Jackson ends final official Bennetts BSB test fastest with the top 18 riders covered by 0.787s
Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson topped the Bennetts British Superbike Championship official test times at Donington Park today ahead of the #BSBrestart, taking the top spot in the last two minutes of the final session, to edge out McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran by just 0.014s.
The Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki team had a strong start to the day with Danny Buchan holding a top three place in the earlier sessions, although the leading position was initially held by the Honda Racing team with the Irwin brothers earlier in the day. Andrew Irwin headed the pack at lunchtime before Glenn Irwin topped session three.
A frantic end to the day saw Buchan setting the pace with just under ten minutes to go, however it was constantly changing and soon Hector Barbera had fired the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW into second ahead of Andrew Irwin and Jackson.
Glenn Irwin moved back to the top of the times with four minutes to go ahead of Buchan who had edged back into second place with Josh Brookes then moving into third for the VisionTrack PBM Ducati team.
O’Halloran then hit the top after his final run with two minutes on the clock remaining despite an earlier crash in session three, but the McAMS Yamaha rider was nudged into second as Jackson saved his best laps until last.
Barbera held third position at the end of the final session ahead of Glenn who led the Irwin charge ahead of brother Andrew with Buchan just 0.001s adrift to end the day sixth fastest, leaving Brookes holding seventh after the chequered flag.
Ryan Vickers bounced back from a crash in the opening session on the RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki to post the ninth fastest time with Joe Francis and Bradley Ray completing the top ten ahead of the opening round of the season on August 7/8/9.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Official Test, combined result:
- Lee Jackson (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) 1m:06.583s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.014s
- Hector Barbera (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.017s
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.054s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.080s
- Danny Buchan (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +0.081s
- Josh Brookes (VisionTrack PBM Ducati) +0.136s
- Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) +0.253s
- Joe Francis (Lloyds & Jones Bowker Motorrad BMW) +0.266s
- Bradley Ray (Synetiq BMW Motorrad) +0.288s
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com.
More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing UK:
Dominant debut for the new Fireblade at Donington Park
It has been a strong day for the Honda Racing team at Donington Park for the final test before Round 1 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship on 7/8/9 August. Making its debut at Donington Park’s National Circuit, the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP dominated the timesheets leading three of the four timed sessions.
With near-perfect conditions at the Leicestershire circuit, it was Andrew Irwin who topped the times in the first session of the day with a 0.137-second advantage over championship rival Danny Buchan, with his older brother and teammate Glenn finishing third.
The second session of the day saw another Honda 1-3, again with Andrew leading the way and showing the potential of the brand-new Fireblade. But it was all change at the top in the third session with Glenn topping the sheets with a time of 1:06.640, while Andrew came home in third place.
In the final session of the day it was looking to be a clean sweep for the Honda Racing team at the top of times, with Andrew and Glenn swapping places at the top, but in the final stages it was Lee Jackson who claimed the top spot. Times were close with the top-18 riders covered by just 0.787s, which saw Glenn finish fourth (+0.054) and Andrew seventh (+0.207).
The teams’ National Superstock 1000 Championship contenders Tom Neave and Davey Todd also enjoyed their first official outing on the Fireblade. Again, showing the potential of the new machine, Tom was in the top-six in the first three sessions and finished the final session of the day in second place, just 0.073 seconds from the top. Teammate Davey used the day to work through a number of settings and get used to the circuit again, having last ridden at Donington Park in 2017.
The team will now look forward to returning to Donington Park next weekend as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship roars into life with Round 1 kicking off on Friday 7 August.
#18 Andrew Irwin
Today was a positive day, we probably didn’t expect to be as close to the front as we were, which is a nice feeling. The Fireblade is completely new and we don’t have a lot of different parts on it from the road bike, so that’s a positive of how good the bike is out of the crate. I am looking forward to coming back to Donington in just over a weeks’ time and get racing. My consistency is good, I have good race pace and I’m feeling strong ahead of the first race.
