Jason O’Halloran topped the third British Superbike Championship practice session at Donington Park ahead of qualifying and the first of the weekend's three races.
The McAMS Yamaha rider lapped the Leicestershire circuit 0.127s quicker than Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) with Andrew Irwin in third (Honda Racing).
Greeted by bright, sunny conditions at the Leicestershire venue, it was Haslam who made the early running in the 20-minute session with a lap of 1’28.553 giving him a near second advantage over Irwin as Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Dyucati), LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha team-mates Ryan Vickers and Friday’s pace setter Kyle Ryde and Hector Barbera (TAG Racing Honda) completed the early top six.
Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing) was the second rider to dip into the 1’28’s but Irwin soon knocked Haslam off the top spot after lapping at 1’28.257 which was two tenths of a second quicker than what he’d lapped the previous day.
Haslam responded and closed to within 0.037s on his fourth lap but it was all change shortly afterwards as O’Halloran, third quickest on Friday, went to the top of the leaderboard with a lap of 1’28.108, just over a tenth quicker than Irwin. Haslam remained in second ahead of Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha), Danny Buchan (Synetiq BMW) and Nesbitt.
However, Haslam was continuing to lap quicker and was the first rider in the 1’27’s during the session with a lap of 1’27.993, O’Halloran getting to within 0.095s of his time. Meanwhile, Max Cook (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) moved up to sixth after lapping more than half a second quicker than what he’d gone the previous day.
With ten minutes to go, O’Halloran went back to the top of the timesheets with a 1’27.866, which was also better than his Friday time, and the running order now was O’Halloran, Haslam, Irwin, Nesbitt, Vickers and Kennedy. Friday’s pace setter Ryde had slipped back to 15th with Glenn Irwin and Josh Brookes, fourth and sixth respectively the previous day, also outside the top ten.
Vickers improved to fourth with just over four minutes remaining with Glenn Irwin jumping up the order to fifth although both were pushed back a place shortly afterwards by Buchan, who was showing well on his return from injury.
There were to be no further changes in the top six with Bridewell, Nesbitt, Kennedy and Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) completing the top ten. Brookes and Ryde could only manage 17th and 18th respectively.
CLICK HERE to view the latest 2023 BSB standings after 2 Rounds of 11
2023 British Superbike Championship [BSB] | Donington Park | FP3 Results | Round 3 / 11 | |||||
Pos. | Rider | Nat. | Team | Motorcycle | Time |
1 | Jason O'Halloran | AUS | McAMS | Yamaha R1 | 1m 27.866 |
2 | Leon Haslam | GBR | ROKiT BMW Motorrad | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 27.993 |
3 | Andrew Irwin | GBR | Honda Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 28.113 |
4 | Danny Buchan | GBR | SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 28.156 |
5 | Glenn Irwin | GBR | BeerMonster PBM | Ducati Panigale V4 | 1m 28.252 |
6 | Ryan Vickers | GBR | LAMI OMG Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 28.310 |
7 | Tommy Bridewell | GBR | BeerMonster PBM | Ducati Panigale V4 | 1m 28.396 |
8 | Charlie Nesbitt | GBR | MasterMac by Hawk | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 28.695 |
9 | Jack Kennedy | IRL | Mar-Train Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 28.776 |
10 | Lee Jackson | GBR | Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 28.778 |
11 | Max Cook | GBR | Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 28.899 |
12 | Peter Hickman | GBR | FHO Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 28.928 |
13 | Danny Kent | GBR | Lovell Kent Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 28.967 |
14 | Dean Harrison | GBR | DAO Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 28.977 |
15 | Storm Stacey | GBR | Starline Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 29.091 |
16 | Tom Neave | GBR | Honda Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 29.223 |
17 | Josh Brookes | AUS | FHO Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 29.247 |
18 | Kyle Ryde | GBR | LAMI OMG Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 29.312 |
19 | Luke Mossey | GBR | Tactix L1 Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 29.437 |
20 | Hector Barbera | ESP | TAG Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 29.454 |
21 | Tim Neave | GBR | McAMS | Yamaha R1 | 1m 29.489 |
22 | Josh Owens | GBR | Crendon by Hawk | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 29.595 |
23 | Jack Scott | GBR | Rapid CDH Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 30.216 |
24 | Davey Todd | GBR | Milenco by Padgetts | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 30.242 |
25 | Bradley Perie | GBR | VisionTrack Racng | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 30.669 |
26 | Christian Iddon | GBR | Oxford Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 | 1m 30.975 |
27 | Liam Delves | GBR | Rapid CDH Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 32.043 |