2024 British Superbikes: Donington Park (Showdown) - Race Results (3)

Kyle Ryde had pressure behind from Danny Kent, who was in the hunt for a first BSB win, but the result was decided for them as the red flags ended the race a lap prematurely, with Ryde ahead.

The Yamaha man had dominated before finishing third behind title rivals Glemn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell in the earlier sprint.

The OMG Grilla rider had work to do after only earning sixth  on the grid from that race, and it was pole man Irwin who took the early lead.

With his home crowd cheering him on, the #77 had perfected his favourite pass, lining up the rider in front through the Esses, followed by a leg dangle and a pass through the Melbourne Loop, used over all of the opening laps to move forward.

Bridewell was on the receiving end of the move by lap three as Ryde moved into second, taking a lap off to close in on Irwin before more of the same.

The Ducati rider proved harder to pass, with his own preferred areas to pass, the slower corners, especially Redgate, leading to an electric few laps where the duo passed each other for the lead.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Donington Park (Showdown) - Race Results (1)
• 2024 British Superbikes: Donington Park (Showdown) - Race Results (2)

With the pair stronger in different areas, the riders behind could close in and once Danny Kent arrived behind Irwin, he quickly found a way past and became a new probem for the title hopeful, stalking him in a bid to find a way into the lead.

The McAMS Yamaha rider looked ready to pounce when a huge incident at the end of lap nineteen out of twenty saw the red flags wave and the result declared.

Billy McConnell had fallen form eleventh and his bike came back around onto the track, straight into Christian Iddon. Jason O’Halloran arrived at the accident at speed and had nowhere to go, running into the stricken Ducati, with bike and rider sent flying over the top at the Melbourne Haripin.

The Official BSB X account offered a brief update on their conditions after the race, posting:

"MEDICAL UPDATE BENNETTS BSB RACE THREE:

Jason O'Halloran sustained a shoulder injury and Christian Iddon sustained a fractured right foot".

Ryan Vickers had had a quiet weekend with a bike issue seeing him down in qualifying, and although he felt he had the pace, he could not get into his groove to get to the front to use it to full effect.

From an improved seventh on the grid, the #77 was aggressive on the second OMG Grilla and had worked his way up to third by the time the race ended to complete an all Yamaha podium.

The early stages had been all about the championship contenders, but Glenn Irwin ended up off the podium, clearly still giving his all, this time it was only enough for fourth for the PBM rider.

Bridewell has made changes all weekend to a Honda he is not happy with, a situation which he credited with a fifth place finish in race three.

Andrew Irwin got a strong start but fell back slowly to sixth behind his teammate.

The young guns of the class were battling away behind, with Charlie Nesbitt just ahead in seventh on the MasterMac Honda, ahead of Max Cook who was again the best Kawasaki for Completely Motorbikes in eighth.

Lee Jackson had moved up to ninth on the second MasterMac bike, with Leon Haslam slipping back to a distant tenth on his ROKiT Haslam BMW Motorrad machine.

Josh Brookes was in eleventh as he passed the incident when the race was called for FHO Racing, and lucky not to be involved.

All the rider behind moved forward in the standings as the trio fell, with Rory Skinner placed twelfth, Storm Stacey 13th, Bradley Perie 14th and Lewis Rollo beinf awarded the final point, once again the top Pathway bike despite starting last on the grid in 25th after his race two fall.

Official British Superbike Donington Park Records:

Lap record: Glenn Irwin (Ducati, 2024) 1m 27.345s

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

Main Season 2024:

Qualifying:
1: Ryan Vickers
2: Kyle Ryde
3: Leon Haslam

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

Race 2 (Sprint):
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Leon Haslam
3:Tommy Bridewell

Race 3:
1:Jason O’Halloran
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Danny Kent

Crashes, Injuries and Replacements

Tom Ward was the best replacement rider in 16th for Rapid Honda with James Westmoreland I20th on the IWR Honda Pathway bike.

Corey Tinker  had been lapped naturally in the race, so was counted as two laps down when the results came out to allow for the red flag finishing 19th for NP Racing.

Luke Hedger lost another chain, so failed to finish, while Peter Hickman and Fraser Rogers both retired back to the pits.

Danny Buchan was absent  through injury. Jaimie van Sikkelerus withdrew on the opening day.

Championship Standings

Ryde has now taken six wins in the last nine races, and four of the six held in the Showdown. His momentum sees him lead a championship exiting a round for the first time, after his brief time on top overnight at the last round.

A win took the local rider to 398 points - just four ahead of Bridewell, but with a psycological advantage heading to Brands Hatch.

Glenn Irwin is the only other rider who can still win, on 352 points -46 away  from Ryde.

Kent and Vickers are fourth and fifth overall, but mathematically out of the title chase.