2021 British Superbike Championship
Round Six Cadwell Park – Support Classes

Images by David Yeomans

British Supersport/GP2 Race 1

Harry Truelove took his second win of the Quattro Plant British Supersport season in style at Cadwell Park, taking the sprint race victory by 0.026 from Jack Kennedy and Ben Currie.

It was Trulove who bagged the lead after the opening lap, making the best start from pole and began to hold off Bradley Perie and Ben Currie. At the end of the opening set of four laps began a four man battle for the lead, with Jack Kennedy joining the leading group.

The local man Truelove began to pull a gap over the chasing pack at half race distance, holding the advantage to 0.732 over Perie, with Currie and Kennedy battling it out for third. With two laps to go Harry had a second lead over the field, but it would be left between Kennedy and Currie to battle for second after Brad Perie crashed out. Truelove rode sensibly but a small mistake at the final corner saw him have to beat Kennedy to the drag to the line to collect his second win in as many races.

British Supersport/GP2 Race 1 Results

British Supersport/GP2 Race 2

Harry Truelove made it three in a row in the Quattro Group British Supersport class, dominating the feature race at Cadwell Park. Launching off the line, Truelove was unchallenged on his way to another win, but it was a dramatic race behind him.

After a close battle over the opening few laps between Jack Jennedy, Ben Currie and Bradley Perie, disaster would strike Kennedy at the halfway point when the series leader crashed out of second.

With Currie able to pull away for a safe second, it was the GP2 machine of Charlie Nesbitt that was third across the line, with Bradley Perie taking the final podium position in the Supersport class. Currie had destroyed a bike in morning warm-up so P2 was a good way to bounce back.

Joining Nesbitt on the GP2 podium was Jones and Horsman who had a close battle over the final few laps.

British Supersport/GP2 Race 2 Results

British Supersport Championship Standings

British  GP2 Championship Standings

Pirelli National Superstock Race

Tom Neave took a thrilling victory in the Pirelli National Superstock race at Cadwell Park, taking the win by 0.7s. It was Chrissy Rouse who grabbed the holeshot, storming through from the third row of the grid. However, Tom Neave had soon found a way through by lap three before a red flag for rain on lap four saw the race stopped.

It was a repeat performance on the restart, with Rouse grabbing the holeshot ahead of Alex Olsen, but it was a five rider battle throughout the opening laps. Taking the lead on lap five, Olsen was able to edge away from the pursuers. However, a fast charging Neave moved through on the penultimate lap to take the win ahead of Olsen and McConnell. The South Australian moved back into third in the championship standings.

Pirelli National Superstock Race Results

Pirelli National Superstock Championship Standings

Pirelli National Junior Superstock Race

Joe Talbot took victory in the Pirelli National Junior Superstock race at Cadwell Park, holding off a fast-charging Zak Corderoy. Talbot grabbed the holeshot and was able to build a commanding lead of over ten seconds at the front. However, as the circuit continued to dry Corderoy was on a charge, reducing the gap by seconds every lap, eventually finishing 2.6s behind.

Owen Jenner completed the podium in third, ahead of Liam Delves, Asher Durham, Sal Laffins and Caolan Irwin.

Pirelli National Junior Superstock Race Results

Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship Standings

Ducati TriOptions Cup Race 1

Josh Day collected his fifth victory of the season at Cadwell Park in dominant fashion with Chris the ‘Stalker’ Walker and David Shoubridge rounding out the podium.

It was defending Champ Day who made the best start and grabbed the holeshot from the lights and after the first lap he had a 1.5 second gap over Walker, who was holding off Luke Jones. By half race distance Day had extended his lead to over four seconds over the ‘Stalker’ who was now being hounded by David Shoubridge.

Day continued to extend the gap over the remaining five laps, posting the fastest lap of the weekend in the process, and took the flag with a six second advantage to take another victory in 2021. Walker also pushed hard to break the chasing Shoubridge to collect his third podium of the season.