#2 Glenn Irwin
It has been great to get out on track with other riders, other than my Honda teammates, it’s been a long time for me since Assen last year. It’s been a really enjoyable day and we managed to get an idea of where we are. We needed every lap today and we worked through a lot and topping the times in the third session was really encouraging to show we are competitive. The last session I didn’t really get a clean lap, but overall I am really happy with the times and today is a real testament to the new Fireblade, we do need to stay realistic to where we are keep our feet on the ground heading into Round 1, but I’m looking forward to keep on developing the new machine and moving forward.
#68 Tom Neave
It’s nice to be back up there again after wrapping up the day second fastest! During our testing we’ve gone from strength to strength from when we first tested the bike out in Spain in March. We knew from the off we had a great package with the new Fireblade, but during our testing schedule that has really shown and I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m so excited that it’s not long now until we’re racing, and I just can’t wait to get going!
#74 Davey Todd
It’s awesome to be back at Donington Park after years away, I still luckily know my way around – just about! Today has been about getting to grips with the circuit and also the Fireblade, I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made and myself more than anything, we’re still making big leaps right now, but come Round 1, I don’t think we’ll be too far away.
Team Manager Havier Beltran
Finally, today for the first time in 2020 we have got to run the all-new Fireblade with our competition and it’s been a strong day. During our private tests we had a lot to look at and get through and you’re never really sure where you’ll be with your competition, so it’s refreshing and pleasing to see both Andrew and Glenn are extremely competitive and up there leading the times. Likewise, with Tom and Davey in the Superstock 1000 class, Tom finished second quickest and it is great to see all the hard work paying off as we get closer to Round 1. I would like to thank all our sponsors and partners for getting us to where we are today, in what has been a difficult start to the season for everybody.
More, from a press release issued by Paul Bird Motorsport:
Productive Day At Donington As VisionTrack Ducati Conclude Testing
Defending Bennetts British Superbike champions Paul Bird Motorsport concluded their COVID-19 delayed pre-season testing schedule at Donington Park today prior to the condensed season getting underway next weekend.
After testing in Spain back in February, former champion Josh Brookes and new team mate Christian Iddon followed up exclusive tests at Croft and Knockhill over the past month for the Penrith-based squad who won their seventh title with Scott Redding last year.
Today’s official test was the final opportunity to dial in the factory-supported 1000cc VisionTrack Ducati Panigale V4Rs for both Australian Brookes, who finished a close runner up after winning ten races last season and new recruit Iddon, who currently makes his home on Tyneside, prior to the six-round season starting on 8/9 August.
2015 BSB champion Brookes worked through a number of settings throughout the day and set his fastest lap of 1:06.719 in the fourth and final session to end up just over a tenth of a second behind the fastest rider. Iddon meanwhile, a double BSB Rider’s Cup champion, made further progress with the bike and team and set his best time in session three of 1:07.370. Brookes finished seventh overall with Iddon in 18th.
Josh Brookes: “The bike was good at the end of last year and I was very pleased with pre-season testing in Spain and the changes to the bike all felt good. The Croft and Knockhill tests proved to be very beneficial also. We started putting things together at Donington Park today, but we got on the wrong path and the bike wasn’t suited to the track and we ended up with something like what he had in Spain. But we plugged away and it was a positive finish at the end. The benefit of test days is you get to test stuff and we did get through a few settings. It’s all positive and we were only a tenth of a second in it on the timesheets in the end. It’s looking good for the race and the bike I finished the day on was great.”
Christian Iddon: “That’s pre-season done about four months late. Today was the first time we rode the bike in anger on home soil and it went really well. I wasn’t super-fast all day which was a bit frustrating, but I felt good on the bike. I just wanted to improve a few things to get a better lap time and in the last session I struggled a bit in a few areas which hindered me. But I’m pleased with my consistency and we have a way to work forward to the race in a week’s time. That’s everything done for now, so we now need to concentrate on round one which I’m looking forward to.”
The revised calendar for the Bennetts British Superbike Championship will be over six rounds, all featuring three races making 18 rounds in total.
