BSB Weekend Donington Park

It was a busy weekend at Donington Park last weekend as the BSB circus made camp at the famous Derbyshire circuit…

In the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 series Taylor Mackenzie 23 from Ashby De la zouch was crowned champion, going into the race with a 22 point lead, a race win would make the Leicestershire rider and his team Buildbase BMW national Superstock Champions. Qualifying on Saturday, Mackenzie looked confident, his local track was looking strong to win the Championship. A second place quali position was a good start but he then a given a six place grid penalty over a incident at the previous round pushed him back to a third row position next to his rival and road racer Ian Hutchinson who was second in the Championship. When the race got underway, Mackenzie by the end of the After the first lap was on it, a good start and he was up to 3rd place before the red flag came out due to an incident. After the restart it wasn’t to long before he was in the lead and on his way to be crowned 2016 Champion a great achievement for the son of former GP racer Niall Mackenzie – 6 wins so far this season.

Taylor’s brother, Tarran Mackenzie (Kawasaki Stauff Connect Academy) also put in a fine performance in the Dickies British Supersport Championship, Tarran leads the Championship, he had a superb race which included a great battle with James Westmoreland. It was a last corner charge that secured a 2nd place finish enabling him to keep the championship lead as they go into the last few races of the 2016 season.

In the BSB Championship, following a charged Oulton Park round at which local hero Leon Haslam on the JG speed fit Kawasaki won three races in a row beating the Bewiser Ducati of Shane Byrne, the field looked set for some hard competition. Conditions at Donington were somewhat mixed as rain Friday for practice was followed by a fairly cold Saturday but blue sky on the Sunday race day gave teams plenty to do ensuring their riders had the ideal set up. The qualifying pace was fierce as Haslam took pole position breaking the lap record on the Saturday with Shane Byrne hot on his heals. Local Leicestershire based Buildbase BMW qualified 10th and 11th…

On race day the spectators poured in, with many ‘Shakey’ fans in their mist, thousands showed up to enjoy the UK’s premier motorcycle championship. Byrne started on the front row next to pole man Haslam and after a great start and some serious pace got his Ducati to the very front after a few laps as the chequered flag was shown it was Shane Byrne for the win and Leon Haslam in second chasing hard and Jason O’Halloran finishing third.

Race 2 and Haslam was clearly focussed for the win and as the flag dropped he got his Kawasaki to the front and led the race after the first lap but the pace and power of the Ducati around Donington meant he had a hard time keeping Byrne at bay as they swopped places almost every lap. Byrne managed to hold the lead till the very end with Hallam unfortunately crashing out at Redgate on lap 12 taking the pressure of Shakey a bit meaning Dan Linfoot on the Honda Racing secured and former Supermoto superstar Christian Iddon in third on his Tyco BMW.

This result will make it a thrilling dash to the end o the season with only 5 races left.

Results Race 1:

1. Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R
2. Leon Haslam – JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R
3. Jason O’Halloran – Honda Racing CBR1000RR
4. James Ellison – JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R
5. Peter Hickman – JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R
6. Richard Cooper – Buildbase BMW S1000RR
7. Dan Linfoot – Honda Racing CBR1000RR
8. Christian Iddon – Tyco BMW S1000RR
9. John Hopkins – ePayMe Yamaha YZF-R1
10. Michael Laverty – Tyco BMW S1000RR

Results Race 2:

1. Shane Byrne – Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R
2. Dan Linfoot – Honda Racing CBR1000RR
3. Christian Iddon – Tyco BMW S1000RR
4. Peter Hickman – JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R
5. Richard Cooper – Buildbase BMW S1000RR
6. Tommy Bridewell – Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000
7. James Ellison – JG Speedfit Kawasaki ZX-10R
8. Luke Mossey – Quattro Plant Kawasaki ZX-10R
9. Billy McConnell – FS-3 Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R
10. Glenn Irwin – Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R