Oulton Park is set to host the third 2018 Bennetts BSB round, the last one before the traditional “Road Races Break” (North West 200 and Isle of Man TT). Oulton Park is one of the tracks that best represent British motorcycle racing: a roller-coaster circuit including long fast corners and chicanes, in addition to Shell, near a small lake, and Deer Leap, where riders almost touch an oak. This circuit has always hosted spectacular racing and for sure this will happen also on Monday 7th May, race day of this wonderful weekend. The races will start at 13:30 e 16:30 local time.
BRADLEY RAY LEADS – Due to his sensational start of the season, the not-yet-21 Bradley Ray will go to Oulton Park as the championship leader. The young Buildbase Suzuki rider was simply extraordinary at Donington Park, where he won both races and almost became the youngest rider to do it, and Oulton Park represents a “lucky track” for him: last Spetember, surprisingly, he scored his first podium in BSB after a great recovery in Race 2. Very nice premises for Brad #28, whose WorldSBK wildcard ride at Donington Park hasn’t been confirmed yet: the team has already sent the application, but due to some problems (he should race with MoTeC electronics, like in BSB…) no announcement has come yet.
ATTACKING BYRNE AND HASLAM – A rider who will certainly contest World Superbike UK Round at Donington is Leon Haslam. Pocket Rocket won Race 2 at Brands Hatch Indy with a wonderful final overtake on Glenn Irwin. Moreover, he was the fastest rider at the pre-event Oulton Park test. But also PBM Be Wiser riders Shane Byrne and Irwin were very fast and this represents a big boost for Shakey, who has already won 11 times at Oulton Park.
EQUILIBRIO – Oulton Park will host the third round of an incredible season, whose main characteristic is the balance among all the riders and manufacturers. So far, in four races, we’ve seen 3 different race winners and 8 different riders on the podium and all the six manufacturers in BSB (Suzuki, Ducati, Kawasaki, BMW, Yamaha and Honda) have scored at least one top-3 finish. These data are encouraging for Tyco BMW pair Michael Laverty-Christian Iddon, fifth and sixth in the championship standings, and also for some riders who have to rise after a disappointing begin: Jake Dixon (who performed an incredible recovery in Race 1 at Oulton Park), Josh Brookes (a bit faster in Brands Hatch Indy after an awful season debut at Donington Park) and James Ellison (very unlucky at Brands Hatch Indy). Hard to evaluate is the situation at Honda Racing UK, who will line up a potential protagonist such as Jason O’Halloran and returning Ryuichi Kiyonari. The three rimtes BSB Champion will race at Oulton Park in replacement of injured Dan Linfoot and this represents a good reason why you should follow the first 2018 Bank Holiday Weekend.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship 2018
Championship standings (Podium Credits in brackets)
01- Bradley Ray – Buildbase Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 79 (13)
02- Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati – Ducati Panigale R – 69 (8)
03- Leon Haslam – JG Speedfit Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 65 (8)
04- Glenn Irwin – Be Wiser Ducati – Ducati Panigale R – 48 (3)
05- Michael Laverty – Tyco BMW Motorrad – BMW S1000RR – 36 (1)
06- Christian Iddon – Tyco BMW Motorrad – BMW S1000RR – 33
07- Jason O’Halloran – Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – 32 (1)
08- Dan Linfoot – Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – 29 (1)
09- Luke Mossey – JG Speedfit Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 24
10- Danny Buchan – FS-3 Racing Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 24
11- Josh Brookes – McAMS Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – 23
12- James Ellison – Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – 21 (1)
13- Jake Dixon – RAF Regular & Reserves – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 19
14- Tommy Bridewell – Movuno.com Halsall – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 17
15- Peter Hickman – Smiths Racing – BMW S1000RR – 16
16- Tarran Mackenzie – McAMS Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – 12
17- Carl Phillips – Gearlink Kawasaki – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 6
18- Richard Cooper – Buildbase Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 3
19- Jakub Smrz – Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad – BMW S1000RR – 2
20- Taylor Mackenzie – Moto Rapido Ducati – Ducati Panigale R – 2
21- Gino Rea – OMG Racing UK Ltd – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 1