British Superbikes - Round 9 

Oulton Park

23 - 25 September 2022

The peace and quiet last weekend was shattered by the sound of Superbikes at Oulton Park, one of the most picturesque tracks in the UK. The Cheshire track reverberated to the sounds of those 1000cc motorcycles practicing, setting lap times and racing over the weekend.

That sound was replaced with a different noise that continues on this week as race fans rattle their keyboards after a few incidents that caused outrage amongst some.

The events that got people's hackles up was the incident between Jason O’Halloran and Peter Hickman, and a separate incident between Jason O’Halloran and Tommy Bridewell. 

Both occurred at the same spot on the track at Druids and according to Hickman and Bridewell, O’Halloran was slower there than they were and left a gap which they both went for. Unfortunately this resulted in O’Halloran going down on the last lap of the first race after contact with Hickman. 

Although Hickman ended the race in fourth he was subsequently disqualified, given a three position grid penalty and two points on his race licence. There was more bad news for the McAMS team Tarren Mackenzie had done down as well for a zero points score in the opening race. The race was won by Bradley Ray, with Tommy Bridewell second and Leon Haslam in third.

In race two lightning struck again in the same place, Druids. O’Halloran ran onto the grass and went down after contact with Bridewell who was given a ride through penalty, a drop of three grid positions for Race 3 and 2 penalty points. Because of a red flag and subsequent race restart, this didn’t affect Bridewell too much.

The red flag came out after Tarren Mackenzie lost the front and crashed out at Hislops on lap four, and was run over by Hickman after Mackenzie slid across the track leaving Hickman nowhere to go. The race was stopped as Tarran needed medical care which and it been confirmed that he sustained a broken femur, the big bone in his leg, ouch! Unfortunately that is the end of the season for the reigning champion.

The red flags came out for a second time in race two, but this time with less controversy after a multi-bike crash at Brittens. Rory Skinner picked up fractures in his hand and Christian Iddon had concussion and broken bones in his hand. Kyle Ryde was also came off but walked away. 

The two incidents at Druids is what has got people talking, some with interesting points of view and others that really shouldn’t be anywhere near social media. Some of the comments were down right disgusting. I get people's passion and that they follow different riders so their opinions will have a bias, but abuse online should not be tolerated and is not needed in this sport

It didn’t help matters that the flames were well and truly fanned by the different disciplinary penalties meted out to Hickman and Bridewell. A lot of comments focused on the fact that Hickman is not in the championship running and Bridewell is, and it is Bridewell who went on to win one race and came second in the other two.

The decision was made, right or wrong and now the riders have to live with that ruling which can be appealed. However, it won’t give any points back to O’Halloran or the McAMS team who left the track early with no points, two broken bikes, one broken rider and one rider battered and bruised. All of this has now elevated Bridewell up to second in the championship behind Bradley Ray. 

Winning an incident packed race two and now in third place in the championship, Lee Jackson will be looking forward to the next round at Donington where he picked up a few podiums earlier this year. Second was Bridewell and Ray third

Race three was a little more muted than the previous races mainly due to the attrition rate. Mackenzie, Skinner and Iddon didn’t make the start, the same as O’Halloran. When the chequered flag dropped Bridewell was first, Glenn Irwin second and Lee Jackson picking up another trophy in third.

Watching trackside and the races later on TV it was obvious that all of the racers regardless of their standing in the championship were fired up for this round and were going for it. This is why I really enjoy watching BSB for the passion, the excitement and the full committal racing. Sometimes it all goes wrong, but that’s racing. Let's move on to the next round at Donington.

True Heroes Racing - Press release

Well another Oulton Park weekend is under our belts and it was full of all the challenges that a Bennetts British Superbike Championship throws up. But as always the team pulled together and faced things head on. 

The weekend started with the weather giving the riders wet conditions out on track, but things quickly changed after the first free practice sessions were completed. So it was on to dry settings for the lads and the pace subsequently increased. 

The Ducati Trioptions Cup qualifying was difficult for Chris Ganley who had been suffering with illness, and the tricky circuit proved very tough for our single arm amputee who just missed out on making the grid. Charlie & Leon went on to record good times in both races with, both making changes before race 2 to combat the slippy conditions. 

In the Stock 1000 class Dave Sellars took time to get up to speed after a break from racing due to work commitments, but still made great progress throughout the weekend, recording lap times of 1:40.440. All after suffering a crack to the headstock of his Suzuki on Sunday afternoon! Dave Mackay also recorded lap times of 1:40.916, also after suffering a double whopper of a moment coming out of Druids which cracked his steering damper, but as with Salty's misfortune the guys pulled together and got it fixed and out on track for race 2.

Next weekend we are at Donington Park for the penultimate round of the BSB Championship where we hope to see many of you there for what is bound be another rip snorting affair.