2022 British Superbike Oulton Park - Qualifying Results

Results from qualifying for round nine of the 2022 Bennetts Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

24 Sep 2022

2022 British Superbike Oulton Park - Qualifying Results

Bradley Ray got off to an explosive start, smashing the lap record in qualifying for round nine of the championship, a return to Oulton Park to begin the Showdown.

Bradley Ray shut down the question of who was getting pole as soon as he hit the track in qualifying for the first of the Showdown races at Oulton Park.

The Rich Energy OMG rider had already given a hint of what was to come, having already dipped under the old lap record with ease in free practice 2, but not quite matching his own best from earlier in the season at the track.

British Superbikes Oulton Park (showdown)- Qualifying

Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Bradley Ray	GBR	RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha	1m 32.948s
2	Tommy Bridewell	GBR	Oxford Products Racing Ducati	+0.796s
3	Jason O'Halloran	AUS	McAMS Yamaha	=0.919s
4	Peter Hickman	GBR	FHO Racing BMW	+1.054s
5	Tarran Mackenzie	GBR	McAMS Yamaha	+1.055s
6	Leon Haslam	GBR	Visiontrack Kawasaki	+1.063s
7	Andrew Irwin	GBR	SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad	+1.111s
8	Danny Buchan	GBR	SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad	+1.118s
9	Glenn Irwin	GBR	Honda Racing UK	+1.136s
10	Rory Skinner	GBR	FS-3 Racing Kawasaki	+1.178s
11	Lee Jackson	GBR	FS-3 Racing Kawasaki	+1.219s
12	Kyle Ryde	GBR	RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha	+1.223s
13	Josh Brookes	AUS	MCE Ducati	+1.227s
14	Ryan Vickers	GBR	FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports	+1.266s
15	Christian Iddon	GBR	Buildbase Suzuki	+1.277s
16	Tom Sykes	GBR	MCE Ducati	+1.356s
17	Dean Harrison	GBR	DAO Racing Kawasaki	+1.807s
18	Takumi Takahashi	JAP	Honda Racing UK	+1.861s
		Q1
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
19	Danny Kent	GBR	Buildbase Suzuki	1m 35.061s
20	Tom Neave	GBR	Honda Racing UK	1m 35.130s
21	Josh Owens	GBR	Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki	1m 35.241s
22	Storm Stacey	GBR	Team LKQ Euro Parts Kawasaki	1m 35.381s
23	Ryo Mizuno	JAP	Honda Racing UK	1m 35.629s
24	Chrissy Rouse	GBR	Crowe Performance BMW	1m 35.670s
25	Leon Jeacock	GBR	Specsavers Suzuki	1m 36.188s
26	Liam Delves	GBR	Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki	1m 37.462s

That did not last as the #28 had purple sectors all over his first flying lap, a huge 1m 32.948s lap, the first sub 1m 33s lap of the circuit.

Ray arrives at the first Showdown race with all the confidence and momentum that comes with adding a triple win as Snetterton last time out to an already successful season.

At the time it was set the margin back to second was well over a second as the field tried to keep in touch.

Tommy Bridewell picked up the challenge and dropped the difference down to 0.796s on the Oxford Products Ducati to claim second as Ray sat comfortably in the pits.

He joined him in the final minutes as Jason O’Halloran held onto the final front row slot despite some late challenges for McAMS Yamaha.

He leapfrogged Peter Hickman for the position from fifth with just over 30 seconds left on the clock. The FHO Racing BMW rider did not fall below fourth. The #60 is the highest placing non-Showdown rider, leading instead the standings for the Rider’s Cup.

Recovery for Mackenzie

The defending champion arrives at the Showdown this season in a better position than he was in last year when he went on to take the title after O’Halloran had the performance and the momentum in the main section of the season. That is despite missing the first two rounds through injury.

Tarran Mackenzie had not ridden a lap of the Cheshire track since last year after missing the first six races of the season, which included the first visit to Oulton Park.

The current #1 rider left it late to climb from 13th to fifth as the chequered flag came out, with only a thousandth separating the MCAMS Yamaha rider and Hickman ahead.

A big push also took Leon Haslam up the timesheets for VisionTrack Kawasaki to sixth.

Andrew Irwin (Synetiq BMW Motorrad) was pushed back to seventh, while Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki) moved up from 14th to ninth in the slipstream of O’Halloran on his best lap, but was shuffled back one position by Glenn Irwin on the Honda.

Lee Jackson was a race winner at the track earlier in the year, but his season continued it’s unfortunate tail off in results as the best of the rest in eleventh for Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki.

Kyle Ryde was the lowest of the Showdown participants in twelfth on the second Rich Energy OMG entry.

Josh Brookes came through Q1 with the best time ahead of Jackson, Andrew Irwin, Ryan Vickers, Dean Harrison and Takahashi but couldn’t keep the big improvements needed coming into Q2 so starts 13th for MCE Ducati only rising from 18th in the final moments of the session.