2024 British Superbikes: Donington Park - Qualifying Results

There was a return for the superpole format in qualifying for the third round of the British Superbikes championship at Donington Park, with last man out on track, Ryan Vickers, claiming pole position.

Heading into qualifying with the top time in FP2 before leading the short FP3 session held right before, the OMG Grilla rider, the only other race winner so far after a double in the Navarra opening round, had a long wait heading off last.

The Yamaha rider was instantly up in the first sector and held that advantage to the line for a lap of 1m 27.608s

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The lap - which looked scruffy as he pushed but proved to be inch perfect- brought Vickers his first pole of the season, and the #7’s first since Cadwell Park last year.

Donington Park was a successful track for Kyle Ryde last season, picking up Superpole on the first visit to the Derby track and three race wins over the two meets at he circuit.

His affinity for his home circuit continued, heading out just before his teammate and setting a clean lap, though he admitted after riders had seen laps cancelled he was more cautious. That allowed Vickers to push and finish 0.026s quicker, with Ryde completing the team 1-2 on the grid for race one.

Leon Haslam has more laps of Donington under his belt and it showed in his confidence to push on the ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW. The #91 was sideways as he gave everything, an all action lap securing the final front row spot.

Danny Kent continued to look at home on his McAMS Yamaha. The former Moto3 champion was tidy and aggressive as the eleventh rider to start a superpole lap, only moving out of the front row places to Vickers pole lap.

Lee Jackson was the surprise leader after FP1, but only went on to improve his time aboard the MasterMac Honda right at the end of the second session leaving him ninth fastest heading into qualifying. His new found pace did not desert him as he returned to set the fifth best time, his smooth lap holding strong as just the seventh rider to exit pit lane.

Tommy Bridewell used his time in the first qualifying session to hone his lap on the Honda, making huge gains in the final sector the reigning champion went off second and set his best lap of the weekend by almost half a second on his way to sixth.

Christian Iddon was rueful that he had not risked more, describing his lap as ‘sedate’. The Oxford Products rider was the top Ducati in seventh.

Arriving as championship leader following his dominant triple at Oulton Park, Glenn Irwin has racked up further success between races with three wins in the Superbike class at the NW200.

The PBM rider was almost instantly out of his seat, with a further slide not long after at Redgate, that lap did not improve, losing more time as the bike twitched again, leading to the #2 getting his line all wrong at the Melbourne Loop. The Northern Irish rider qualified eighth, almost a second off pole.

Max Cook was ninth quickest for Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki, with Josh Brookes - a late addition to the top 12  after his team-mate Peter Hickman withdrew - completed the top ten.

Both Charlie Nesbitt and Jason O’Halloran ended qualifying with no time to their names after having their laps cancelled for exceeding track limits.

Luke Mossey, who recorded a third place finish in the showdown visit sprint race last season, is in replacing Tom Neave at  Stauff Fluid Power Kawasaki. The former BSB race winner, who was originally meant to be a 2024 feature for L1 Racing who did not line up on the gird, made it straight into superpole with the twelfth best time in FP2 and qualified 13th after a over eager lap full of effort.

Official British Superbike Donington Park Records:

Lap record: Leon Haslam (BMW, 2023) 1m 27.523s

Donington Park in 2023:

Round 2
Superpole Qualifying: 
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Leon Haslam
3: Jason O’Halloran

Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Leon Haslam

Race 2:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Ryan Vickers
3: Josh Brookes

Race 3:
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Glenn Irwin

Round 10 (showdown):
Qualifying:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Leon Haslam

Race 1 (sprint):
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Leon Haslam
3: Luke Mossey

Race 2: 
1: Kyle Ryde
2: Leon Haslam
3: Christian Iddon

Race 3:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Christian Iddon
3: Josh Brookes

Q1- No way out for Andrew Irwin

Andrew Irwin was all at sea, coming back in early with the tyres removed from his bike and changes made.

Back on track the Honda Racing UK rider saw his best lap cancelled, then he had trouble with the entry to the Melbourne Loop, running wide several times. A final effort moved the #18 to sixth in the session, leaving him 18th on the grid.

Tommy Bridewell was 16th in FP2 so needed a trip through the first qualifying session to earn an a superpole run. He was joined by Fraser Rogers(12th), who topped the session on his TAG Honda and Billy McConnell (11th) who went out first in superpole for Look Forward Racing.

The best qualifying Pathway rider was Alex Olsen, just missing out on moving on in fourth, for 16th on the grid.

Jamie van Sikkelerus fell at the start of the session, with enough time to get back on track for 22nd, while Storm Stacey brought out the yellow flags at the end of the session, leaving him 19th.

Hickman and Skinner withdraw

After success on the roads with two Supertwin wins and two second places in the Superstock races at the NW200, Peter Hickman was back on track for FHO Racing but his appearance was short lived. 

The FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Team released a statement just before FP3, stating they had “taken the decision to withdraw Peter Hickman from the remainder of the Donington Park weekend, following a near-crash in yesterday’s FP2 session which strained his hand, allowing him for Hicky to rest and recover before the teams’ forthcoming TT commitments”.

Passed fit at the circuit, Rory Skinner was on track for FP1 after his huge accident in Oulton Park on the Monday. By FP2 the Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad rider had decided to withdraw to continue his recovery.