2022 British Superbike Donington Park - Qualifying Results

Jason O’Halloran will start race one at Doninton Park from pole after topping qualifying with blistering pace.

O’Halloran arrived on top form, having topped the morning session and continued that with a fastest ever lap of the National circuit.

The McAMS Yamaha rider brought the team back to the top of the timesheets with a blistering lap of 1m 05.289s

It is the first pole of the season for the Austrailan and was set midway through the session with little progress to be found as the clock ticked down.

The #22 saw success last season when he won race one in the first trip the championship took to Donington Park, leaving him well placed to repeat the feat.

Championship leader Bradley Ray had set a new fastest lap of the National layout in free practice and was first to better it in qualifying, sitting in provisional pole until O’Halloran found something extra.

A last run to try and improve saw a huge slide for the Rich Energy OMG Yamaha rider, leaving him forced to settle for second and just 0.004s slower than the best lap.

Yamaha enjoyed a lockout of the front row with Ray’s team-mate Kyle Ryde chipping away at his time to climb to third, showing no strain from his arm pump surgery between rounds.

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Rory Skinner was one of few to improve, climbing his way to the fourth best time for Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki.

His team-mate Lee Jackson, fresh from a first win at Oulton Park was getting almost equal performance from his Kawasaki to claim fifth on the grid.

As the chequered flag came out Peter Hickman found enough to pull himself from eighth to sixth, top BMW - FHO Racing.

It was incredibly close for that position with Tom Sykes just a thousandth behind in seventh on the Synetiq BMW Motorrad machine as the best of the riders to move up from Q1.

Tarran Mackenzie makes return

Reigning British Superbike champion Tarran Mackenzie made his first qualifying appearance of the season as the Yamaha McAMS rider began a belated defence to his title.

It will be an uphill struggle after missing both the Silverstone opener and Oulton Park after sustaining a broken left ankle in pre-season testing.

Despite a solid performance at Donington last season, winning the second race on both visits to the track for rounds five and ten, it was slow progress for the returning #1 plated bike, with a best placing on Friday of  17th after both practice sessions.

Saturday saw Mackenzie needing to limit his track time, making the most of his time on the tarmac before returning to the pits to rest. Using that to move up through Q1 he went on to secure the eighth best time, dropping just one place sat in his garage before exiting late on for a final practice run.

Honda Racing’s Glenn Irwin did a double at the North West 200 between rounds but could only manage the ninth best lap after avoiding his crashing brother Andy early in the session.

Ryan Vickers picked up his pace to complete the top ten for BMW FHO Racing after moving up from the first qualifying session.

Official British Superbike Donington Park records:

Previous BSB lap record: Peter Hickman (BMW) 1m 06.081s (2021)
New BSB fastest lap: Bradley Ray (Yamaha) 1m 05.497s (2022 - FP2)

2021 Race winners:
Round Five -
Race 1: Jason O’Halloran
Race 2: Tarran Mackenzie 
Race 3: Tommy Bridewell

Round Ten (The Showdown)-
 Race 1:Gino Rea
 Race 2: Tarran Mackenzie
 Race 3: Gino Rea

As well as Andy Irwin’s spill in Q2 which saw him walk away holding his wrist, there were falls in Q1 for Tom Neave, Dan Jones and James East. Luke Mossey was pushing to progress and hitting the limit he also hit the gravel, sending his Honda spinning over and over.

Injuries and absentees 

Leon Haslam sustained a sprained right ankle following his crash as Craner Curves in FP2. The VisionTrack Kawasaki man was cleared to ride in FP3 earlier in the morning and returned to qualifying for an impressive eleventh.

Danny Kent suffered a concussion following his FP3 crash. He was transferred to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for further checks, so misses the rest of the race weekend. Danny Buchan was promoted to Q2 in Danny Kents absence, hewent on to take 13th on the grid for BMW Synetiq.

There were further off the front pace performances from both Tommy Bridewell and Josh Brookes. Bridewell - a race winner at the first Donington event last season will line up down in 15th for Oxford Products Ducati.

The equally experienced Josh Brookes is one place further back in 16th for MCE Ducati.