Fifth place for Glenn Irwin in Donington Park opener

Race Report
Glenn Irwin came home in a fantastic fifth place this afternoon aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, in the opening race of the weekend at Donington Park, where Honda Racing UK teammate Ryo Mizuno came home in the points in 15th place. 

Heading into qualifying, Glenn was fourth on combined times after the three practice sessions at the 1.98-mile National Circuit, meaning he went straight into Q2. Qualifying ninth, Glenn started the 20-lap eBay Sprint Race from the third row of the grid, but soon started to gain places. 

By the tenth lap a podium looked to be on the cards as Glenn was sitting third, but having some good on-track battles with his BSB rivals he eventually crossed the line fifth and will start tomorrow's second race from sixth on the grid. 

Teammate Ryo Mizuno scored his first BSB points of the 2022 season coming home in 15th place, having started the 20-lap sprint race from 19th. Progress of the race has to go to Takumi Takahashi who qualified 24th but took the chequered flag in 16th having made up eight positions across race distance. 

BSB rookie Tom Neave has had a mixed weekend, passing fit in yesterday's medical assessment Tom was 20th in combined practice and while running ninth in the first qualifying session crashed out, unhurt, at Craner Curves. Starting the race from 22nd on the grid, Tom was hunting down a point scoring finish, but dropped back to finish 19th. 

Tomorrow (Sunday 22 May) the Honda Racing UK team will be back in action with Race 2 and Race 3, however after careful consideration Tom will not be taking part in the races having felt some concussion side affects, following his crash last time out at Oulton Park. 



Glenn Irwin

We had a frustrating qualifying session where everything seemed to go wrong. On the grid I knew I had to make a good start, Taz (Mackenzie) is carrying an injury, Tom (Sykes) is incredible on the brakes and I wanted to get in with the three boys at the front. I managed to do that and had a good start, passing Tom at the end of the first lap and worked my way up to third at one stage. All weekend we've struggled a little with the front end and I think I could have used my experience to point the guys in the direction to help with front end entry, and the race today highlighted where we were struggling. That being said I scored 11 points and to come here after the two wins at the North West 200 and to have a fifth in the first race back at BSB pleases me. 
Race 1: 5th

Ryo Mizuno

First of all, I am relieved to have scored my first points of the season. This time, I tried to stay on track and do laps from Friday, and we were able to solve all the problems we had so far, one by one. In qualifying we were one step short of making it to Q2, but we were well prepared and ready for the race. I was able to follow the riders in front at a good pace until the middle of the race, but in the second half of the race I had some issues and could not keep up the pace. We know what the issue is and we will try to improve it in tomorrow's two races in order to move up to the top positions!
Race 1: 15th

Takumi Takahashi

This weekend at Donington Park hasn't felt as good as Silverstone and Oulton, and I didn’t manage to improve until qualifying. In today's race, I couldn't get a good position after the start, but my feeling with the Fireblade is improving a little, so I will try to finish in a good position in tomorrow's two races.
Race 1: 16th

#68 Tom Neave

Today has been a difficult one for me. Donington is a place I love riding at but after taking part in today’s opening race I have decided not to take part in tomorrow’s races. I passed the medical assessment yesterday, but during the race I was still suffering the effects of my concussion and I don’t want to endanger myself, or anyone else by racing tomorrow. We have a small break now until the next round at Knockhill, so I’ll focus being 100% for that round.
Race 1: 19th

Bennetts British Superbike Championship 22'

Donington Park National, eBay Sprint Race

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap Pts.
1 Kyle Ryde Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha Yamaha 22:09.645 25
2 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +0.038 20
3 Bradley Ray Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha Yamaha +1.143 16
4 Lee Jackson 14 Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +2.306 13
5 Glenn Irwin Honda Racing UK Honda +5.908 11
6 Christian Iddon Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki +6.246 10
7 Rory Skinner Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki +7.401 9
8 Tommy Bridewell Oxford Products Racing Ducati Ducati +8.152 8
9 Peter Hickman 60 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW +8.278 7
10 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha +10.659 6
11 Tom Sykes 66 MCE Ducati Racing Team Ducati +12.351 5
12 Danny Buchan 83 SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW +16.217 4
13 Josh Brookes MCE Ducati Racing Team Ducati +18.100 3
14 Chrissy Rouse 69 Crowe Performance BMW BMW +23.263 2
15 Ryo Mizuno Honda Racing UK Honda +29.719 1
16 Takumi Takahashi Honda Racing UK Honda +34.141 0
17 Andrew Irwin SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW +34.723 0
18 Josh Owens Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki Kawasaki +34.872 0
19 Tom Neave 68 Honda Racing UK Honda +36.522 0

Bennetts British Superbike Championship 22'

Donington Park National, Qualifying

Pos. Name No. Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Jason O'Halloran 22 McAMS Yamaha Yamaha 1:05.289
2 Bradley Ray Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha Yamaha 1:05.293
3 Kyle Ryde Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha Yamaha 1:05.542
4 Rory Skinner Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki 1:05.615
5 Lee Jackson 14 Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki Kawasaki 1:05.619
6 Peter Hickman 60 FHO Racing BMW Motorrad BMW 1:05.719
7 Tom Sykes 66 MCE Ducati Racing Team Ducati 1:05.720
8 Tarran Mackenzie McAMS Yamaha Yamaha 1:05.769
9 Glenn Irwin Honda Racing UK Honda 1:05.827
10 Ryan Vickers FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports BMW 1:05.859
11 Leon Haslam 91 VisionTrack Kawasaki Kawasaki 1:05.897
12 Storm Stacey 79 Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki Kawasaki 1:05.975
13 Danny Buchan 83 SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW 1:06.148
14 Christian Iddon Buildbase Suzuki Suzuki 1:06.165
15 Tommy Bridewell Oxford Products Racing Ducati Ducati 1:06.175
16 Josh Brookes MCE Ducati Racing Team Ducati 1:06.243
17 Chrissy Rouse 69 Crowe Performance BMW BMW 1:06.263
18 Andrew Irwin SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad BMW 1:08.269
19 Ryo Mizuno Honda Racing UK Honda 1:06.500 (Q1)
20 Luke Mossey TAG Racing Honda Honda 1:06.550 (Q1)
21 Dan Linfoot 4 iForce BMW BMW 1:06.646 (Q1)
22 Tom Neave 68 Honda Racing UK Honda 1:06.771 (Q1)
23 Josh Owens Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki Kawasaki 1:06.906 (Q1)
24 Takumi Takahashi Honda Racing UK Honda 1:06.998 (Q1)