BSB: Preview – Round 2: Oulton Park

BSB kicks back into action this weekend with Round 2 taking place at the beautiful Oulton Park now a tradition on the May bank holiday weekend this has always been a popular weekend with fans and riders alike.

Round one Review:

Round 1 saw Josh Brookes return to form after a disappointing 2 years with PBM. The always popular Australian took a brace of podiums as well as a race win, and also heading into Oulton Park with the title lead.

The new PBM duo of Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell also had a successful opening to this year’s title campaign with Bridewell taking 3 podiums leaving him 2^nd in the championship,

Irwin came away with a podium and a win to take him to 3^rd in the championship leaving what he regards as Ducati’s weakest track in a great position.

Danny Kent and Kyle Ryde both had very good starts to their campaign Ryde taking a win in race 1 and Danny Kent finishing as top Honda ahead of the factory backed outfit.

My personal rider of the weekend was reigning British Supersport champion Jack Kennedy who makes the step up to the main class this year and held his own with the heavy hitters of the class.

Weekend to Come:

Onto this weekend and we can have a look at the official test held the week after the opening round to give an early indication of who to look out for.

Day one of the test was a bit of a washout leaving all the action to day two:

Leon Haslam lead the way in the morning session a solid start to the season with limited testing time this was a welcome boost.

Glenn Irwin, Tommy Bridewell, Kyle Ryde, Josh Brookes and Jason O’Halloran completed the top 6.

Jason O’Halloran took the honours in the afternoon session but Oulton Park hasnt been a happy hunting ground in recent times for the Austrailan he will hope to rectify that this weekend.

Kyle Ryde kept pace with O’Halloran coming home 2nd with Peter Hickman completing the top 3 a welcome show of pace for Hickman who had a torrid start to the year with mechanical issues.

Glenn Irwin,Tommy Bridewell and Josh Brookes completed the top 6.

Support Classes:

Lee Johnston has taken over the mantle of man to beat in the Supersport class this season winning both races at Silverstone.

The supersport possibly lacks the depth of previous years but with the likes of Luke Stapleford Ben Currie and Lee Johnston in the class alongside some new up and coming riders it should still lead to some outstanding races.

In the National Superstock Class Alex Olsen took a win but the weekend belonged to young Rookie Franco Bourne making his debut on a 1000cc bike he rode to a brilliant 2nd place in race 1 and took victory in race 2 ahead of Dan Linfoot.

2022 Results:

Eventual series champion Bradley Ray was on impressive form here last year dominating the first two races of the weekend and finishing 3^rd in the last race,

Current Moto 2 rider Rory Skinner came home 2nd in race one with Kyle Ryde completing the podium.

Lee Jackson and Leon Haslam completed the podium in race 2 respecitvely- an outlier of a result for Haslam in what was a surprisngly quiet season.

Lee Jackson and Tommy Bridewell completed the podium in race 3 with the Kawasaki man taking the victory. An impressive ride from Jackson to overturn Bridewell in the closing laps.

So what is likely to happen this weekend? Tune into all the action live here on Motorsport Radio with Duncan Vincent & Larry Carter taking you through every twist and turn of Oulton Park.