The 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship kicked off with the opening R&G Official Check at Donington Park and Kyle Ryde set the benchmark to carry off Glenn Irwin to high the occasions on the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing R1 forward of the Circuito de Navarra season opener (April 20-21).
Ryde had been the goal forward of the ultimate session, upping the tempo all through the day because the native contender picked up the place he left off on the finish of 2023, pushing for the main positions. Within the final session of the weekend the specter of rain elevated, however Ryde was prepared for a last assault and on his first flying lap he grew to become the one rider to dip into the 1m:27s barrier to keep up his edge.
Glenn Irwin had been closing the hole within the afternoon, however the Hager PBM Ducati rider didn’t get the prospect to push for a flying lap earlier than the rain began and he ended the opening weekend of testing in second place, 0.523s adrift of Ryde.
Irwin break up the 2 OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing teammates, who had been locked on the high for almost all of the weekend as Ryan Vickers held third general on the chequered flag.
Andrew Irwin was main the Honda Racing UK cost in fourth place and simply 0.063s forward of his teammate and reigning champion Tommy Bridewell, while Peter Hickman accomplished the highest six for the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Staff as 4 producers featured inside the highest six positions.
Danny Kent had a robust begin to his transfer to Yamaha for the brand new season with a seventh place on the McAMS Racing Yamaha, equalling the identical finest time as Hickman, while the pair have been solely 0.001s forward of Jason O’Halloran on the Fully Motorbikes Kawasaki.
Dean Harrison ensured all three Honda Racing UK riders featured inside the highest ten, with Leon Haslam finishing the main ten riders after the opening weekend of official testing because the Championship now appears to be like forward to the season opener at Circuito de Navarra in Northern Spain.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Collection Director Stuart Higgs commented: “After what appeared to be a really lengthy winter, it’s nice to get the season underway with the official check at Donington Park. We have been fairly fortunate with the climate, so we noticed some significant lap occasions put in.
“It’s nice to see the primary proof of the brand new technical rules and new confined alternative on tyre materials, new liveries, new workforce and rider mixtures, so it’s at all times a really thrilling and motivating weekend.
“The lap time performances have proven that there’s a substantial amount of depth of competitors amongst everyone. One small caveat, we did see some rogue lap occasions, because it was an official check, the complete monitor limits monitoring functionality wasn’t in place, so we are going to get to see extra consultant occasions once we reconvene in simply 9 days at Circuito de Navarra.
“Proper now the paddock and everyone are packing and we head south. Hopefully we’ll see a few of you there and for those who aren’t making the journey; you’ll have the ability to see all of the motion stay and free-to-air on Quest.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, R&G Official Check, Donington Park, mixed occasions:
Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 1m:27.650sGlenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) +0.523sRyan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +0.706sAndrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +0.817sTommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.880sPeter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad Staff) +1.014sDanny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) +1.014sJason O’Halloran (Fully Motorbikes Kawasaki) +1.015sDean Harrison (Honda Racing UK) +1.227sLeon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) +1.230s
For extra info on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship go to www.britishsuperbike.com
