British SuperBikes Round 10

Donington Park 

29 September - 1 October 2023

A few days before going to photograph the penultimate round of the British SuperBikes at Donington Park I posted a graphic on FaceBook of the top four riders with their championship points. The text hinted that the championship leader Glen Irwin and second place team mate Tommy Bridewell haven’t done well at Donington in the last few years.

Add in the inclement weather that you tend to get at this time of the year, and you have a potential recipe for the following riders in the championship to gain some ground on the leading Ducati team mates. 

To give you a hint of what is to come here are a few quotes taken from the BeerMonster Ducati Team press release. “Testing weekend, difficult day, rollercoaster of a meeting, the pair crashing out, no points, technical issue, highs and lows of racing, championship on a knife edge, still first and second in the championship.”

To put it mildly my FaceBook post was not wrong. This is the story of a truly exceptional race meeting, Round 10 of the British SuperBikes, as viewed by two PistonClick spectator photographers.   

Going for the full three days to a BSB meetings takes the pressure off me as a photographer as I have plenty of opportunities to capture the riders. Free practice and qualifying give you loads of chances to photograph the competitors and play with camera settings at different locations at different times of the day, so you can plan ahead and get that picture when the racing starts.

Friday

Friday is always a relaxed day at a BSB weekend. Fewer spectators means you can usually have the luxury of picking any of the great viewing points around the track. As there is no racing, just practicing on the track, I will take the opportunity to practice as well taking the photographs from these locations which I might not be able to use come race day. 

I also had the opportunity to hit the pit garages on Friday with Bennetts, the title sponsors of the BSB Championship. This is a rare opportunity to see the riders and teams prepare for the race meeting and if you get the chance I would recommend it. Watching the teams prepare, adjust and service the bikes close up with the stars of BSB just a few feet away is great for a photographer and SuperBike fan.

You can also get close to the stars during the pit walk which is held on Sunday, however, it is very popular.

Everyone, from the TV presenters to the garage crews, was happy to chat. However I don’t think this good natured atmosphere continued into Saturday and definitely not Sunday!

Watching the big TVs that are scattered around Donington, on Sunday it was obvious one team didn’t want to chat as the garage doors got slammed down on the TV camera man! More on that later in this report.

The free practice times on Friday were a good indication of who would be running at the front of the pack come race day. Kyle Ryde followed by his team mate Ryan Vickers on the LAMI OMG Racing Yamahas were first and second fastest. Glen Irwin, Jason O’Halloran and Leon Haslam made up the top five. Tommy Bridewell was eleventh after coming off at Goddard’s. Remember the FaceBook post? 

Saturday

I decided that I would head for one of the least populated parts of Donington 2.487 miles long Grand Prix circuit, Coppice to Mcleans, for the BSB qualifying and the Saturday Sprint race. The weather was a little better than Friday which was dry but overcast.

The sun broke through the clouds for the R&G British Talent Cup practice and lit the riders up nicely. Having warmed the muscles snapping the up and coming stars of the future, I was ready for the short BSB practice laps.

Nothing startling here, just a nice opportunity to watch the racers taking the difficult corners on this part of the circuit in the morning sun. There are a few good positions here to take pictures and it is also not a bad spot to watch the racing, but not many make the journey out to this part of the track.

The disabled parking area, as always, was at capacity opposite Coppice. Most of the spectators will stay on the raised banking where you get a great view, leaving the fence line to the few hardy photographers who have lugged their kit up here.

The good weather was not to last, and as the first of two qualifying session started a few drops of rain were felt. That was not the only thing that dropping on my skin.

A money spider dropped onto my hand. Good I thought that’s me winning the lottery tonight (I didn’t). Then another landed on me, and another. There were hundreds of them in a short time and very annoying. My back pack was covered in them and their fine webs, so not a great way to start watch the racing.

After the two qualifying sessions Jason O'Halloran put in a fastest ever two wheel lap of Donington Park of 1m27.196s to put him on pole. Tommy Bridewell and his team had reset the electronics on the bike back to what they were running at the beginning of the season, which seemed to work as he was P2. Leon Haslam had also been making radical changes running an older engine which again worked for him as he was third fastest. 

