BSB: Donington Park National Review

It was a weekend to remember for Scott Redding. The English rider secured all three wins, despite not starting at the front for any of the races at Donington Park. It propels the Be Wiser Ducati rider to the top of the British Superbike Championship standings on 115 points.

Another rider having a resurgence in form was Alex Fores. The Spaniard secured two second place finishes and a third place, making up for the dogged opening two rounds.

At the first triple-header weekend of the season it was important for the riders to carry momentum and a double podium for Tommy Bridewell ensures he keeps second place in the standings, while Yamaha’s Tarran McKenzie drops to third overall.

Race 1

Scott Redding made his presence felt in a major way in the opening race of the weekend, the former MotoGP rider took the win in fabulous fashion. Starting in 2nd place he showed great pace throughout the weekend, only losing out on pole to his team mate Josh Brookes. Redding didn’t make the greatest of starts however, dropping to mid pack until the mid way point of the race, when he started to carve his way through the pack. Closing down the leaders, catching Bridewell and MacKenzie hand over fist and eventually taking over the lead on lap 22, never looked back from there.

Tarran MacKenzie had looked very strong throughout the race. Battling at the front with Tommy Bridewell, the two opened up a sizeable gap after Josh Brookes crashed out, splitting the leading group up. MacKenzie and Bridewell continued to swap positions until Redding caught and passed them. With Redding taking off, Bridewell and Mackenzie had to deal with a hard charging Xavi Fores, finally showing the sort of form everyone expected when he came into the championship. With 4 laps to go MacKenzie made his move on Bridewell and Xavi Fores took the final place on the podium on the last lap, putting Bridewell into 4th.

Jason O’Halloran finished in 5th with the very impressive Hector Barbera on his BSB debut in 6th place. The Spainiard has been fast from the off riding the Kawasaki, clicking with the package straight away. The TYCO BMW’s of Christian Iddon and Keith Farmer finished in 7th and 8th as they and the team continue to chip away and develop the new bike. Completing the top 10 were two men returning BSB duty after the North West 200; Glenn Irwin brought his Kawasaki home in 9th place, ahead of Peter Hickman in 10th.

Race 2

Redding’s wait for BSB wins proved to be like buses as he doubled up his weekend total, using his head in what was a shortened BSB race, due to deteriorating conditions. Just like in the first race, Redding had to work his way through the pack, carving his way through and making a move to take the lead just as the rain that had been threatening started to fall. They completed 1 final lap and the red flag finally came out at 2/3 distance meaning that the race was declared.

The main person to lose out due to this was Fores. The Spaniard lead the way for the majority of the race fighting with Bridewell, fending him off and fighting back everytime he was passed. Then when Bridewell eventually backed off due to the spits of rain it looked like Fores was on for his first win, until Redding made his move. A visibly upset Bridewell did finish in 3rd but was unhappy and almost accusing the organisers of a convenient red flag. It was still a solid result for Bridewell, who continues to be one of the form men at the start of the year.

After his Crash in Saturday’s race Josh Brookes finished Sunday’s race in 4th place, saying after the event he might have backed off a bit too much when the race first started, understandable after the crash yesterday. Tarran MacKenzie finished in 5th, narrowly keeping hold of his championship lead, after he had been pushing at the front in the early stages, but dropped back as the race went on. Iddon, Barbera, Hickman and Farmer completed the top 10 in race 2. Iddon had been running with the front men early on but like MacKenzie fell away further into the race still a solid result foe the new BMW.

Race 3

Redding completed the treble, securing the win in race 3 of the weekend in frankly dominant fashion. He quickly took the lead from is teammate Brookes and did not look back. His fast laps weren’t exceptional, but consistently set a pace that edged him away. With his 3 wins Redding pushed himself to the top of the championship table and finally announced himself fully to the series. Now the real test will be to replicate this sort of form on circuits he doesn’t know in the future.

Brookes had been running in 2nd until he ran off in the final chicane and dropped to 5th, rounding off a pretty dire weekend by his standards, especially after his dominant outing at Oulton Park. Brookes’s error opened the way for a 4 way dice between MacKenzie, Fores, Bridewell and Brookes after he recovered the time lost to finish on the podium with the Honda and Yamaha men especially swapping places every other corner. Eventually it was the Honda of Fores who took 2nd to complete a brilliant weekend for him and the team. Bridewell completed the podium, beating out MacKenzie with a move into the final hairpin. Brookes never quite recovered after his mistake and finished in 5th.

Iddon completed his soild weekend finishing in 6th place ahead of Hickman, another man getting to grips with the new BMW. Andy Irwin finished in 8th finally getting himself inside the top 10 after a tough weekend, Brad Ray came home in 9th, the first time this season the young Suzuki rider has shown any signs of last years incredible pace. His team mate Luke Stapleford rounded out the top 10.

An impressive weekend for Scott Redding finally showing the class everyone knows he has of course he knows the circuit so people will be keen to see how he gets on at the next round at Brands Hatch a circuit he doesn’t know quite so well but he leaves Donington Park with a championship lead and high on confidence, Along with Redding Xavi Fores finally showed he has arrived in BSB again like Redding he knew the circuit but it is clear to see when he is comfortable he can make the Honda shift.