Honda’s Glenn Irwin victorious at BSB season opener

2022 British Superbike Championship
Round One – Silverstone – Saturday

Images Dave Yeomans

Honda Racing UK has had a sensational start to the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship today at Silverstone, with Glenn Irwin storming to victory in the opening race of the season, after claiming pole position in Qualifying aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.

Kicking off the season in style, in what is the 30th Anniversary year of the iconic Fireblade, Glenn led the race from start to finish and managed to hold off challenges from OMG Yamaha Racing team-mates Kyle Ryde and Bradley Ray, taking the Race One victory and his fifth win in the British Championship.  

Kyle Ryde and Bradley Ray traded blows throughout the 24-lap race, but it was Ryde who had the edge at the chequered flag. The leading Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha tried to make a move for the lead on the final run to the line, but missed out by just 0.139s to Honda’s Irwin.

Glenn Irwin – P1

“Today it started to come good! It is the first time I did a race run this year with everything that has gone on – the closest to that was I did get a spell on my Motocross bike in February before I got hurt! I felt good then, so I had to breathe a little bit in that one, Seeley told me a few things like breath on the straights! You can’t make predictions in this Championship. Tomorrow we need to make a good start again; I know Kyle (Ryde) and Brad (Ray) will be here as the Yamaha lads are always at this track! I expect other riders to respond tomorrow, some people won’t be so happy, but it is down to us to continue the good work that we have done today.”

Rory Skinner held on to a strong fourth place finish for the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki team ahead of Jason O’Halloran on the McAMS Yamaha.

The battle for sixth place went down to the wire and it was Andrew Irwin who emerged ahead of Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell and Christian Iddon on the Buildbase Suzuki.

Lee Jackson and Danny Buchan completed the top ten, whilst just missing out on the top ten was Peter Hickman and MCE Ducati riders Tom Sykes and Josh Brookes.

Tom Sykes – P12

“Today has been a bit of a mixed bag to be honest. It was good to get the first race out of the way and get some points on the board but frustrating not to be closer to the sharp end. I made a good start and made some passes on the brakes with the bike turning really well but we’re suffering when we open the throttle as we haven’t got the traction we need. Many aspects of the bike are in the ballpark and it’s just that one area that’s holding us back this weekend so there’s a bit of work to do in that respect. I’ve got a good feeling with the bike though and there’s a great team spirit, so we’ll look to move forward tomorrow.”

Josh Brookes – P13

“It’s been a difficult start to the season, and I’m obviously not pleased with the result, but we made a small change for the race which was possibly the wrong way. We’d been improving steadily in practice and qualifying so the change, although not big, wasn’t helpful either and when I caught Tom it got quite difficult. Although we’re on the same bike, we’ve got different styles of riding and I didn’t want to do anything desperate trying to get by him so consolidated the position. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but it’s only race one, so we won’t get too downhearted.”

Road Racers Dean Harrison and James Hillier contested the BSB opener and finished 22nd and 24th respectively.  South Australian David Johnson had been a late entry to the event as he also starts his preparations for TT 2022 with his first ride on the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha. Davo crossed the line in 27th with a safe first outing on the bike under his belt.

It was a disappointing start to the season for Leon Haslam as he retired the VisionTrack Kawasaki.

British Superbike Race One Results

British Superbike Qualifying Results

British Superstock Race One

Tim Neave took the opening Pirelli National Superstock Championship with MotoNovo Finance win after a dramatic race at Silverstone.

The Edwards Yamaha rider took the lead on the 11th lap of 16 after leaders Alex Olsen and Lewis Rollo tangled at the front.  Second rider home was Tumut’s Brayden Elliott, just ahead of Tom Ward.

Brayden Elliott – P2

“Don’t even know if this has sunken in yet but what a day. Can’t describe the emotions that flooded over me when I crossed the finish line. A lifetime of dreaming of these moments and 6 years of struggle in the UK, it’s worth every bit of sacrifice to experience this feeling. To those that make it possible, thank you! Fully focused on tomorrows second race and ready to go again.”

