2022 British Superbike Donington Park- Qualifying Results
Jason O’Halloran came through Q1 to top qualifying, taking pole position qualifying for round ten of the championship, a return to Donington Park to continue the Showdown.
Jason O’Halloran is carrying injury after the two huge take outs he suffered at Oulton Park, but drew a line after that difficult weekend for himself and the team by bouncing back for pole position in Qualifying for the Sprint Race at Donington Park.
After seeing his title hopes fade for the second year in a row after the last round the McAMs Yamaha rider bravely rode through injury - he is hobbling around in the paddock - with a cracked bone in his left ankle.
In Q1 after not pushing too hard in the changeable, wet weather that came in practice, the Australian came through with the second best time. Against the odds the #22 went on to secure pole with a lap of 1m 28.338s.
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He set that lap quite early in Q2 and was sat in the pit seeing what the rest of the field had to offer.
Championship leader Bradley Ray came incredibly close. The OMG Rich Energy rider was just 0.009s behind on his best lap taking a huge chunk out of the last two sectors on track. The #28 can take solace that his newest near rival in the title hunt, Tommy Bridewell, could only manage eleventh on the Oxford Products Ducati.
Plenty of riders sit between him and chasing down Ray.
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Tom Sykes finishes the front row, his first visit to the top three grid slots this season after recording a best result on the MCE Ducati at Oulton.
Peter Hickman puled himself up to fourth late on for FHO Racing BMW. He is joined on row two by fellow Showdown rider, the newlt re-signed Kyle Ryde on the second Rich Energy machine. The local rider picked up a win at his home track earlier in the season.
Andrew Irwin (Synetiq BMW Motorrad ) starts sixth despite a trip into the gravel as he pushed on - ahead of his brother Glenn who was distraught back in his garage at only managing seventh in the hunt for the championship aboard his Honda. Glenn Irwin had topped Friday’s combined practice ties to lead the way into Q2.
Ryan Vickers (FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports) also came through Q1 for eighth.
Lee Jackson struggled in the wet so needed the Q1 track time to progress, he was only able to set the ninth best time on the sole Cheshire Holdings FS-3 Kawasaki.
Josh Brookes could not match his team-mate Sykes’ performance but had enough personal improvement to complete the top ten.
Bridewell was in talks with his team towards the end of the session on how to improve the Ducati for him ahead of the race, settling for eleventh for longer term gains.
In terms of the rider’s cup Hickman is well ahead of Danny Buchan on the grid, who leads the secondary standings for Synetiq BMW Motorrad. He qualified 13th, with the othr man in close contention Leon Haslam one place ahead of him in twelfth for VisionTrack Kawasaki.
What happened in Q1?
Danny Kent just missed out on moving into Q2 in seventh, with a bike issue hampering his progress.
Charlie Nesbitt is his team-mate for the round, coming in from Superstock to sit in for Christian Iddon at Buildbase Suzuki. Nesbitt impressivley was only one place behind so lines up 20th for race one.
Jack Kennedy tipped off his Mar-Train Yamaha in free practice, but was fine to qualify. The reigning British Supersport champion gets a run out in BSB before a full 2023 campaign. He qualified 24th.
Liam Delves was also shown off-track for Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki, playing a part in his 26th place.
Eemeli Lahti and Powerslide Racing Suzuki join for the last two rounds, qualifying 27th this time out.
Donington Statistics
BSB Donington Park Lap Record - Shane Byrne (2016) Ducati - 1m 28.896s
Round Three at Donington Park 2022
Qualifying:
Pole: Jason O’Halloran
Race One: Kyle Ryde
Race Two: Jason O’Halloran
Race Three: Jason O’Halloran
2021 at Donington Park
Round One:
Qualifying:
Pole:Jason O’Halloran
Race One (sprint): Jason O’Halloran
Race Two: Tarran Mackenzie
Race Three: Tommy Bridewell
Round Nine(Showdown):
Qualifying:
Pole: Gino Rea
Race One (sprint): Tarran Mackenzie
Race Two: Tommy Bridewell
Race Three: Tommy Bridewell
Oulton Park Results:
Qualifying:
Pole: Bradley Ray
Race One: Bradley Ray
Race Two: Lee Jackson
Race Three: Tommy Bridewell
Who is not riding at Donington?
The high drama of the last round at Oulton Park lead to many riders absent for Donington, just one week later.
Tarran Mackenzie suffered a season ending fracture to his tibia in his fall, which saw Peter Hickman unable to avoid, running over his leg.
Of the Showdown contenders, Rory Skinner is also not in Nottingham, having been diagnosed with broken bones in his hand following a CT scan after his crash.
Christian Iddon is also absent from the track, but is in the paddock. His concussion diagnosis sees him follow BSB protocols that anyone who suffers one does not ride for seven days, so back-to-back rounds prevent his appearance. Iddon also has broken bones in his hand.
