BSB Oulton Park Race 2 Results [TS] | Jackson sprints to win after two red flags

Lee Jackson kept his cool and avoided carnage around him to reel off an unexpected second win of the 2022 British Superbike Championship (BSB) season in Race 2 at Oulton Park.

A race that took more than an hour to complete after two red flag stoppages for accidents involving Title Showdown contenders, the encounter would eventually come down to a third standing start and short seven lap sprint to the flag.

Already one of the main beneficiaries of incidents ahead to rise up the order with each restart, Jackson made it count in ‘Part 3’ to lead home Tommy Bridewell - who finished second despite having to take a ride-through penalty - and pre-race odds-on favourite Bradley Ray.

Still, if the results sheet looked unusual then it is because the entire thread of the race proved nothing less than unpredictable throughout.

Indeed, with a number of the anticipated leading riders either unable to start or down the order, the grid for ‘Part 3’ had been given a significant shake-up compared to ‘Part 1’.

O'Halloran out of Race 3, Mackenzie BSB defence in tatters

Among those unable to start included both McAMS Yamaha riders, Jason O’Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie, plus fellow Title Showdown contender Rory Skinner.

O’Halloran’s challenge ended on the opening lap of Race 2 when contact with Tommy Bridewell at Druids led to a crash in exactly the same spot he fell following a controversial incident with Peter Hickman on Saturday. Click here to READ FULL STORY HERE.

Stretchered off circuit, O'Halloran has escaped with no broken bruises but will not start the third and final race of the weekend.

Still smarting from O'Halloran's latest cruel twist of fate, alas for McAMS Yamaha, worse was to follow when Mackenzie - third in the standings behind O’Halloran but needing a good result after also crashing out of Race 1 - fell on his own at the Esses and was struck by Hickman’s FHO BMW. Though the impact was fairly low speed, it was a heavy thump to legs that have suffered two serious injuries already within the last 12 months.

With the Scot requiring medical attention, the first red flag of the race was thrown on lap five - READ FULL STORY HERE.

As for the race up to that point, Ray had been clear and in command out front. Indeed, despite a moment at the start when he clipped O’Halloran’s Yamaha at Turn 1, Ray quickly regained his composure to snatch the lead moments later at Cascades before establishing a three-second lead.

It was pace he resumed after the second restart, Ray sprinting into a clear advantage while OMG Yamaha team-mate Kyle Ryde did his bit by backing up the chasing pack until Jackson - having already picked off FS-3 Kawasaki team-mate Skinner - pounced for second on lap three.

The overtake meant Jackson was clear of the pile-up that was going to unfold behind him a lap later at the Brittens chicane. An incident that began with Christian Iddon planting a pass on Skinner for fourth at Shell hairpin, Skinner stayed close on the run to Brittens, only to be caught out by his rival’s firm inside line defence in the braking zone.

Catching Skinner unawares, his Kawasaki subsequently clattered into the back of the Suzuki, before the errant bikes skittled Ryde's Yamaha ahead of them to punt the innocent OMG rider out of third.

A hefty impact that has left both Skinner and Iddon needing medical checks, replays show Skinner was particularly lucky after his arm and leg became wedged between the tail fin and rear wheel of the Buildbase Suzuki as he bounced across the grass.

With debris scattered across the chicane, the red flag was thrown for a second time leading to a new race distance of seven laps and a new grid order comprising Ray on pole, with Jackson and Glenn Irwin joining him on the front row, and Danny Buchan, Andrew Irwin and Storm Stacey on row two. FULL STORY HERE

Third time unlucky for Bradley Ray

Despite the drama around him, Ray went into a third restart as the clear favourite to finally complete the job he had started so well in ‘Parts 1 and 2’, 

However, ‘Part 3’ would be an entirely different story for Ray when it mattered as he struggled to get down to the lap times he’d been doing all weekend.

Indeed, while the OMG Yamaha rider held station by getting the holeshot from pole position, he couldn’t gap the riders - now led by Irwin - behind him this time.

The man on the move, however, was Jackson who recovered from an iffy start slice under Irwin for second at Turn 1 on lap four, before carrying that momentum down the hill to squeeze by Ray at the right-kink on the run to Cascades.

With Ray struggling for grip on his squirming Yamaha - later blamed on a duff new rear tyre - he was promptly dumped to third by Bridewell, who rose to second at the start of lap five.

It meant a win was now on the cards for the Oxford Ducati rider, a result that would have seemed unthinkable an hour earlier after being given a ride through penalty for his part in the incident that eliminated O’Halloran.

However, because Bridewell was able to serve it just prior to ‘Part 1’ being red flagged, even though it had dropped him to 22nd, the time lost was all-but-cancelled out by him getting to take the position as a grid slot at the standing restart.

It was a fighting chance Bridewell made the most of, scything his way up the order in Part 2 to run seventh at the time of the second red flag, ensuring a fighting chance for victory in Part 3.

Alas, it wasn’t to be a complete fairytale comeback for Bridewell after his best shot at overtaking Jackson on the final lap was scuppered by a rear slide that flicked him out of the seat on the exit of Turn 1. Though he recovered his composure, it gave Jackson the breathing room he needed to take the flag for the second BSB win of his career, the first having come at the same circuit earlier this season.

Ray settled for a disgruntled third, fending off the attentions of Glenn Irwin and Danny Buchan, who completed the top five.

Outsiders Jackson, Bridewell take up fight to Ray

While it wasn’t quite the maximum capitalising Ray had expected in the wake of his two closest rivals failing to finish for a second race in a row, third place still ensures he holds a huge 53 point lead over his Showdown counterparts.

That chase is now being led by Jackson in what is now a closely matched gaggle of riders with a dejected O’Halloran 54 points behind and not taking the start for Race 3. It means McAMS Yamaha will leave Oulton Park without a single point from a possible 150 available, all but leaving its title hopes in tatters.

He is level on points now with Bridewell, whose surge up the order continues having begun the weekend ranked eighth among the Showdown contenders, while Irwin is 60 points off.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie will take no further part in the weekend, which might be enough to destroy any hopes of him defending his BSB title even if he is given a medical all clear for the final two rounds.

Of the other remaining Title Showdown contenders, Rory Skinner’s bid might have suffered terminal damage too, while Kyle Ryde - unfortunate in having been taken down during Part 2 - was able to make the Part 3 restart, only to high-side at the first corner and eliminate Tom Neave in the process.

2022 British Superbike Championship | Oulton Park | Race 2 RESULTS