For the 12 lap sprint race I was still at Coppice which doesn’t have a decent public address  set up so I couldn’t hear what was going on. The many fans within the circuit were sucking up all of the internet so that wasn't an option so I was blindsided to what was happening.

The rain started to fall and there was a delay. Eventually the riders came out on a green flag lap, then a second one I presumed because it was now raining and a wet race had been declared. 

When Ryan Vickers came round on his own and the rest of the field came round in dribs and drabs I was a bit confused, third green lap? No we were racing, well some of the riders were and the rest were tip toeing around. Is that Mr Bridewell at the back of the pack?!

I later found out the BeerMonster Ducatis had gone with intermediate rubber as had a few other riders and were struggling in the wet conditions.

The riders on full wets dominated the race. Irwin finished the race in 23rd with Bridewell last in 24th = zero championship points. Leon Haslam came in second with a wet front and intermediate rear, over taking Ryde in the championship who had gone with intermediates to close the gap on championship leader Glen Irwin to 55.5 points.

Star rider of the day, Luke Mossey came in third. It’s been a long time since Mr Mossey has been on the podium, and looking at his massive face and massive smile on the big TV screen the phrase “never give up” has never been so profound. 

Sunday

I was so looking forward to the two full length races that were due to be held on Sunday, and from the chatter trackside so were all of the other fans. The championship had not been blown wide open after yesterday’s race, but instead of which BeerMonster Ducati rider was going to take the championship the talk was of all about the riders that had closed the gap, mainly Haslam and Ryde. 

With the lap times posted in the sprint race determining the grid position for race two we had Bridewell looking a little lost in 26th and dead last place 150m behind Leon Haslam on pole. Next to Haslam was Luke Mossey and Lee Bob Jackson, with Ryan Vickers, Jack Kennedy and Christian Iddon making up the second row. 

For race two I parked myself on the outside of Redgate as I wanted to capture a proper set of start images. Saturday’s race hadn’t delivered that for me as Vickers was so far in front by the time he had got to Coppice, my photographs looked like a set of qualifying images! 

As the riders approached the sweeping right hander that is Redgate I could see Tommy Bridewell was up for it, passing a handful of riders into the first corner, he had moved up 11 places by the end of lap one! The next few laps were the same as you can see from the images below. When Bridewell, O’Halloran and Stacey came into view three abreast I knew we had a special race developing.

Unbelievably, Bridewell continued to cut through the pack and then challenged and took the lead on lap 10, only for Irwin to take it back on the following lap. On lap 12 while running in third, Bridewell collided with the back of Irwin bringing both of them down at the Melbourne loop.

Another race with zero points for the BeerMonster Ducatis and to rub salt into the wounds, Ryde went on to win, picking up 25 championship points with Haslam again in second and Christian Iddon in third. 

The crash was Bridewell’s fault. He was going in to the corner too hot, as the other riders around him were turning in Bridewell was still upright, and with his rear wheel off the ground he had no option but to go straight on, unfortunately into the back of Irwin. The aftermath of the Bridewell/Irwin crash was not pretty. Irwin was raging once he had picked himself up, and ran over to Bridewell who was still on the ground and grabbed at him. Following the incident Race Direction issued two Notification of Sanctions:

Tommy Bridewell 46 

It is the decision of Race Direction that under Section B2.6 (Riding which results in avoidable or unfair contact with another competitor) that you be penalised with 3 Penalty Points and a 3 place grid penalty for your next race.

Glenn Irwin 2

During race 2, you were observed to act in an inappropriate manner towards another rider and interfere with marshal intervention.

It is the decision of the Race Direction that under Section B2.5 (act prejudicial to the interests of the MCRCB or of motorsport generally) and 2.16 (Disregard of instructions of an Official) that you be penalised with 2 penalty points.

What a race that was! If Bridewell had not hit Irwin and gone on to finish, it would have been one of the best races of Bridewell’s career. Instead he will be remembered for taking out his team mate.

