August 28, 2022

Top Ten For Brookes As Sykes Lucks Out

A day which promised so much for the MCE Ducati British Superbike Championship Team ended with Josh Brookes scoring a battling tenth place finish in today’s opening eBay sprint race at round seven of the series at Cadwell Park.

The Aussie double BSB champion continued his battle with set up issues on the MCE Insurance and factory-supported Ducati Panigale V4R and started the race from row six of the grid. But the race wasn’t to last long as an accident at The Mountain brought out the red flags on lap two.

 

In the restart, Brookes battled with a host of riders on the fringe of the top ten and in the end, was rewarded with a tenth-place finish to keep his slim hopes of making the Showdown just about alive.

For teammate Tom Sykes, it was a day of frustration having shown his best form of the season so far for Paul Bird’s Lake District-based team. The Yorkshireman, making a return after 14 years to Cadwell Park, worked his way into the Omologato Superpole competition and ended up setting sixth fastest time on the MCE Insurance Ducati to give him his best start of the season on row two.

 

The ex-World Superbike champion was circulating towards the front when a rash move from rival Danny Buchan had them both on the grass at the Hairpin but not long after, the race was stopped due to the accident. 

 

The restart saw Sykes again towards the front and showing good pace when he was taken down at Mansfield Corner by Christian Iddon with just two laps to go, ending his promising race. 

 

Josh Brookes: “After the difficulties we had in qualifying, a top ten position is an improvement but, understandably, there are no hurrahs in the team. We still have a load of work to do, and we need to find some further improvements to get us to where we need to be. It was good to be racing with riders who have had wins and podiums, and I enjoyed jumping the Mountain, but I’ll keep working and feed as much information back to the team as I can so we can try to improve tomorrow.”


Tom Sykes: “It turned out to be a very frustrating day as I seemed to have a target on my back. Firstly, I got taken wide at the Hairpin and then in the restart, I got sideswiped by another rider so the least said about it the better as he’s since been penalised. People need to remember it’s Cadwell Park but it’s so frustrating as we had a reasonable set up for most of the lap, I was just losing out in the last sector. But we’ll dust ourselves down and go again tomorrow.” 

 

Bennetts British Superbike Championship Sprint race (15 laps)

1 Bradley Ray (Yamaha)

2 Rory Skinner (Kawasaki)

3 Danny Buchan (BMW)

4 Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha)

5 Tommy Bridewell (Ducati)

6 Peter Hickman (BMW)

10 Josh Brookes (MCE Ducati)

DNF Tom Sykes (MCE Ducati)

 

Championship Standings

1 O’Halloran 344

2 Ray 332

3 Jackson 219

4 Skinner 219

5 G Irwin 199

6 K Ryde 177

12 Brookes 94

14 Sykes 75


 

Pictures courtesy of Double Red: Josh Brookes (25) and Tom Sykes (66).

HAGER PBM DUCATI FIRED UP AHEAD OF OULTON PARK SEASON OPENER

May 1, 2025
HAGER PBM Ducati and rider Glenn Irwin are all set and ready for the start of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike season, as the championship roars into action this weekend at Oulton Park. The team will head to its local circuit in Cheshire for the May Bank Holiday weekend, keen to get a strong start to its 2025 campaign and looking to emulate its success from two visits there last year, when Irwin celebrated four victories from six race starts. The opening round follows a solid pre-season testing programme for the team, with Irwin topping the timesheets in two of the three R&G Official tests. Over the three events, the squad worked through a busy schedule, testing a host of new components for its Ducati Panigale V4R and while not specifically chasing lap times, were never far from the top the board. Now, as they prepare for the first round at one of their strongest tracks, the team and Irwin are feeling quietly confident they can hit the ground running and emerge from Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday with a strong haul of points to get their championship off to a flying start. Glenn Irwin: “It’s fantastic to be finally going into the opening round at Oulton Park – it’s almost seven months since the last season ended so it’s been a long wait. But now it’s time to go and put everything we’ve done, everything we’ve learnt over the off-season into practice. “We’ve had a great testing programme, there’s a new addition on my side with my rider spotter which has been a nice refresh and I’ve also made some small adjustments to my own riding style. “The team has brought some new items this year which have been nice, not performance parts but parts which can equate to performance…it’s not as simple as an extra 10 bhp or anything like that, but it’s nice to go racing with something new. “I can’t wait for the weekend and to get going. My motivation is high, so let’s go and kick-off the year with the best possible points haul for the Hager PBM Ducati team.” Frank Bird Jnr, Team Co-owner: “It’s finally time to get going. A lot of hard work has been put in over this winter, the team has had three solid tests so we should be right in the mix from the word go – that’s the plan, anyway. “It’s felt like a long wait so it’s mega that the first round is finally here. I’d like to thank all our sponsors for helping us get here and we’re all hoping we can put on a good show and bring back some trophies. “It’s fantastic to be starting the season at Oulton Park, particularly on a Bank Holiday weekend. A lot of our sponsors are north-based, it’s also our local round as a family too, so it’s obviously an important one for us. Here’s to a strong weekend and kicking-off the season with three great race results.” The 2025 Bennetts British Superbike action opens with free practice on Saturday, May 3 followed by Qualifying and Race One on Sunday, May 4. The weekend will draw to a close following two further races on Bank Holiday Monday, May 5.

IRWIN AND HAGER PBM DUCATI WRAP-UP SUCCESSFUL TESTING PROGRAMME

April 24, 2025
THE Hager PBM Ducati team and rider Glenn Irwin have completed another successful R&G Official test at Oulton Park, with the opening round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship now just over a week away. Irwin and the team have spent the last two days at the Cheshire track, grabbing as much track time as possible in the final days on track before the season begins. After ending last weekend’s Donington Park test on top, the team was keen to continue to push in the final two days, working through a busy schedule and trying a host of new components and ideas. Irwin ended the test second quickest overall after clocking the best lap of Thursday afternoon’s final session, banking a 1min 33.313s lap on his last run. He leaves feeling confident about next weekend’s opening round and can’t wait to get back out. Glenn Irwin: “That’s us finished pre-season testing and I’m feeling good. We’ve been working, working, working and the bike felt better today but we still have a bit of work to do. “It’s been really, really enjoyable, we’ve tried a number of different things and I think now we’re finding a bit of a balance. Today we unlocked something in that middle session, I did a good few 33s in that run so I think we’re strong. “It’s definitely been very productive. We haven’t gone for lap times, we’ve been focussed on getting the bike right and when that happens, the lap times come. That’s what we’re starting to see and I think we’re in a good place to come back next week and start the season.” Frank Bird Jnr, Team Co-owner: “It’s a mega way to finish, this puts us in really good stead for the season and we’ve got a lot of boxes ticked off with the bike. All the boys are working well, we’ve got everyone back into the swing of things and Glenn seems to be riding well, so we’re in a good window for the first round. “It’s been a long winter but all the hard work seems to be paying off and we’re right in the mix. It means we can come here for Round One and we’re in a great place to start from.” The opening round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship roars into action at Oulton Park over the May Bank Holiday weekend, May 3-5.
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