Gino Rea celebrated his first podium finish in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship in style at Donington Park today, mastering the tricky conditions to claim his debut victory for the Buildbase Suzuki team as several of the Title Fighters crashed out of the action.
At the start, Rea launched off the pole position to hit the front of the field heading into Redgate for the first time. The Buildbase Suzuki contender was ahead of Danny Buchan and Glenn Irwin, but as the pack reached Goddards, Buchan had edged the SYNETIQ BMW ahead to take the lead.
Buchan held the advantage for two laps before running wide on the exit of Redgate on the third lap, handing the lead back to Rea, who then continued to post a sequence of rapid times to break the pack and build an advantage at the front. Rea controlled the race to become the eighth different race winner of the season.
Peter Hickman was the first of the Title Fighters to tumble out of contention at Starkeys on lap three, with Glenn Irwin crashing out a few corners later on the brakes into the Fogarty Esses. Buhan also slid out of the action on lap four.
As Rea had a comfortable time advantage, behind Josh Brookes had moved into second on the VisionTrack Ducati with Tommy Bridewell and Lee Jackson in the closing pack. However the reigning champion couldn’t save an off track moment, and he tipped off on the grass at Schwantz Curve on the fifth lap.
Title Fighter Tommy Bridewell was another rider to end his race prematurely and just a few corners later than rival Brookes, he slid out of contention into Coppice.
That elevated Storm Stacey into second position on the LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki; however, he too crashed out on the ninth lap at Redgate, meaning the podium line up changed again as Lee Jackson moved into second with Christian Iddon and Kyle Ryde next in the chasing pack.
The trio took the fight for the podium down to the wire on the final lap, with Ryde emerging ahead to claim second and become the 13th different rider to have scored a podium finish, with Iddon salvaging a strong third after his sixth row start.
Jackson equalled his best result of the season in fourth place just ahead of McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran who now sits level on points with teammate Tarran Mackenzie ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
Joe Francis made an impressive debut with the FHO Racing BMW team to score a sixth place finish with Ryan Vickers, Bradley Ray and Rory Skinner completing the top ten despite a back of the grid start after falling on the sighting lap.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, BikeSocial Race 1:
Tarran Mackenzie claimed his second victory of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown at Donington Park this afternoon, carving his way through the field from his fifth row start to take the lead on the penultimate lap from Danny Buchan and Christian Iddon. The win now gives him an 18-point advantage over McAMS Yamaha teammate Jason O’Halloran at the top of the standings.
Yesterday’s race winner Gino Rea had initially led the pack on the opening lap from his pole positon start, but soon young gun Storm Stacey made his move to take the lead as he took advantage of his front row start.
By lap four, Rea was back at the front and was then holding off Iddon, Buchan and Josh Brookes as the Title Fighters bid to try to close down the deficit to the McAMS Yamaha pairing who hold the leading positions in the standings.
Buchan was pushing to make amends for his crash yesterday and he made a move into second on Iddon at the Old Hairpin on lap six, before firing the SYNETIQ BMW to the front with a pass on Rea into the Fogarty Esses.
Buchan and Iddon were then duelling for the lead constantly with the VisionTrack Ducati rider getting back ahead by the start of the twelfth lap, before his BMW rival reclaimed the advantage with three laps remaining.
Whilst the leading pair fought for the victory, Mackenzie had been consistently making his way through the pack, moving into the top six by lap ten before being within striking distance of the leaders just five laps later.
The McAMS Yamaha rider dived ahead of Iddon with three laps remaining, and despite a huge moment at the Melbourne Hairpin, he was instantly able to regain composure and pass Buchan for the lead on the penultimate lap into the Fogarty Esses.
Mackenzie had the edge for the victory, just ahead of Buchan and Iddon with Rea delivering another strong performance to take fourth place for the Buildbase Suzuki team.
Lee Jackson was back inside the top five for the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki team, ahead of Kyle Ryde who had been mixing it with the lead group in the earlier stages of the race.
Tommy Bridewell was the next of the Title Fighters in seventh with Andrew Irwin completing the top eight for SYNETIQ BMW.
O’Halloran was tenth ahead of Glenn Irwin and Josh Brookes, whilst Peter Hickman, the final Title Fighter was forced to retire after a technical problem.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 2 result:
Buildbase Suzuki’s Gino Rea added to his debut Bennetts British Superbike Championship race win at Donington Park yesterday by mastering the wet conditions in the final race of the weekend, holding off Christian Iddon and Lee Jackson for victory.
The race start was delayed initially with a heavy shower imminent and when the action got underway, it was held in wet conditions over a reduced 15-lap battle.
Championship leader Tarran Mackenzie got the best start off the line to lead into Redgate for the first time, but Rea was soon attacking and he moved ahead on the Buildbase Suzuki.
Iddon was also looking to close down the deficit to his rivals in the standings for VisionTrack Ducati and he also pushed McAMS Yamaha’s Mackenzie back a place into third by the end of the opening lap.
Rea was consistently holding off Iddon and Jackson, upping the pace in the closing stages to deliver a perfect performance that gave him his second win of the weekend. Iddon held on to second as he closed the gap to 15 points to the top of the standings as Mackenzie was forced out when a broken battery connector brought his R1 to a halt.
Jackson became the 15th different podium finisher of the 2021 season with his top three finish for the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki team, as the leading trio had a clear advantage over Tommy Bridewell in fourth place for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team. Andrew Irwin meanwhile completed the top five finishers for SYNETIQ BMW.
Josh Brookes was the first of the Title Fighters to suffer a disappointing end to the race, crashing out unhurt at Craner Curves, ending his hopes of a late championship comeback. Glenn Irwin had to start from pitlane after a problem on the warm up lap and despite salvaging tenth, the Honda Racing rider is now also out of title contention, leaving six riders mathematically in the mix for the finale at Brands Hatch.
Ryan Vickers was able to get ahead of Peter Hickman for sixth place, whilst Jason O’Halloran was unable to capitalise on his McAMS Yamaha teammate’s misfortune to finish in eighth place, meaning he heads into the season finale now 10-points adrift.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 3 result:
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Donington Park:
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