Ryan Vickers sets fastest Cadwell lap on 2 wheels in practice
Ryan Vickers set the fastest two-wheel lap of Cadwell Park this afternoon, launching to the top of the times for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team on his final lap of SUPERPICKS Free Practice ahead of the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship BikeSocial race.
The Norfolk contender left it until the final minutes of the session to up the ante, striking with a sequence of laps that put him 0.312s clear of his nearest rival and championship leader Jason O’Halloran.
Vickers said: “It has gone really well today! In the first session, we got familiar with the track again after two years of not being here and we made a few changes, but we didn’t venture too far.
“We have focused our efforts on playing with a few things and fine tuning as we were in a window of where we felt we need to be and then we went for a bit of a qualifying drill to see what the bike felt like on new rubber.
“I did the fastest ever two wheel lap of Cadwell and I was surprised with how easy it felt as there is definitely still some time out there that I could have had, but I just made a few mistakes.
“The team have been working in an amazing way, we made another change but it was the chequered flag, although I think that will be an improvement again when it comes to FP3.”
Qualifying
Lincolnshire fans had a Bennetts British Superbike Championship Qualifying session to remember at Cadwell Park this afternoon as local team Honda Racing celebrated their first pole positon of 2021 with Glenn Irwin holding a 0.041s edge over Jason O’Halloran.
Irwin’s pole position lap came earlier in the 12-minute session and it wasn’t to be bettered as the Honda Racing rider strives for his first victory of the season in the opening race this afternoon.
Lincolnshire-based Australian O’Halloran came close though, moving to within 0.041s of the pole time on his final flying lap before the chequered flag. The championship leader, along with teammate Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell, will be seeking three victories this weekend in their quest to net the £10,000 Milwaukee Summer Grand Slam prize for winning four races across the Donington Park and Cadwell Park rounds.
Peter Hickman returned to the front row for FHO Racing BMW; the Louth-based rider moving into second before O’Halloran’s improvement, which gave the team the final position on the front row for their home round.
Bridewell heads the second row of the grid for Oxford Products Racing Ducati, missing out on the front row by a fractional 0.161s. He will be joined on row two by local contender Lee Jackson and Andrew Irwin on the sole SYNETIQ BMW. The top six riders setting a pace under the existing race lap record at the Lincolnshire circuit.
Rory Skinner will head row three this afternoon from Ryan Vickers; the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki rider had set the fastest ever lap of the circuit yesterday in free practice, but a crash with six minutes remaining at Chris Curve bought out the red flag. The Norfolk rider was able to walk away from the crash but left him down the order in eighth after a tremendous start to the weekend.
Christian Iddon and Tarran Mackenzie completed the top ten, with reigning champion Josh Brookes dropping to 13th in SUPERPICKS Qualifying.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park, SUPERPICKS Qualifying result:
1. Eazi-Grip supported Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 1m:26.012s
2. Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.041s
3. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.117s
4. Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.278s
5. Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.295s
6. Eazi-Grip supported Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +0.401s
7. Eazi-Grip supported Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.579s
8. Eazi-Grip supported Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +0.634s
9. Eazi-Grip supported Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.719s
10. Eazi-Grip supported Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.779s
Race One
Peter Hickman became the sixth different race winner of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season, claiming FHO Racing BMW their first race win in the series in front of a rapturous home crowd at Cadwell Park.
At the start, Jason O’Halloran hit the front of the pack, narrowly moving down the inside of Glenn Irwin with Hickman holding third. However, by the time the pack had reached Chris Curve, Glenn Irwin had taken the lead for Honda Racing.
Irwin was trying to break the field; edging out an initial gap of 0.8s over the opening laps, but behind Hickman had made a decisive move on O’Halloran to move into second.
By the seventh lap Hickman had reeled Irwin back in and the advantage had vanished. Irwin made a small mistake to run slightly wide and Hickman didn’t need an invitation as he dived through to take the lead.
Hickman then unleashed a series of fast laps, breaking the lap record with a time of 1m:26.350s, to gap O’Halloran and Irwin, before taking the chequered flag in front of an ecstatic crowd.
Hickman said: “It is mega to win here! We have had a bad run of luck and that race was perfect. I knew I had the pace for the race, as the FHO Racing BMW has been fantastic.
“It was pretty much a perfect race in the end. I saw Jason and Glenn making some moves to start with but I felt I had more pace than they did, so I just settled in at the start.
“I managed to pull a clean move on Jason at Mansfield, which is always tricky there! I then needed to get Glenn and fortunately, he made a mistake, so I was able to take advantage at Barn and that gave me what I needed.
“This is such a tough track, so it feels even better to win! I had to keep my concentration and not make any mistakes, so to be leading until the chequered flag felt like an eternity.
“I am so happy for Faye, and to get our first win here for the team at their home round, was great. It is only our first season, and with all these fans all the way around the circuit, it made it even more special. It has been an awesome day.”
However the podium fight wasn’t over and whilst O’Halloran had moved into second, Irwin was soon under pressure from Tommy Bridewell.
The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider had left it to the final laps to carve his way through, taking no prisoners to grab the final podium place on the penultimate lap to push Irwin into fourth.
Christian Iddon was able to get to the front of the next pack, moving ahead of Lee Jackson and Andrew Irwin in the closing five laps.
Ryan Vickers, who set the fastest ever lap of Cadwell Park yesterday, was eighth as he bounced back from a high-speed qualifying crash.
