Motorcycle Racing 2023 - MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, MotoAmerica, TT

[SKR]

It's time for another thread where SKR talks to himself about motorbikes. The first round of the 2023 World Superbike season is this weekend at Phillip Island in Australia.

Teams, Manufacturers and Riders

Aruba.it Racing - Ducati
Ducati Panigale V4R
#1 Alvaro Bautista
#21 Michael Ruben Rinaldi

Barni Spark Racing Team
Ducati Panigale V4R
#9 Danilo Petrucci

Bonovo Action BMW
BMW M1000 RR
#31 Garrett Gerloff
#76 Loris Baz

GMT94 Yamaha
Yamaha YZF R1
#34 Lorenzo Baldassarri

GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
Yamaha YZF R1
#77 Dominique Aegerter
#87 Remy Gardner

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
Kawasaki ZX-10RR
#66 Tom Sykes

Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
Kawasaki ZX-10RR
#22 Alex Lowes
#65 Jonathan Rea

Motocorsa Racing
Ducati Panigale V4R
#47 Axel Bassani

Orelac Racing MOVISIO
Kawasaki ZX-10RR
#52 Oliver Konig

Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK
Yamaha YZF R1
#54 Toprak Razgatlioglu
#55 Andrea Locatelli

PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team
Honda CBR1000 RR-R
#35 Hafizh Syahrin
#51 Eric Granado

ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
BMW M1000RR
#45 Scott Redding
#60 Michael van der Mark

Team GoEleven
Ducati Panigale V4R
#5 Philipp Oettl

Team HRC
Honda CBR1000 RR-R
#7 Iker Lecuona
#97 Xavi Vierge

Season Preview



Podiums last year were dominated by Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, with Bautista coming out on top. The BMWs and Hondas struggled to keep pace with the KRT Kawasakis and the Ducatis so hopefully this year they've made enough changes to fight for podiums and wins. The rookie class is quite stout, with Dominique Aegerter and Lorenzo Baldassarri moving up from WorldSSP, Remy Gardner moving to WSBK from MotoGP after famously losing his ride at KTM, Danilo Petrucci coming over after a year in MotoAmerica and Eric Granado in MotoE. Tom Sykes also returns to the series after a season in British Superbikes. Garrett Gerloff moves over to BMW after riding for Yamaha last year.

Race Schedule

Practice is on Friday. Qualifying is on Saturday. Race 1 is on Saturday. The Superpole race, which is like a half-distance sprint race to set the starting order for Race 2, is Saturday and Race 2 follows.

How to Watch

On REVTV in Canada, or on the WorldSBK Videopass for 69.90 Euros for the season.

https://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/202...+on+TV+in+2023

[SKR]

The WSBK season started off in the wet, after practice track temperatures were north of 50 degrees. Rookie Dominique Aegerter had a great qualifying session, starting 3rd. This was the first test to see what Honda and BMW were able to come up with. The KRT Kawasakis of Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes set the pace early with Rea building a 1.3 second lead, but Alvaro Bautista was able to adapt to the conditions and passed Rea on lap 10. Toprak Razgatlioglu was up into 3rd. Scott Redding was the leading BMW rider up into 5th for a while before dropping back. Lowes crashed on lap 14. He got up and walked, or more limped, away, but they never showed the replay or gave an update other than saying he'd went to the medical center for a checkup so I don't know what his condition will be for the rest of the weekend. Bautista led from lap 10 on to win the first race of the season, with Rea 2nd, Razgatlioglu 3rd, Andrea Locatelli 4th and Axel Bassani 5th after starting 14th. Iker Lecuona was the top Honda in 6th and Redding was the top BMW finishing 9th.

The Superpole race and Race 2 are Sunday in Phillip Island, or late Saturday night here.

[SKR]

Woke up at 2:30 so fuck it, might as well watch racing.

It was a Ducati 1-2 in the Superpole Race as Alvaro Bautista continues his title defence, ahead of teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Toprak Razgatlioglu finished 3rd, Alex Lowes 4th and Andrea Locatelli 5th. Rookie Dominique Aegerter was aggressive off the start, pushing Jonathan Rea off track, but was taken out by fellow rookie and teammate Remy Gardner on lap 6.

