Five things we learned from round two of the BSB championship at Oulton Park

From success for Yamaha and Kawasaki, to Leon Haslam showing much improved form and Tom Sykes continuing to struggle at Ducati, here are the five things we learned from Oulton Park, round two of the 2022 BSB campaign.

Robert Jones

04 May 2022

Bradley Ray, Yamaha British Superbike Oulton Park

The level in BSB continues to rise after another highly entertaining round at Oulton Park threw up a maiden winner, whilst another rider claimed his first victory in four years.

There was also a change for the championship lead after Glenn Irwin was unable to back-up his Silverstone hat-trick with a top five.

5 - BSB is a young man’s game…

While the championship has previously been dominated by more experienced riders - 2021 champion Tarran Mackenzie became only the third rider to win the title under the age of 30 since 2012 - a shift has seemingly taken place in 2022.

Yes, riders like Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell are very much in contention this year, as we expect Jason O’Halloran and perhaps a couple more to be as the season goes on, however, there’s no doubt about who the championship's top three riders have been so far.

Bradley Ray, Kyle Ryde and Rory Skinner have by far been the most consistent riders to begin the season, and if not for arm pump issues during the final two races at Oulton - still finished fourth in race two - then Ryde could have claimed another double podium.

For Ray, the Yamaha rider appears back to his sublime best as he took over the championship lead from Irwin.

Skinner on the other hand is the only rider to finish in the top five of every race so far this season, a monumental achievement given the competitive field.

4 - Leon Haslam is back!

After a tough opening round at Silverstone, Haslam showed just why he was crowned champion in 2018 after using his experience to outfox Ryde and Skinner for a race two podium.

With his newly-built ZX10-RR still not where it needs to be, there’s an argument Haslam got more out of his machine than he should have, making his Oulton performance a very strong one.

Also good news for Haslam is that Kawasaki seems to be extremely competitive across different teams this season - finished last year as the only manufacturer on the grid not to win a race, something that’s already changed.

3 - Can Sykes, MCE Ducati pull through their difficult start?

While we’ve listed Tom Sykes as the main rider here, team-mate Josh Brookes remains out of form aside from a strong qualifying in the wet and race one.

The Australian took advantage of tricky conditions and his vast amounts of success around Oulton to qualify fourth, a position he maintained in Saturday’s 14 lap race.

But come Monday’s longer races, Brookes started to drift backwards as he could only manage eighth and tenth.

For Sykes, it was another weekend to forget as a lack of pace was apparent early on. The former WorldSBK champion remains without a top ten finish in six races.

Trying to remain positive, Sykes said this following Oulton Park: “It’s been a little bit challenging this weekend but at least we now understand some of the parameters much clearer, so we have a good idea of what changes we need to make to the MCE Ducati

“The laps in qualifying were the very first ones I’ve done on the bike in the wet and we had a great feeling, but with the information we’ve gained at both the test and in the three races, we have a positive direction in which to go.

“I’m expecting we can find a big improvement for the next round at Donington Park.”

2 - Lee Jackson has arrived after claiming his maiden BSB win

Despite a poor qualifying, Jackson showed incredible race pace throughout the weekend in order to make victory in race three a real possibility.

15th on the grid, Jackson finished race one in ninth before a brilliant effort in race two saw him clinch second. But it was race three where Jackson produced the best performance of his career.

Lee Jackson Kawasaki British Superbike Oulton Park

The FS-3 Kawasaki rider, who was third for much of the race, followed Bridewell closely as the Ducati rider closed down a dominant-looking Ray.

With the win then in sight, Jackson produced back-to-back overtakes on laps 13 and 14 before streaking away from the chasing duo.

Consistency will no doubt be needed in order to carry forward a title challenge, as will be the case if he wants to match team-mate Skinner, however, should he do so then it’s clear that Jackson has the pace needed.

1 - Is Ray the BSB title favourite after his Oulton double?

After a brilliant first round at Silverstone aboard R1 machinery, Ray looked even more formidable as he largely dominated round two.

Two wins - his first in four years - while also setting new lap record after new lap record in race situations was a clear indication that Ray is ready to become a serious title challenge.

With the Brit still young enough to find a way in WorldSBK, Ray is showing his potential just at the right time. Like team-mate Ryde, Ray struggled with his right arm in race three which without doubt cost him victory.

But with that said, five podiums from six races, two wins and the championship lead on a bike he had previously never rode before pre-season testing, is a very, very good return.