Fourth across the line was Brent Harran as reigning Junior Superstock champion Jack Nixon took fifth on his 1000cc debut.

Levi Day brought the Powerslide Suzuki home in eighth place while fellow South Aussie Billy McConnell took home no points after crossing the line 19th in what was a 35-rider field. McConnell had got tangled up with another rider in the first attempt at running the race which saw him have to take the re-start from pit-lane.

John McGuinness is one of many Road Racers using the BSB season opener to sharpen themselves up ahead of TT 2022 and crossed the line in 21st place. Ian Hutchinson was ninth.

Pirelli National Superstock Championship
Silverstone – Race One

British Supersport / GP2 Sprint Race

Jack Kennedy kicked off his title defence in perfect style as he stormed to the opening Quattro Group British Supersport win of the year.

After dominating free practice and qualifying, Kennedy’s Mar-Train Yamaha was back on the top spot after beating Lee Johnston by more than seven seconds.

Appleyard Macadam’s Bradley Perie led into turn one, but Kennedy was soon past and while the pair swapped places at the front a few times in the opening laps, Perie’s challenge ended with a retirement on lap 11.

Third rider home was Perie’s team-mate Harry Truelove ahead of Jamie van Sikkelerus and Luke Jones.

Kiwi Damon Rees didn’t put any early runs on the board after going out of the race only two laps in. Rees had qualified sixth.

In the GP2 class, Cameron Fraser took the spoils from Harvey Claridge and Harry Rowlings when class leader Jack Scott crashed on the final lap.

Quattro Group British Supersport Championship
Silverstone – Race One

Honda British Talent Cup Race One

The opening round of the Honda British Talent Cup got underway with blissful sunshine beating down on the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. Grabbing the holeshot of the opening race of the new season, Johnny Garness, the polesitter, capitalised on his strong qualifying and eventually took victory in fine style, beating Harrison Crosby (Banks Racing) and Carter Brown (MLav VisionTrack Academy) by just less than a second. It was Garness’ third win in the class, and he leads the Championship into Sunday’s action.

As Garness led the way, Harrison Crosby and Julian Correa (Microlise Cresswell Racing) battled hard in the opening corners and the ensuing laps. Garness originally broke clear at the front but soon, his lead was reeled back in, and Harrison Crosby hit the front on Lap 5, the first lead change of the race. Meanwhile, back in eighth place, Carter Brown had set the fastest lap as the #74 aimed to get back amongst the leading group. Also in the leading group, the likes of Kiyano Veijer (Microlise Cresswell Racing), Rhys Stephenson (Rocket Racing), Ryan Hitchcock (City Lifting by RS Racing) all exchanged positions, whilst Peter Willis (MLav VisionTrack Academy), Matthew Ruisbroeck (Microlise Cresswell Racing/Easterm Garage) and Clayton Edmunds (MJL Racing) were inside the top ten.

Just before half-race distance, Harley McCabe crashed out at Luffield having started from a superb fourth place, ending his race prematurely but he’ll certainly be hoping to bounce back in Race 2 on Sunday. There was then a disaster for Harrison Mackay (Wilson Racing/Super Soco) who suffered a dramatic mechanical issue with smoke pouring out, thankfully with no fluids on the circuit.

As the closing stages of the race beckoned, it was Johnny Garness who took the lead back and, with a backmarker of Troy Jeffrey (Mortimer Racing/Victoria House Academy) getting between him and the chasing pack as the last lap started, pulled the pin to break away. Having finished fifth in the 2021 Honda British Talent Cup, the rider from Devon took the opening honours of 2022, impressively setting his personal best lap of the race on the final lap of the 22-lap encounter. Harrison Crosby was second with Carter Brown taking third; Brown set the fastest lap of the race and thus starts Race 2 from pole position, ahead of Crosby and Garness. Veijer, Hitchcock, Stephenson, Correa, Willis, Ruisbroeck and Edmunds completed the top ten, with Ruisbroeck finishing as top rookie.

Honda British Talent Cup Race One Results