Race 2 saw Bautista again lead from pillar to post to sweep the weekend. Rinaldi finished 2nd and Locatelli 3rd. In the middle of the race, the fight was on for 4th as the Kawasakis of Rea and Lowes defended from Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani. As that continued, Iker Lecuona, Philipp Oettl and Danilo Petrucci also got into the mix. The result was Lowes losing the front at Miller's corner on lap 17, taking Razgatlioglu with him, and Rea losing spots to Bassani, Oettl, Lecuona and Aegerter.

So like last year, Ducati's performance is bad news for everyone but Ducati, except worse. Phillip Island is a bit of an anomaly on the calendar, and its flowing nature should suit the Yamahas and Kawasakis better. The Yamahas would have done alright were it not for the crash in the Superpole race, and the Kawasakis just haven't got it. Tom Sykes, on one of the privateer Kawasakis, only finished one race and he was 3 laps down. Oliver Konig, on the other, had a DNF, a 17th and an 18th. They're good for about 5 laps and then they're finished.

WorldSBK Standings after Phillip Island:

1. 62 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
2. 34 Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
3. 31 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
4. 31 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
5. 25 Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing)

Next weekend is round 2 of the WorldSBK season at Mandalika. The Daytona 200, sanctioned by MotoAmerica but not part of the superbike season, is March 11. MotoGP starts in Portugal March 26th. British Superbikes starts at Silverstone April 7. And all road races in Northern Ireland have been cancelled for 2023 due to financial issues. There is a push to run the North West 200 on May 11, but if not for that there will be no road racing until the Isle of Man TT starting May 29.

[SKR]

Not much to say about Mandalika since I'm trying to switch to nights. Race 1 was dominated by Alvaro Bautista. All the Kawasakis looked awful as Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes struggled in the last half of the race, and Oliver Konig and Tom Sykes finished second last and last, with Sykes 4 laps down. The BMWs don't look good either. Finishing order was Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Andrea Locatelli, Axel Bassani and Danilo Petrucci.

The Superpole race was red flagged on lap 2 after a crash on lap 1 involving Petrucci, Lowes and Loris Baz, and another on lap 2 by Rea caused by fluid on the track from the previous crash. In the restarted race, another incident between Lowes and Baz led to Baz' retirement. Bautista crashed as he tried to avoid Rea having a moment. Yamaha finished 1-2 with Razgatlioglu and Locatelli, followed by Lowes, Rea and Bassani.

Race 2 had a different look with Bautista starting 10th due to his crash in the Superpole race. He was able to climb up into the top 5 before the race was red flagged for a crash involving Michael van der Mark and Philipp Oettl on lap 7. The race was restarted, Rea crashed on lap 9, and Bautista passed teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the second last lap to lead. Rinaldi ran wide in turn 10 on the last lap and opened the door for Razgatlioglu and Xavi Vierge to get through. Bautista won, followed by Razgatlioglu, Vierge in Honda's best finish in the last two seasons at least, Rinaldi and Locatelli.

WorldSBK Standings after Mandalika:

1. 112 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
2. 75 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
3. 70 Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
4. 51 Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing)
5. 47 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)





Daytona 200 next weekend.

[SKR]

The Daytona 200 is one of my favorite races of the year. It started off with 8 or so bikes at the front, but one by one they dropped off until it was only Josh Herrin and Richie Escalante. Then they got together and Escalante crashed, and it looked like Herrin had the job done. But a late red flag grouped everyone together for a 10 lap shootout. Herrin ended up winning with a last lap pass, same as the last two years by Brandon Paasch. Look at this finish. All these bikes are on the lead lap. Paasch (96) and Blake Davis (22) had post-race penalties for speeding on pit road, but they were still up there.



Edit: Hopefully the timestamp works for the last 2 laps, if it doesn't, skip to 2:36:00 or so.

[SKR]

MotoGP starts this weekend in Portugal. Sprint races are new this season. They're on Saturdays, half distance or so and pay half points I think. I don't think they set the starting order for the Sunday race like the Superpole races in WSBK. The first sprint race is tomorrow at 9am Alberta time.

MotoGP 2023 Teams (1/3)

Ducati Lenovo Team



Francesco Bagnaia (1) won the championship last year. Enea Bastianini (23) moves over to factory Ducati from Gresini Racing, taking the seat vacated by Jack Miller. These two are probably the favorites to win the championship this season.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP



Fabio Quartararo (20) and Franco Morbidelli (21) will hope to have better bikes this year, since last year's were terrible.

