Kyle Ryde claimed victory in a dramatic second Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Donington Park, as the BeerMonster Ducati teammates clashed at Melbourne with Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell crashing out of contention.
The fight for the 2023 title took another turn after an intense seven-way battle for victory. Bridewell had started at the back of the grid in 26th position and had been carving his way through the pack to have closed in on the leading group by lap eight.
Irwin had been at the front of the field after starting 12th on the grid to lead by the second lap ahead of Leon Haslam, Ryan Vickers and Ryde as Bridewell joined the pack.
By lap nine, there was a scramble for the lead as the rain flags were shown and the riders battled to hold the advantage. However, by the end of that lap, Bridewell had carved through to take the lead at Goddards.
Bridewell and Irwin were then scrapping for the lead, with Haslam, Vickers and Ryde also in the mix as the leading title contenders refused to give an inch to their rivals.
By lap 11, Irwin had regained the lead but Bridewell was still pushing to regain the advantage as tensions continued to rise. As the pack reached Melbourne on lap 12, Bridewell tagged the back of Irwin and then pair subsequently crashed out of the race, making it another non-point scoring race for both BeerMonster Ducati riders.
Ryde held onto the lead from Haslam and Christian Iddon who had joined the fray, as the race was red flagged on lap 17 for rain. The pair now have closed again on their BeerMonster Ducati rivals with the pair still separated by half a point as Ryde in third is now 31.5 points adrift of Irwin with Haslam just a further two points behind.
Lee Jackson continued his consistency with a fourth place for the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki team and Jason O'Halloran on the McAMS Yamaha.
Ryan Vickers was sixth ahead of Charlie Nesbitt and Josh Brookes with Max Cook and Peter Hickman completing the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Race 2 result:
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha)
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) +0.224s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +1.489s
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +1.755s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +2.138s
- Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) +3.791s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing) +6.387s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +6.678s
- Max Cook (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) +9.655s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +10.938s
For the full race result please click here
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 360.5
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 360
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 329
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 327
- Lee Jackson (Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki) 314.5
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 292.5
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 272
- Ryan Vickers (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 246
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 242
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Racing Yamaha) 139
For the full standings please click here