2024 British Superbikes: Oulton Park (Showdown) - Race Results (1)

There was drama from start to finish in the first race of the Showdown in round nine of the British Superbike championship at Oulton Park with Kyle Ryde fighting back for the win after Tommy Bridewell suffered an early exit.

Bridewell fell out of contention in a crash all of his own on just the first lap of the race, exiting at Hizzys while Josh Brookes had taken an early lead.

The OMG Grilla rider started from pole but was not able to lead as first the Australian took over, then Glenn Irwin by lap four.

Ryde was sat in a comfortable third, which slowly split to a lead trio as Leon Haslam lost touch.

• 2024 British Superbikes: Oulton Park (Showdown) - Qualifying Results
• Tommy Bridewell to make a wildcard WSBK appearance

The was an issue on board the Yamaha on lap eleven for Ryde, later revealed to be the dash protector, which had come loose. To avoid it falling off and causing an exit for himself or any of the riders behind, the #77 chose to pull to the grass to dispose of it, losing two seconds and falling back into the clutches of Lee Jackson.

Ryde used the opportunity to push hard, setting a series of fastest laps to give himself pole in race two, and was soon back in the front group.

A move from Brookes on Irwin saw the now lead four almost in a line - Ryde took his opportunity to come out ahead with a move under the rest to lead down to Knickerbrook.

Holding on for the final lap, Ryde completed his comeback with a hard earned win, his first at Oulton Park.

Irwin’s Aggressive move on Brookes on the Ducati saw him as the long term leader in race one, but the PBM rider was too far back for a final lunge, finishing 0.303s behind.

It ends a barren rostrum spell for Irwin, who has not scored a podium finish in nine races.

Lee Jackson had qualified sixth, but a poor start saw him beaten back to eighth on the opening lap.

The MasterMac Honda rider completed a comeback of his own to catch the leaders and complete the podium.

Brookes was just raced out of the rostrum slots on the last lap, with fourth equalling his best result of the season for FHO Racing BMW Motorrad.

Ryan Vickers has suffered set-up issues on his side of the OMG garage but race mode saw him move from seventh on the grid to finish fifth, thanks to a late pass on Leon Haslam, who placed sixth for ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad.

Danny Kent was the last of that group on track, in seventh for McAMS Yamaha, with a gap back to peter Hickman, making moves in the right direction on the second FHO bike.

Jason O’Halloran crossed the line moments later, the top Kawasaki for Completely Motorbikes in ninth as teammate Max Cook completed the top ten.

Rory Skinner was a distant eleventh for the Cheshire Mouldings team, holding his own considerable gap over Andrew Irwin in twelfth for Honda as the pair both failed to make it out of Q1 earlier in the day.

The remaining points on offer went to Billy McConnell (C&L Fairburn/Look Forward Racing) in 13th, Strom Stacey (LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki) in 14th and Bradley Perie (STAUFF Fluid Power Kawasaki) in 15th.

Richard Kerr was the top Pathway bike, just missing out in 16th in a close battle to the chequered flag as he replaces Alex Olsen at Team IWR.

Fraser Rogers was awarded 17th after he failed to take his long lap penalty in the race for a shortcut, which was later changed to a ride through for non-compliance with the original sanction.

Brayden Elliott was the only other rider to finish the race.

Official British Superbike Oulton Park Records:

Lap record: Bradley Ray (Yamaha, 2022) 1m 33.626s

Oulton Park in 2023:

Lap record: Bradley Ray (Yamaha, 2022) 1m 33.620s

Oulton Park in 2023

Round 2
Qualifying:
1: Josh Brookes
2: Leon Haslam
3: Storm Stacey

Race 1:
1: Josh Brookes
2: Leon Haslam
3: Glenn Irwin

Race 2:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Leon Haslam

Race 3:
1: Glenn Irwin 
2: Leon Haslam
3:Kyle Ryde

Round 9 (Showdown)

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

Race 1: 
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Lee Jackson
3: Leon Haslam

Race 2: 
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Lee Jackson
3: Kyle Ryde

Race 3: 
1: Tommy Bridewell 
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Lee Jackson

Main Season 2024:
Qualifying:
1:  Kyle Ryde
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Ryan Vickers

Race 1: 
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Christian Iddon
3: Kyle Ryde

Race 2: 
1: Glenn Irwin
2: Tommy Bridewell
3: Christian Iddon

Race 3: 
1: Glenn Irwin 
2: Christian Iddon
3: Ryan Vickers

Crashes, Injuries and Replacements

After Bridewell’s very early exit, Danny Buchan was the next to fall - a nasty highside in the middle of the track at the downhill section taking him out of action on lap three.

Charlie Nesbitt was sat in fourth when he became the latest rider to crash at Hizzys on lap five.

Christian Iddon made it to lap twelve before his trip off track left him briefly trapped under his bike in Britten’s.

Louis Valleley, Lewis Rollo, and Luke Hedger all retired to the pits.

Rapid Honda’s Franco Bourne withdrew from the meeting after FP3, as the lack of feeling in his hand from his recent scaphoid injury proved too much to manage.

Championship Standings

Bridewell came into round nine with a 19 point advantage over Ryde, which was wiped away by Ryde’s determined win, coupled with his own DNF.

As part of the Showdown, the win now earns Ryde 25 points, up from 18 in the main season.