Repsol Honda Team



Marc Marquez (93) is a 6 time MotoGP championship winner. Joan Mir (36) is new to factory Honda this year after Suzuki left MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season. Like Yamaha, the Hondas last year were awful.

Aprilia Racing



Aprilia turned into a contender last year with Aleix Espargaro (41) and Maverick Vinales (12). Both riders should be contending for wins this year.

[SKR]

MotoGP2023 Teams (2/3)

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing



Brad Binder (33) is in his fourth season at KTM. Jack Miller (43) begins his first.

GASGAS Factory Racing Team



GASGAS is new this year. They were Tech3 KTM Factory Racing last year, and run KTM bikes. Pol Espargaro (44) moves over from Repsol Honda. Augusto Fernandez (37) won the Moto2 championship last year. This is one of two teams on the grid with two riders new to the team.

Prima Pramac Racing



One of three satellite Ducati teams. Jorge Martin (89) and Johann Zarco (5) return.

Gresini Racing MotoGP



Another satellite Ducati team. Alex Marquez (73) rode for LCR Honda last year, and is taking the place of Enea Bastianini. Fabio Di Giannantonio (49) returns.

[SKR]

MotoGP 2023 Teams (3/3)

Mooney VR46 Racing Team



The third satellite Ducati team, and probably the best looking livery on the grid. Marco Bezzecchi (72) and Luca Marini (10) return from last year.

CryptoDATA RNF Aprilia



This team also has new riders, Raul Fernandez (25) and Miguel Oliveira (88), and new bikes, switching to Aprilia this year from Yamaha last year. You've never seen such an ugly livery in your life.

LCR Honda



Takaaka Nakagami (30) returns from last year.



Alex Rins (42) is new to LCR Honda after 6 years at Suzuki.

[SKR]

MotoGP Portuguese GP Sprint Race

Francesco Bagnaia started his title defense on the right foot, winning today's sprint race. As expected, the Ducatis and Aprilias looked strong. Jack Miller on a KTM in the top 5 was a surprise I think. Following Bagnaia was Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez, Miller and Maverick Vinales.

Pol Espargaro crashed yesterday in practice, suffering "a pulmonary contusion, jaw fracture and fractured dorsal vertebra" which will likely mean he's out for a good part of the season. Enea Bastianini was taken out in a crash by Luca Marini on lap 2, and he has been declared unfit to race due to a broken shoulder.

The next race is tomorrow morning at 7am Alberta time. Former British Superbikes rider Rory Skinner will make his Moto2 debut tomorrow, riding for American Racing, taking the seat from Cameron Beaubier as he returns to MotoAmerica this season. So I'll be watching that as well.

[ThePenIsMightier]

I wanted to buy an Aprilia this past summer but chickened out. Then my Motorsports friend said "Aprilia is a poor man's Ducati" so that meant I still can be cool because what others think matters a lot.

[SKR]

Buy an MV Agusta and then fuck his dad.

[ExtraSlow]

Pics of dad pls.

[SKR]

Now I'm worried that I'm the motorsports friend that said Aprilia was a poor man's Ducati, and that I've volunteered my dad to be fucked.

I don't think I said that because I'd buy an RS660 over a Supersport 950. And whether I would or wouldn't doesn't matter, because I think a Superveloce is one of the best looking sport bikes ever made.

MV Agusta: the Italian manufacturer that isn't Ducati or Aprilia, and at least isn't as weird as Bimota.

[SKR]

MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix

Anybody who said this season will be dominated by Ducati and Aprilia seem to be on the money as they filled the top 5. Maverick Vinales kept up with Francesco Bagnaia until the halfway point, when Bagnaia left him behind. The biggest battle was for fourth between Alex Marquez, Jack Miller, Brad Binder, Johann Zarco and Aleix Espargaro. Bagnaia won, to sweep the weekend, with Vinales 2nd, Marco Bezzecchi 3rd, Zarco 4th and Marquez 5th.

I don't remember MotoGP having so many injuries all at once. Binder and Jorge Martin are both nursing preseason testing injuries. Pol Espargaro is out indefinitely, Enea Bastianini is probably out for Argentina next week, and a big crash today where Marc Marquez seemed to forget there was a corner coming up and clipped Martin on his way to bulldozing into Miguel Oliveira has left all three with a variety of injuries.