Ducati TriOptions Cup Race 1 Results

Ducati TriOptions Cup Race 2

Craig Neve took victory in the second Ducati TriOptions Cup race at Cadwell, beating Chris Walker by over five seconds. It was Josh Day who grabbed the holeshot to lead the opening laps, but as the circuit dried out the reigning champion found his lead diminished, with Neve and Walker finding their way through.

Edging away at the front, Neve was able to take chequered flag while a fast-charging Luke Jones was able to take the final rostrum position.

Ducati TriOptions Cup Race 2 Results

Ducati TriOptions Cup Championship Standings

GP Originals Race 1

The GP Originals, a series dedicated to period, racing specification to-stroke 250 and 350 cc motorcycles from the 1970s through to the early 1980s joined the British Superbike support card at Cadwell Park. The field is largely made up of TZ250 and TZ350 Yamaha motorcycles.

GP Originals Race 1 Results

GP Originals Race 2

Ant Hart couldn’t back up his victory in the second bout after the Harris TZ rider only completed a single lap in the second bout which left Glen English to take victory ahead of Chris Moore and Dan Jackson.

GP Originals Race 2 Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

2021 British Superbike Championship
Round Six Cadwell Park

2021 BSB Cadwell Park – Race 1

Peter Hickman became the sixth different race winner of the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season, claiming FHO Racing BMW an emphatic 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.

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 crash in qualifying.

Rory Skinner and Josh Brookes completed the top ten.

2021 BSB Cadwell Park – Race 1 Results

2021 BSB Cadwell Park – Race 2

Peter Hickman made 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.

2021 BSB Cadwell Park – Race 2 Results

2021 BSB Cadwell Park – Race 3

In the final race, O’Halloran hit the front to take the initial advantage off the line, but by the time the pack had reached Park, Glenn Irwin went for a move down the inside to grab the lead.

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.

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 at 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. 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 Brookes and 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 but the defending champion is still only 12th in the championship standings on 105-points.

Glenn Irwin held off Iddon to claim sixth place with Ray in eighth, but dropping out of the top eight in the standings by just two points. Andrew Irwin and Vickers completed the top ten.

2021 BSB Cadwell Park – Race 3 Results

BSB Quotes

Josh Brookes

“The three hours of track time on Thursday helped me get into a bit of a rhythm and being back at a track I like helped this weekend but the improvements we made were still tiny. I can see on track where I’m losing time and, in this series, you can’t afford to give away the time that we’ve been giving away. We still can’t get to the bottom of the main issues but although the improvements have been small, we’ve still made progress and that’s a positive. Two fifth places aren’t where I want to be finishing but it certainly felt better to be fighting a bit closer to the sharp end.”

Christian Iddon

“You make your own luck in this game and that’s two crashes in two meetings which have been my fault. And when added to two when I was knocked off, it’s disappointing in one way but with Taz not riding, I’ve somehow managed to climb to second in the title. In truth, we’ve chased our tail all weekend and I’ve not found a suitable setting despite the team working so hard. We were hoping to get some more data in race two to help for the final race today, but the crash scuppered that. We now regroup and head to Snetterton in a positive frame of mind as that’s where I got my maiden win last year.”

2021 British Superbike Championship Points

Source: MCNews.com.au

2021 British Superbike Championship
Round Five Donington

British Superbike

Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell shared the victories in Sunday’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship races at Donington Park after Championship leader Jason O’Halloran won the opening race of the weekend on Saturday.

Despite only finishing 12th in the final race, staged under mixed conditions, Jason O’Halloran leaves Donington having improved his lead in the championship. A bad weekend for Christian Iddon saw Tarran Mackenzie move up to second place in the championship, 54-points behind his McAms Yamaha team-mate O’Halloran.

2021 BSB Donington – Race 1

Jason O’Halloran continued his winning streak in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship by claiming victory in the opening BikeSocial Race at Donington Park, following an intense battle in the opening race of the weekend.

O’Halloran launched into the lead from the pole position, but Glenn Irwin soon grabbed the advantage to put the Honda ahead. Meanwhile though Tarran Mackenzie had moved into second place as championship leader O’Halloran was initially pushed back down the order.

