Tommy Bridewell celebrated victory in a tactical final Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Donington Park,  becoming the fifth different race winner of the season for the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team.

The race initially started in dry conditions and was then red flagged for rain after three laps. The race was later restarted and declared wet, but the shower had passed and tyre choice would prove crucial to the outcome of the race result.

At the start, Ryan Vickers got off to an incredible start with his choice of a wet front and intermediate rear tyre to lead the pack. However, it was short lived as he crashed out at Coppice on the opening lap to end his charge for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team.

Tarran Mackenzie had opted for a wet front and intermediate rear, which had initially given him the edge to then lead the field from Peter Hickman and Glenn Irwin, with Bridewell holding fourth position over the opening laps.

As the track started to dry though, Mackenzie soon dropped back through the order as the riders who had opted for the intermediate front and rear option moved forward, and by lap five Glenn Irwin was leading for Honda Racing.

A lap later Bridewell had taken control at the front, and he soon began to edge an advantage ahead of Glenn and Andrew Irwin. Christian Iddon was making rapid progress through the pack as he was the only rider to opt for an intermediate front and slick rear tyre.

It was soon all over for Iddon though as he crashed the VisionTrack Ducati out of the race at Craner Curves on the ninth lap after working his way through into fourth place.

At the front, Bridewell bridged the gap to Glenn Irwin to claim his first victory of the season, as the Honda Racing rider finished second, incredibly after dislocating his shoulder in the earlier race of the day!

Andrew Irwin became the eleventh different podium finisher of the season, taking his first top three finish for SYNETIQ BMW. He flew the flag for the team after Danny Buchan was sidelined with suspected concussion and he will also sit out next weekend at Cadwell Park.

Reigning champion Josh Brookes had also opted for the same combination of intermediate tyres and he claimed his best result of the season in fourth place for VisionTrack Ducati.

Joe Francis scored his first top five finish of the season for the iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW team, just ahead of Storm Stacey who delivered an impressive performance to claim his best ever finish in Bennetts BSB with a sixth place.

Mackenzie dropped to seventh, but still accumulated the most points to be crowned Milwaukee King of Donington, just ahead of Dean Harrison who celebrated his best ever finish for Silicone Engineering Kawasaki.

Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea completed the top ten as championship leader Jason O'Halloran finished twelfth after opting for a wet front tyre and intermediate rear tyre.

Speaking after the race, Bridewell said:

“It was a nice, clean race – I didn't go off like a bat out of hell to start with because I wanted to see what the track was like and it was a bit patchy at Coppice, so you had to be careful. Glenn got to the front and went off pretty hard, so I had to push hard to catch him, but I caught him fairly quick and comfortably so I knew I had the better pace.

“When I passed him, I thought 'right, do I put the hammer down and try to break him or do I chip away' and I did a bit of both. I put the hammer down to see what reaction I got and then just kept pushing.

“I'm really proud of what we've achieved, and proud of the way I rode. I really enjoyed it, but we've got to keep the momentum going now and take some points back for the championship. The Showdown's looking well and I'm looking forward to doing it again in a few days’ time.”

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park - Race 3 result:

1.     Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati)
2.     Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +3.404s
3.     Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +7.211s
4.     Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +25.804s
5.     Joe Francis (iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW) +31.142s
6.     Storm Stacey (Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki) +37.640s
7.     Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +42.603s
8.     Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) +44.391s
9.     Dan Linfoot (TAG Honda) +45.782s
10.  Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +45.914s

For the full race result please click here


Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Donington Park:

1.     Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 277
2.     Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 223
3.     Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) 203
4.     Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 165
5.     Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 157
6.     Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) 130
7.     Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) 121
8.     Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) 112

For the full standings please click here