MotoGP Standings after Portugal:

1. 37 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. 25 Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing)
3. 16 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)
4. 15 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing)
5. 15 Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)

Next Races:

MotoGP Argentina Grand Prix April 1
British Superbikes Silverstone April 8
MotoGP Americas Grand Prix April 15
Cookstown 100 April 21
WorldSBK Dutch Round April 22
MotoAmerica Road Atlanta April 22
MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix April 29
British Superbikes Oulton Park April 29

[SKR]

MotoGP Argentina Grand Prix Sprint Race

What a ride today from Brad Binder. Started 15th and was up to 1st on lap 3. Great day for a lot of the underdog riders too. Alex Marquez on pole. Franco Morbidelli leading for a lap or two, and finishing in the top 5. Both Mooney VR46 riders on the podium. The sprint format seems to produce some good racing and an opportunity for some different guys to run at the front. Binder won with Marco Bezzecchi right at his back tire, Luca Marini 3rd, Morbidelli 4th and Marquez 5th.

Missing this weekend are Pol Espargaro, Enea Bastianini, Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez with injuries. Joan Mir crashed out today as well, and will potentially miss tomorrow's GP race.

[SKR]

MotoGP Argentina GP

A dominant performance today by Marco Bezzecchi in the wet, cruising to his first win by a margin at one point of over 7 seconds. Francesco Bagnaia was his only real competition until he dumped his bike on lap 17, eventually finishing out of the points in 16th. Yesterday's sprint winner Brad Binder crashed on lap 1. Wet conditions are always a wildcard. The Aprilias looked top of the line in practice, but finished 12th, 14th and 15th. Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli had great days as well. Fabio Di Giannantonio was up in the mix for a top 5 before losing grip and positions late. Fabio Quartararo had a terrible start and first third of the race, but was eventually able to climb back up to 7th. The top 5 were Bezzecchi, Johann Zarco 2nd after a late charge, Marquez 3rd, Morbidelli 4th and Jorge Martin 5th.

This race had only 17 starters after Joan Mir was ruled out with head and spinal injuries after his crash in the sprint race yesterday. Pol Espargaro is still in hospital but is walking on his own, so that's good but he's still a long ways away. I assume Marc Marquez and Miguel Oliveira will be back for COTA in two weeks. I'm not sure about Enea Bastianini and it's probably too early to tell for Joan Mir.

MotoGP Standings after Argentina

1. 50 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)
2. 41 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
3. 35 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing)
4. 33 Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP)
5. 32 Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing)

Next Races

British Superbikes Silverstone April 8
MotoGP Americas Grand Prix April 15
Cookstown 100 April 21
WorldSBK Dutch Round April 22
MotoAmerica Road Atlanta April 22
MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix April 29
British Superbikes Oulton Park April 29

[SKR]

British Superbikes starts this weekend at Silverstone. It seems like almost the whole field is on a new bike from last year. BSB is the most competitive national series, and with no electronic aids the riders make so much more of a difference.

LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha
#7 Ryan Vickers
#77 Kyle Ryde

Last year Bradley Ray won the BSB championship with Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha. This year, the team is called LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha. Ray is gone to World Superbike. Kyle Ryde returns and will hope to have a more consistent year after last year being so hot and cold. Ryan Vickers is new to the team after last season with FHO Racing BMW, where it seemed like he ended every race in the gravel trap.

Honda Racing UK
#18 Andrew Irwin
#68 Tom Neave

In 2020, brothers and Honda Racing UK teammates Andrew and Glenn Irwin started the season like they were shot out of a cannon on the new Fireblade. Andrew went to SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad for 2021, and Glenn finished 2nd in the championship in 2022. For 2023, Glenn left and Andy is back. Andy has a reputation for being a bull in a china shop, but I think the Honda is a better bike than the BMW was so maybe qualifying nearer to the front will help that. Tom Neave is in his second season at Honda.

Oxford Products Racing Ducati
#21 Christian Iddon

Christian Iddon is in his first season at Oxford Products Racing, after being at Buildbase Suzuki. If I remember right he was at Paul Bird Motorsports with Josh Brookes when Brookes won the championship in 2020, so he's not new to Ducati. Tommy Bridewell rode this bike to third in the championship last year.

Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki
#14 Lee Jackson
#30 Max Cook

Lee Jackson returns from last year and will challenge for podiums. Max Cook won the British Junior Superstock championship last year and moves all the way up to Superbikes this year, taking the place vacated by Rory Skinner when he moved on to Moto2.

McAMS Yamaha
#22 Jason O'Halloran
#54 Tim Neave

Jason O'Halloran should have won the 2021 championship, but lost it to his teammate Tarran Mackenzie. Mackenzie is gone to World Supersport this year, so hopefully this is the year where O'Halloran can get it done. Tim Neave moves up from British Superstock to Superbikes this year.

FHO Racing BMW Motorrad
#25 Josh Brookes
#60 Peter Hickman

After an awful season at MCE Ducati, Josh Brookes moves over to the new M1000 RR at FHO Racing. Brookes will have something to prove this season, and the new BMW bike should be ready to compete for a championship. Peter Hickman has been with the team since it was Smiths BMW, and while his BSB season wasn't great he did win 4 TTs last year. I think both Brookes and Hickman will be racing at the North West 200 next month and the Isle of Man TT in less than two months.

SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad
#83 Danny Buchan

After Andrew Irwin's departure for factory Honda, Danny Buchan is left as the sole rider for SYNETIQ BMW. Buchan won a couple races last year and maybe getting all the focus in the garage will prove successful this season.

Lee Hardy Racing Kawasaki
#97 Bradley Perie

Bradley Perie finished 2nd in the British Supersport championship last year, and starts his Superbikes career with Lee Hardy Racing.

BeerMonster Ducati
#2 Glenn Irwin
#46 Tommy Bridewell

Last year MCE Ducati was awful with Josh Brookes and Tom Sykes, and no one knows why. Now they have a new sponsor in BeerMonster, and two very fast riders in Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell. Sykes won a couple races late last season, but I expect lots of wins and a championship out of Irwin and Bridewell.

MasterMac Honda by Hawk Racing
#86 Charlie Nesbitt

Nesbitt had a good season last year in British Superstock with VisionTrack Suzuki, and moves up this year to Superbikes.

Crendon Honda by Hawk Racing
#65 Josh Owens

Kind of a sister team to MasterMac Honda, Josh Owens begins his fourth season in BSB after spending last season at Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki.

Starline Racing Kawasaki
#79 Storm Stacey

Storm Stacey made his first BSB start in 2020 at age 17, and has been quick and finished in the points several times. This year is the year he needs to consistently finish in the points.

Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki
#34 Liam Delves
#55 Jack Scott

Liam Delves returns from last year. Jack Scott moves up to Superbikes this year after winning 14 races and the championship in the British GP2 series last year.

DAO Racing Kawasaki
#5 Dean Harrison

Dean Harrison is more and more becoming a fast short circuit racer, but is still mostly known for being a road racer with 3 Isle of Man TT wins, 24 Southern 100 wins, 2 Ulster GP wins and 68 wins at Oliver's Mount.

Tactix by Lloyd & Jones BMW
#12 Luke Mossey

Luke Mossey returns for another season at Lloyd & Jones BMW. I think he spent a good part of last year injured. He's a pretty solid top 15 rider I think.

TAG Racing Honda
#8 Hector Barbera

Hector Barbera is a former BSB rider, and spent the last two seasons in MotoAmerica with Tytlers Cycle Racing. Cameron Beaubier is coming back to MotoAmerica this year and is taking Barbera's seat at Tytlers after losing his seat at All American Racing to Rory Skinner.

Mar-Train Racing Yamaha
#4 Jack Kennedy

Jack Kennedy makes his move up to Superbikes after kicking the shit out of everyone in Supersport last year.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team
#91 Leon Haslam

Leon Haslam won the British Superbike championship in 2018 before moving to World Superbike from 2019 to 2021, and then splitting time between WSBK and BSB last season.

Lovell Kent Racing Honda
#52 Danny Kent

Danny Kent won the Moto3 championship in 2015, and then acted like a dickhead for a few years and has found a home in BSB. He's an alright rider and might not be a dickhead anymore.

Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles Honda
#74 Davey Todd

Davey Todd won the Superstock championship last year and moves up to Superbikes this year. He's a very fast rider on both short circuits and the roads, and will probably be rookie of the year this year with race wins and possibly wins at the North West and the TT.