By the third lap, Christian Iddon had carved his way through from fourth to become the third different race leader in as many laps, before Glenn Irwin then regained the position a lap later.

The BMW Safety Car was deployed when Joey Thompson crashed out at Coppice on the fifth lap, with the pack forming up for the restart with Glenn Irwin leading Iddon, O’Halloran, Mackenzie, Andrew Irwin and Ryan Vickers.

Glenn Irwin defended his position hard, holding off the chasing pack as O’Halloran moved up the order and was holding second place by the halfway point of the race.

Two laps later and O’Halloran made a move for the lead into Redgate and started to try and break the pack. The McAMS Yamaha rider edged out a 1.866s advantage at the chequered flag over the final seven laps.

The battle for the final podium positions continued to rage right until the finish line as Mackenzie had fought back into second place, narrowly ahead of Glenn Irwin and Iddon.

However, the McAMS Yamaha rider was demoted to third on the final lap when his Honda Racing rival made a final attempt for second on the brakes at Roberts for the last time and had the edge to the line with Iddon in fourth.

Tommy Bridewell was fifth for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team after Ryan Vickers was issued a two-second time penalty for a course cut on the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki, pushing him to sixth just ahead of Andrew Irwin.

Lee Jackson finished eighth to maintain the final position in the top eight in the standings currently, with Peter Hickman and Bradley Ray completing the top ten. It was another difficult race for defending champion Josh Brookes; he ended the race in 18th position.

2021 BSB Donington – Race 1 Results

2021 BSB Donington – Race 2

In the second race of the weekend, Mackenzie won under pressure following an intense final three-lap dash to the chequered flag.

At the start of the race, Mackenzie had grabbed the advantage ahead of team-mate O’Halloran, with Peter Hickman and Andrew Irwin in close contention. The McAMS Yamaha pair traded blows at the front, switching positions before local hero Mackenzie maintained the lead.

Andrew Irwin had moved the SYNETIQ BMW into second place ahead of Christian Iddon as the pair battled for second place, however on the seventh lap contact was made at Redgate and the VisionTrack Ducati rider crashed out. The race stewards subsequently issued Irwin a two-second time penalty for his part in the collision.

Glenn Irwin hit the front, but he was only able to hold off a determined Mackenzie for two laps, as the McAMS Yamaha rider moved back ahead. Glenn Irwin continued to push but his race ended with a crash on lap 17, leaving him with a dislocated shoulder, which was relocated and he was able to return for race three.

Mackenzie was desperately trying to gap the chasing pack, edging out a margin over his rivals. Hickman meanwhile pushed himself into second place ahead of O’Halloran and Bradley Ray as the podium fight continued to rage.

The BMW Safety Car was deployed when Danny Buchan crashed heavily out of the race, making a new race distance of 28 laps, when the race resumed with three laps remaining. The SYNETIQ BMW rider will miss next weekend’s Cadwell Park event due to a suspicion of concussion.

Mackenzie had backed the pack up and was able to defend hard to keep O’Halloran at bay when the race resumed, whilst Hickman was pushed back to fourth as a hard-charging Ray moved into third place ahead of the final lap.

Ray saved his best until last, making a move on O’Halloran into Roberts for the final time to record the first podium finish for the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team, as O’Halloran completed the top three.

2021 BSB Donington – Race 2 Results

2021 BSB Donington – Race 3

The final race of the weekend produced another different race winner, following a tactical decision of tyre choices. The race initially started in dry conditions and was red flagged for rain after three laps.

The race was then restarted and declared wet, but the shower had passed and tyre options would prove crucial to the outcome of the race result.

At the start, Vickers got off to an incredible start with his choice of a wet front and intermediate rear tyre to lead the pack. However, it was short lived as he crashed out at Coppice on the opening lap.

Mackenzie had opted for a wet front and intermediate rear which had initially given him the edge to then lead the field from Hickman and Glenn Irwin with Bridewell holding fourth position.

As the track started to dry though, Mackenzie was soon dropping back through the order as the riders who had opted for the intermediate front and rear option moved forward, and by lap five Glenn Irwin was leading for Honda Racing.

