British SuperBikes Round Two

Oulton Park

30 April 2023

Last weekend Round 2 of the 2023 British Superbikes was held at Oulton Park and the Pistonclick team decided to go and watch the racing on one day only. Racing at the Cheshire track would not start until mid day as local restrictions don’t allow racing in the morning on a Sunday.

So, is a half a day of racing good value for money? Well the locals think so as there was a large crowd with queues at the main entrance, which considering the track was open for nearly five hours before anything started to happen, suggests that some think it is good value.

When I say locals, like all BSB rounds, fans will travel to watch the racing. One of the first couples I got chatting to had made the same two hour journey as I had. It’s a small world.

As we had plenty of time to kill before the bikes were allowed on track we headed for the paddock and pits to do a bit of star spotting.

The True Heroes team were hard at work preparing the bikes for the Supersport and Superstock 1000 races.

In the Supersport race #50 Dave MACKAY on a Ducati was to finish 16th in class and #44 Charlie WHITE 18th. #61 Dave SELLERS came home in 25th in the Superstock 1000.

As midday approached we headed for the track. The Superbikes were out first for a 15 minute free practice, with two 15 minute qualifying sessions following and a 40 minute race.

The support classes were also out on track for similar times with a scheduled end of proceedings at 18:30, so six and a half hours of track action for a slightly reduced entry fee in my opinion isn’t too bad.

However, the weather was going to have a say in how much racing would be going on. A large downpour curtailed the feature race and had the marshals brushing the standing water away for some time. This resulted in the sidecar race being abandoned which is a shame as one of our team had made the journey specifically to report on the chairs.

The third member of the team arrived later to cover the sidecars, which would unfortunately turn out to be a fruitless trip for him. However, we watched the first of the new for this season BMW 900R Cup practice sessions together, snapping and chatting as you do which was fortunate as this was to be his report in lieu of the sidecars not appearing.

Oulton is very similar to Cadwell in that it is an undulating track with large areas that don’t have safety fences, so there are great views just about everywhere. Having visited Oulton many times I knew where I wanted to go to spectate and photograph the action and my shooting buddy for the day split away so that we could cover different areas of the track. 

I headed off to the inside of Lodge. It’s not the best for photography (too many people) but as I’m a spectator photographer I wanted to watch the free practice mainly, and I like a challenge when taking my photos.

The area around lodge and Dear Leap has given me some very nice photos in the past, but on this day the rain and cold track were hampering the Superbike riders and they were far from giving it their all, resulting in less action pictures than I would have liked. 

The next group out were the Junior Superstock who paid little heed to the conditions and subsequently ended up in the kitty litter. I’m not a crash hound, although I will take a shot of an incident and publish if the riders are ok.

I will not, like some, frequent known areas where incidents will happen regularly. I’m more about capturing the action and speed of motorsports.

Some of the young riders looked very upset, as a big crash at this level where budgets are tight can define a season’s racing. As the fourth rider went down I moved and left them to it. I suppose it’s all part of learning your race craft. 

Here are a few shots from around the track to show how difficult the conditions were.

Roll on the warm days of summer!

Druids is one of my favourite corner complexes of any UK motorsport circuit as there are quite a few good shots to be had for the spectator photographer.

There were only two 15 minute BSB qualifying sessions and they went way too quickly. Reviewing my pictures later I realised that I had stayed in one location too long and not moved around this large corner much at all. 

On the up side I was happy with my pictures and had a good selection of #wheeliewednesday pictures. More importantly, I was happy just to watch the qualifying session as the riders roared past just feet away, and I had a good spot under the trees so was some what protected from the consistent drizzle that was now falling.

As the ABK Beer 0% BMW Motorrad F900R Cup Heats took place I grabbed a few pictures and started to head for where I wanted to watch the BSB BikeSocial Sprint Race.

My shooting buddy was going to take Knickerbrooke which is a great location. You can see the Avenue and Cascades and the run down from the Hill Top into the Knickerbrooke complex.

A we arrived at Knickerbrooke the Pirelli National Junior Superstock race was just starting. #34 Aaron SILVESTER was having a great battle with #86 Owen JENNER and #96 Jacob HATCH. SILVESTER would go on to win by 0.286 of a second in a very tight race. Aaron SILVESTER leads the championship from Cameron DAWSON who crossed the line in fourth place.

This win must have been so sweet for SILVESTER as he broke his leg at Oulton a few years ago,. This shows that dedication and perseverance pay off.

So, on to the feature race the BSB Sprint Race. Josh Brookes had qualified on pole. Brookes looks to have put last year’s disappointing season behind him and is now riding the FHO BMW in a way that demonstrates the skills we know he has, having taken him to winning two BSB Championships. 

Looking to repeat his Round One, race two win at Silverstone, Josh Brookes led from the start with the also rejuvenated BMW ROKiT rider #91 Leon Haslam in close pursuit. #2 Glenn Irwin who also won at Silverstone couldn’t find a way past, with these three finishing in that order as the rain started to fall and the riders put their hands up.

The race was then red flagged due to rain. 

A slightly disappointing end to the race as it was a good one, but from my vantage point at Britten’s I could hear the back wheels spinning up as they lost traction as the first few spots of rain started to fall, so safety first is the best policy.

To close off this section I must comment on Jason O'Halloran Oulton Park is turning into his boogie track. Last year’s two crashes at Druids put paid to his title aspirations and the crashes kept coming at this round.

He high sided at Cascades in the Sprint race and lost the front, taking out Josh Owens again at Cascades on Monday. In race three he managed a tentative 10th place and is now 7th in the championship, 50 points behind the leader Glenn Irwin.

Last race of the day was the Quattro Group British Supersport/British GP2 Sprint Race. #96 Tom Booth-Amos went on to take the win.

The multi-talented racer who appears to be able to ride anything, #47 Richard Cooper, swapped his leathers after taking pole in the ABK Beer 0% BMW Motorrad F 900 R Cup qualifying to take second and #82 Luke Jones came in third claiming his and Ducati's first British Supersport podium for the Panigale V2.

So to sum up, a shortened race day at Oulton Park did not reduce my enjoyment, far from it. The weather might have been not the best but the large enthusiastic crowds and close racing mainly put that to the back of my mind as I watched the early part of the BSB and support classes championships play out. 

The PBM BeerMonster Ducatis not only look great but go very well in the hands of IRWIN and BRIDEWELL.

The FHO BMW looked great as well, with BROOKES back to winning ways, and HICKMAN will be on the podium soon I’m sure.

HASLAM on his BMW has the credentials to put it up there, and the Yamaha’s of RYDE and O'HALLORAN cannot be discounted.

I’m not going to make any predictions on who will be champion, but one thing I do know from the first two rounds is that it’s going to be a cracker of a season.

Brookes and the rest of the road racers are due to go to the North West 200 next. We will see if Brookes can continue his winning ways and add to his three NW200 podiums.

This is part of their preparation for the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races which we the PistonClick team will be watching from a cosy hedge or flint wall in a little over three weeks.

But before the TT we will next see the BSB teams at Donington Park 19-21 May 2023 where as always we will be spectating and taking the odd snap.