NP Motorcycles Kawasaki
#16 Luke Hopkins

Luke Hopkins will look forward to a new team and new season after last year when his team ran out of money mid-season and folded.

It can be hard to find a place to watch BSB races in Canada. If motorsport.tv doesn't carry them this season I'm going to freak out because I've left this until the last minute and the season starts tomorrow.

[ThePenIsMightier]

This video is awesome.

[SKR]

Yeah I like Fortnine's videos. Although it usually features motorbikes I don't care about.

I hate how much stupid England markets their products to the outside world. In 2021 BSB was on Motortrend. In 2022, for some fuck off reason, the agreement between BSB and MT ended mid fuckin season, because on some planet that makes sense, and I switched over to motorsport.tv. This year, in North America MAVTV has the exclusive rights. You're probably thinking, who the fuck is MAVTV? Exactly. It's a TV channel that doesn't mention anywhere that it's carrying BSB. It doesn't offer any streaming services. You have to have TV service to your house, or pay $90 (a year? no) a month to maybe get it. I say maybe, because the platforms that MAVTV says it's available on, don't mention MAVTV at all. And even then, do you have to watch it live? Can you watch it on demand? Who knows, because nobody says. It also might not even be called MAVTV in Canada. It might be REVTV. There's no reason to make it this hard.

Looks like I'll be watching BSBfan2019 on youtube again. He uploads the races in standard definition and you have to be quick before Eurosport gets them taken down, but it's better than nothing.

[SKR]

British Superbikes Silverstone

Race 1:



1. Kyle Ryde - not much of a surprise. He's been overshadowed the last couple seasons by his teammate Bradley Ray, and the McAMS Yamahas of Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O'Halloran. He's well capable of winning races and the Yamaha has probably been the best all-round bike in the series the last couple years.
2. Tommy Bridewell - again, not much of a surprise. MCE Ducati has had a rough couple years, but Bridewell had a great 2022 and maybe what the team needed was two fresh riders.
3. Josh Brookes - another not surprise. Brookes was one of those MCE Ducati riders last year, but he's better than what his results were and FHO is getting better all the time.
4. Jason O'Halloran - One of the best riders on what's been one of the best teams on the best bike in the last few years.
5. Glenn Irwin - The second new rider for BeerMonster Ducati, you'd expect him to be fighting for wins but maybe not so soon in the season.

Nothing too out of the ordinary in the top 5. What was a little surprising was Leon Haslam and Jack Kennedy in 6th and 7th, Peter Hickman down in 11th and Davey Todd in 22nd. But I didn't get to see the races so I don't know what happened.

Race 2:



1. Josh Brookes - good for him. The race was red flagged at the start of lap 28 for a crash involving Danny Buchan, but a win is a win and I'm sure Brookes will take it.
2. Tommy Bridewell - like Brookes, BeerMonster Ducati needs good finishes and it's good to see they're getting them.
3. Glenn Irwin - 3 podiums in 2 races for BeerMonster Ducati.
4. Kyle Ryde - good start to the season.
5. Jason O'Halloran - also a good start to the season.

Haslam again with a 6th place. I thought this was kind of a retirement tour for him but maybe not. Todd in 16th, so that's better. To be fair he's new to Superbikes and Padgett's doesn't do much for Superbikes either, other than using the races as kind of test sessions for Conor Cummins' TT bike.

Race 3:



1. Glenn Irwin - good win, first of many this season I'd think.
2. Josh Brookes - just ran out of time at the end, but 3 podiums this weekend is 3 more than he had all last season.
3. Tommy Bridewell - another BeerMonster podium.
4. Jason O'Halloran - looks like he'll have his hands full for a run at the championship if this weekend is any indication.
5. Danny Kent - good finish, a guy I wouldn't have expected to see in the top 5.

Leon Haslam finished 6th again.

British Superbikes Standings after Silverstone:

1. 48 Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad)
2. 46 Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati)
3. 43 Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati)
4. 39 Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha)
5. 35 Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha)

Next races:

MotoGP Americas Grand Prix April 15
Cookstown 100 April 21
WorldSBK Dutch Round April 22
MotoAmerica Road Atlanta April 22
MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix April 29
British Superbikes Oulton Park April 29