British Superbikes Donington Park – Race One Result

British Superbike: Bradley Ray Wins Donington Opener as Rivals Clash Behind

Bradley Ray claimed victory in the opening race of the British Superbike Championship round at Donington Park, making the most of a fierce fight behind him to pull clear in the closing stages.

Lining up on pole, Ray got off the line well but was soon overtaken by both Kyle Ryde and Glenn Irwin. The Raceways Yamaha rider opted for patience in the early laps, tucking in behind the leaders and preserving his tyres as the trio ran close together.

By the seventh lap, Irwin made his move to take control, leading from lap eight until a mistake at the Melbourne Loop saw him run wide. That opened the door for both Ray and Ryde to slip through, with Irwin managing to recover to second shortly after.

Spotting his chance, Ray pushed hard to create a gap, something Irwin had been unable to do earlier in the lead. With the chasing group caught up in their own scrap, Ray was able to stretch his advantage, eventually taking the chequered flag 1.744 seconds clear to secure his second win of the season.

Local favourite Ryde couldn’t quite turn his extensive Donington experience into a win but ensured his first podium of the year didn’t get away. He broke the race lap record late on and managed to hold on for second place despite late contact from a charging Josh Brookes.

Brookes, starting from ninth, quickly climbed to seventh. After the lead trio broke away, he spent several laps behind Leon Haslam before making a move on lap eleven. Riding the DAO Racing Honda, Brookes then saw a podium chance and went for it. A slightly overzealous attempt to pass Ryde led to light contact, but he regrouped and passed Irwin cleanly to take third—his first podium finish since 2023, and the first ever for DAO Racing.

Irwin eventually had to settle for fourth on the PBM Hager Ducati, while Rory Skinner worked his way past Haslam to finish fifth for the Cheshire Mouldings Ducati team. He closed the gap to Irwin but simply ran out of laps before he could mount a challenge. The next rider across the line, two seconds later, was Moto Rapido Ducati’s Leon Haslam in sixth.

Christian Iddon was the highest-placed Kawasaki rider, finishing seventh for AJN Steelstock, comfortably ahead of the fight for eighth.

That battle was led home by Andrew Irwin for Honda UK, who narrowly held off rookie John McPhee. The MasterMac Honda rider had a difficult weekend up to that point, managing only two laps on Friday due to a crash, and missing out on a Q2 spot after qualifying 16th. Despite that, he charged through the field to nearly take eighth.

Danny Kent, who crashed twice on Friday, had started 10th and was running in the top ten until a mistake at the final corner sent him off onto the grass. He recovered to cross the line in 10th for McAMS Yamaha, just behind the leading group.

Billy McConnell briefly ran ahead of Kent and ultimately came home 11th for C&L Fairburn Properties / Look Forward Racing. He had a clear gap to rookie Scott Swann in 12th, who was fortunate to avoid a first-lap crash that took down Peter Hickman and Storm Stacey.

The final point scorers were Fraser Rogers in 13th for TAG Honda, Lee Jackson 14th on the second DAO Racing entry, and Luke Hedger 15th aboard the Whitecliffe CDH Racing Honda.

Only three other riders made it to the finish: Richard Kerr, Jaimie van Sikkelerus, and Blaze Baker.