away from the rest of the field, Iddon taking third from Kent at the Foggy Esses on lap three with Bridewell retaking Irwin at the next corner. Irwin immediately retaliated and then moved into fourth at the expense of Kent.

Lap five and Ryde continued to lead from Haslam, the gap 0.393s, with Iddon still running in third ahead of Irwin, Bridewell and Kent as just two seconds covered the leading seven riders, which also included Max Cook on the leading Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki). Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) was losing ground though and was now a further second back in eighth.

Two laps later and Ryde had doubled his lead whilst Bridewell had got back ahead of Irwin for fourth with the Honda man immediately closing in on Iddon. Indeed, he took over the final podium position at the end of lap nine, diving up the inside of Iddon at Goddards.

At half race distance, Ryde’s lead stood at three quarters of a second with the leading group having split into two packs, Ryde, Haslam and Bridewell having opened up a second gap over Iddon, Kent, Irwin – who’d dropped back to sixth – and Cook who was continuing to have a strong ride.

Haslam was riding as tenaciously as ever and closed right back in on Ryde’s wheel but no sooner had he done so then he ran wide at Goddards on lap 13, gifting second to Bridewell. Kent was closing in too and the race now looked to be between these four riders as they stretched the gap to Iddon, Irwin and Cook. Disaster then struck on lap 15 with Iddon crashing on the exit of the Old Hairpin and that brought out the red flag.

That meant Ryde got the win, his first of the season, with Bridewell and Haslam joining him on the podium as Kent, Irwin, Cook, Jackson, Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki), Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) and Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW) completed the top ten.