A lap later and Bridewell had taken control at the front and he soon began to edge an advantage ahead of Glenn and Andrew Irwin, but Iddon was making rapid progress as he was the only rider to opt for an intermediate front and slick rear tyre.

It was soon all over for Iddon though as he crashed the VisionTrack Ducati out of the race with a crash at Craner Curves on the ninth lap after working his way through into fourth place.

At the front, Bridewell bridged the gap to Glenn Irwin to claim his first victory of the season, as the Honda Racing rider finished second, incredibly after dislocating his shoulder in the earlier race of the day!

Andrew Irwin became the eleventh different podium finisher of the season, taking his first top three finish for SYNETIQ BMW.

Reigning champion Josh Brookes had also opted for the same combination of intermediate tyres and he claimed his best result of the season in fourth place for VisionTrack Ducati.

Joe Francis scored his first top five finish of the season for the iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW team, just ahead of Storm Stacey who delivered an impressive performance to claim his best ever finish in Bennetts BSB with a sixth place.

Mackenzie dropped to seventh, but still accumulated the most points to be crowned Milwaukee King of Donington, just ahead of Dean Harrison who celebrated his best ever finish for Silicone Engineering Kawasaki.

Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea completed the top ten as championship leader Jason O’Halloran finished twelfth after opting for a wet front tyre and intermediate rear tyre.

The Donington Park races have put Glenn Irwin and Bradley Ray into the top eight in the standings, whilst the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki pairing of Rory Skinner and Lee Jackson have just dropped into ninth and tenth respectively.

2021 BSB Donington – Race 3 Results

BSB Quotes

Tommy Bridewell

“That was a nice, clean race – I didn’t go off like a bat out of hell to start with because I wanted to see what the track was like and it was a bit patchy at Coppice, so you had to be careful. Glenn got to the front and went off pretty hard, so I had to push hard to catch him, but I caught him fairly quick and comfortably so I knew I had the better pace. When I passed him, I thought ‘right, do I put the hammer down and try to break him or do I chip away’ and I did a bit of both. I put the hammer down to see what reaction I got and then just kept pushing. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved, and proud of the way I rode. I really enjoyed it, but we’ve got to keep the momentum going now and take some points back for the championship. The Showdown’s looking well and I’m looking forward to doing it again in a few days’ time.”

Glenn Irwin

“40 points, that’s what we look at this weekend and take away with us. Race 2 we had the crash, and I dislocated my shoulder, but you know we’re not superhuman and this happens. I’m overwhelmed with everyone, like ‘you’re a hero’ but honestly on the bike I was fine, a little sore changing direction. I wouldn’t change that result in Race 3, my boys did a great job, the front tyre was a last-minute call, I don’t know if someone was looking over us but something made me want to change. I don’t normally feel comfortable in those conditions, but we done it and it’s been a great weekend. Eurosport did a fantastic feature on myself this weekend, I’m grateful for being able to talk about mental health and show that the official BSB team riders are all in this together, and to anyone who is struggling, if I bounce back today, you guys can overcome a lot more.”

Christian Iddon

“Some days, things don’t go your way and today was a case of that. I was taken out by another rider in the opening race and the fact he got a penalty tells the story, but it doesn’t get me any points back. Then in race two, I was feeling confident and knew I had the correct tyres as the track dried and was closing on the leaders but the next thing I know is I’m sliding down the track on my backside at 120 mph. I’m not having the best of luck right now, but we’ll go again at Cadwell Park next weekend and try to get things back on track.”

Josh Brookes

“We’ve made progress this weekend but not as much as I would have liked, and I’d say the improvements have been small and results are still nowhere near where they should be. There are still some issues that we need to resolve, the main one being grip which is the one causing the most concern. The issues aren’t what I’d like and that’s having a knock-on effect on the engine braking strategy. It’s difficult to get the correct engine settings and we’re yet to find the balance. We did make improvements today from yesterday and my pace was good in the mixed conditions so there are some positives to take away from the weekend.”

2021 British Superbike Championship Points

Source: MCNews.com.au