Rory Skinner and Josh Brookes completed the top ten ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park, BikeSocial Race 1:
1. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW)
2. Eazi-Grip supported Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +2.080s
3. Eazi-Grip supported Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +3.729s
4. Eazi-Grip supported Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +4.348s
5. Eazi-Grip supported Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +4.529s
6. Eazi-Grip supported Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +4.617s
7. Eazi-Grip supported Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +5.253s
8. Eazi-Grip supported Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +7.120s
9. Eazi-Grip supported Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +8.084s
10. Eazi-Grip supported Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +9.729s
Race Two
Peter Hickman make it a double dose of victories for FHO Racing BMW in the second Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Cadwell Park, despite come under pressure on the final lap from standings leader Jason O’Halloran.
O’Halloran got a tremendous launch off the line to lead the pack on the opening lap but Hickman was instantly on the attack. However, it wasn’t until lap nine that he could make a pass on the McAMS Yamaha rider, diving down the inside on the brakes at Mansfield.
Hickman continued to try and break the pack, edging out an advantage over O’Halloran but the Australian reeled him back in over the final three laps. The McAMS Yamaha rider was within striking distance on the final lap, but despite piling on the pressure, Hickman had the edge at the chequered flag.
The battle for third was initially between Christian Iddon, the region’s fastest plumber Lee Jackson, and the Irwin brothers, but disaster struck again for the VisionTrack Ducati rider when he crashed out of third at Charlies unhurt on lap four.
Jackson then had the upper hand for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, but Tommy Bridewell was storming through the pack after another bad start, running in eighth on the opening lap.
The Oxford Products Racing Ducati rider first moved ahead of Glenn Irwin, and then hit a top three position with a decisive pass at Coppice on lap 14, pushing Jackson back to fourth.
Bridewell was able to break the group behind him, but reigning champion Josh Brookes had been building momentum throughout the race from his fourth row start, and was able to force his way through to fifth with three laps to go.
The lone VisionTrack Ducati rider held off Glenn Irwin, who was then embroiled in a fight with his brother Andrew, as the pair exchanged blows throughout the closing stages, but it was the Honda Racing rider who had the edge at the chequered flag.
Andrew Irwin’s seventh place put him just ahead of rival BMW rider Bradley Ray, who currently holds the final place in the top eight of the standings for the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team.
Ryan Vickers, still feeling sore after his high-speed qualifying crash was ninth as Storm Stacey again returned to the top ten for Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki.
Tarran Mackenzie was watching from the sidelines after the McAMS Yamaha rider decided to sit out today’s races after breaking his finger in his race one crash yesterday.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park, Race 2 result:
Race Three
Peter Hickman was denied his first ever Bennetts British Superbike Championship triple victory in race three at Cadwell Park after a last lap mistake gave Jason O’Halloran the opportunity he needed to grasp the lead on the final lap.
At the start of the race, O’Halloran hit the front to take the initial advantage, but by the time the pack had reached Park, Glenn Irwin went for a move down the inside to grab the lead for Honda Racing.
O’Halloran was then pushed back into third place when Hickman made a move on lap three, before the FHO Racing BMW rider was able to take the lead at Mansfield two laps later.
Tommy Bridewell again had one of his bad starts off the pole position, which dropped him down to fifth on lap one, but by the sixth lap, he had wrestled his way through into third place.
The leading trio remained the same as the previous two races with Hickman and O’Halloran ahead of Bridewell, until the closing stages.
Hickman managed to save a big moment on the final lap, but it meant that he lost momentum at Coppice. O’Halloran seized the opportunity and made a decisive move down the inside as the pair reached Charlies.
O’Halloran was able to hold off a counter attack to score his first race win at Cadwell Park, and with it claims the Milwaukee Summer Grand Slam Trophy, for the highest points score from Donington Park and this weekend. Hickman meanwhile took second place and his highest points’ score of this round crowned him Milwaukee King of the Mountain.
The battle for fourth was between reigning champion Josh Brookes and Lee Jackson, which went down to the wire. Brookes had made a spectacular pass on Jackson and Glenn Irwin in the early stage of the race to move into fourth.
Brookes continued to defend hard from Jackson, but the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider was able to match his best season result, making a move with three laps to go to push the Australian back a position. Today’s fifth places marks Brookes’ best result of the season in dry conditions.
Glenn Irwin held off Christian Iddon to claim sixth place with Bradley Ray in eighth, but dropping out of the top eight in the standings by just two points. Andrew Irwin and Ryan Vickers completed the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park, Race 3 result:
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Cadwell Park:
Thoughts of some of our supported riders:
Jason O’Halloran – McAMS Yamaha
“It’s been an amazing weekend. I know we’ve done some triples this year but that win means a lot to me. I have wanted to win here for a long time, it’s the closest thing I’ve got to a home round and over the years I’ve had a lot of local support from both the fans and people sponsoring me so it’s a special place for me and I’m really pleased I could do it. The whole team have done an awesome job this weekend, we were up against it with the weather so we had to use the races to figure out a setting. Each race the bike was better and in the last race the bike was the best it’s been all weekend. The pace was so fast, fair play to Peter he was setting a really good place at the front but I never gave up, hung on for as long as I could and went for the opportunity when it arose. I’m really pleased with the weekend and can’t wait for Snetterton.”
Tarran Mackenzie – McAMS Yamaha
“I tried to ride in warm up and felt fine on the bike in the wet but I wasn’t too sure about how it’d feel in two dry races. I didn’t feel comfortable letting out the clutch so I didn’t want to take any risks when getting a podium here was going to be difficult. I don’t feel too bad, so there’s no doubt about fitness for Snetterton, where hopefully we can come back stronger.”
Glenn Irwin – Honda Racing
“I am really happy with the race and how the Fireblade SP is working, the team’s in a good place, the bike’s in a good place and has huge potential. In Superstock spec it’s incredible. But, in the race, we started to get some chatter that robbed us of the chance to score big today. We’ll look at the data and work on it for the sessions tomorrow. But, I’m not too disappointed with 4th place, it’s 13 more championship points towards the Showdown.”
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