Jason O’Halloran’s streak of race wins in the 2021 British Superbike Championship came to an end at Donington Park as Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell returned to the top of the podium in races two and three.
The Australian - third in race two but only 13th in race two in tricky conditions -retains his lead in the overall standings, assisted by Chirstian Iddon failing to finish either encounter after crashes.
BSB Donington Park - Race 2
Tarran Mackenzie scored his second win of the year with a commanding performance in Race 2, strengthening his chances of reaching the 2021 BSB Title Showdown.
Grabbing the lead early on, Mackenzie tussled it out with Peter Hickman and Irwin initially before coming under pressure from Glenn Irwin, the Honda rider taking the lead on lap ten before the McAMS Yamaha rider returned to the front two laps later.
With Irwin crashing out on lap 17, Mackenzie was left to complete his victory, the Scotsman holding off a determined challenge from OMG BMW’s Bradley Ray, who got to within 0.066secs at the chequered flag.
Ray’s late charge came at the expense of O’Halloran, who had to settle for third position, leaving Hickman in fourth place, his sixth top finish of the year.
Bridewell landed in fifth position, heading off Kyle Ryde, Ryan Vickers and Xavi Fores, with the penalised Irwin and Josh Brookes completing the top ten.
In a race of high attrition, Danny Buchan suffered a large accident that brought out the safety car, one that ruled him out of the final race of the weekend.
BSB Donington Park - Race 3
Tommy Bridewell returned to winning ways in the final race of the weekend, which was delayed after rain hit, leaving the track a tricky mix of wet to drying and leading to a series of different tyre combinations.
However, Bridewell’s wet tyre combination (intermediate) would allow him to grab the lead early on before pulling clear of Irwin, who recovered from his earlier tumble tp pick up another podium for Honda.
He was joined on the rostrum by his brother Andrew Irwin, followed up by others that successfully gambled on the right tyres, most notably reigning champion Josh Brookes, who ended a run of bad form with a run to fourth position.
In fifth came home Joe Francis, whose career-best fifth place from 19th on the grid brought some joy to the iForce Lloyds & Jones BMW team still reeling in the wake of Brad Jones’ ongoing recovery fight from injuries sustained in an accident at Brands Hatch.
He was followed by Storm Stacey, who produced a marvellous ride to score comfortably his best-ever result in sixth position on the Team LKQ Kawasaki, from Mackenzie, TT winner Dean Harrison, Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea.
O’Halloran could only manage 13th but benefited from Iddon crashing out of fourth position on lap eight.
However, he fared better than Ryan Vickers, who crashed out on the sighting lap as the riders got to grips with the conditions.