Both were riding hard, but Bridewell was on the edge all of the way through the race taking no prisoners. He had to go for it to make up from starting on the last row. It was a win or bust race for Bridewell, but unfortunately for the him it was bust. Remember the FaceBook post?

Sunday Race Two

With both BeerMonster Ducatis looking a little secondhand, the team in red had some work to do to get them back on the grid for the final race of the weekend, which they did. Bridewell would be starting 4th and Irwin 5th. Kyle Ryde was on pole with Jason O’Halloran in second and Leon Haslam third. 

A wet race was declared and when the lights went out the pack headed for the first corner at Redgate. Having watched the race from that location in the morning I had moved to the Foggy Esses. As the riders came into view through the rain led by O’Halloran there was no sign of Irwin. A throttle position sensor had failed and he was out of the race on lap one. The consequences of the collision in Race Two rumbled on.

A unremarkable race then followed, with Jason O’Halloran staying out in front in the tricky conditions to claim his fifth win of the season.

The race didn’t go the full distance as red flags came out when Leon Haslam’s engine let go in dramatic style with what looked to be smoke pouring out. Fitting that older engine didn’t seem like such a good idea now, Kyle Ryde gave Haslam a tow back to the pits.

Race direction couldn’t take the chance of oil on a very wet track and stopped the race. There was no oil found on the track! 

As Haslam had caused the red flag he was excluded from the final results sheet, thus elevating Christian Iddon into second who visited the podium for the first time in a while, and Josh Brookes in third.

Tommy Bridewell collected his first points of the weekend in 9th place. He struggled in the wet claiming he couldn’t see where he was going due to his visor misting up. It was interesting to note O’Halloran had taped his visor up to stop any water getting in. Doing this will not allow you to raise your visor to clear any misting, but worked for O’Halloran on the day.

This small detail has kept O’Halloran in the fight for the championship. He is now 50.5 points behind the new championship leader Bridewell. 

British SuperBikes Support Races

As always at a British SuperBike there is a full package of support races and last weekend’s Round 10 at Donington Park was no exception. We have picked out a few notable moments from the weekend that we managed to capture as spectator photographers.

The Aussie Ben Currie didn’t find the changeable challenging conditions a problem at Donington, recording two wins from two starts which also saw him crowned British SuperSport Champion. Cameron Fraser was also crowned the British GP2 Champion.

With five wins and seven other podiums, Evan Belford was crowned R&G British Talent Cup champion and will move up to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup for the 2024 season.

Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki - Adam Brown #33 

If you are a regular reader of the PistonClick site you will know we have been following the progress of Adam Brown this year. At Donington he was competing in the British Junior Supersport races, his team put a few words together for us.

Qualifying

Free practice was used to reset the bike settings and slowing tweak the bike to enable a solid platform for Qualifying. However, Adam was still struggling to find the perfect settings for the race, he completed 9 laps and had his fastest on lap 4 with a disappointing 23rd position. This being his 3rd visit to Donington this season Adam knew he was capable of better times.

Race 1

With a poor qualifying, major changes had to be made to the bike, these gave Adam the confidence he so badly needed for the race. Starting from 23rd on the grid, Adam made a monumental start making up 15 places to 8th place by the first lap!

He then continued to build throughout the race and was as high as 5th in the later stages. He finished a credible 6th and will start race 2 from 15th! This was his is best result of the year!

Race 2

Starting from higher on the grid due to his great result in Race 1 we were hopeful of an other top 10 finish.

Making a good start, Adam slowly fell down the order and on lap 5 pulled in with clutch issues. A sad way to finish the season. 

Adam finished a respectable 13th in the 2023 HEL Performance British Junior Supersport Championship. Adam has yet to confirm his plans for next year, he hope to return to BSB and build on his results this year. Thank you to all his sponsors, friends and the team.

The final round of British superBike Championship will be next weekend 13-15 October at Brands Hatch. Each race will have a maximum of 35 points for a win with eight riders in contention for the championship. The PistonClick team will be there to record the action, spectate and take the odd picture or two.