BSB Results Blog

Danny from our Leeds store is a massive BSB fan, in fact, I'd even go so far as to say he's one of the world's leading authorities on this subject, so who better than him to write the blog on our supported rider results? So here he is:

Hi everyone and welcome to my BSB results blog with a round up of the action which came from Donington Park. After 292 days or 9 months and 18 days or 7008 hours, whichever way you look at it, it's been a long time since we have been racing. Due to the current circumstances and the situation we are all in, this years British Superbike championship is compressed and very short but action packed. 6 tracks, 3 races at each track, no showdown so it's a straight fight to the end.

Donington park

There are new riders, new teams but the same old excitment. Plenty to look forward to over the next 3 months, so lets dive in and take a look at how the J&S Accessories backed riders got on this weekend.

Hector Barbera

Saturday saw both qualifying and a race in the Superbike class. This season saw a change in the qualifying format, with no shoot out sessions like in the 2019 season. It was Hector Barbera who was the highest placed J&S rider who was only 0.1 of a second behind the pole man Jason O'Halloran, so it was a front row start for the Spanish rider. On the row directly behind, was Glenn Irwin on the Fireblade who started from 5^th position. Starting from 9^th was Luke Mossey on the OMG BMW and right behind was Joe Francis in 10^th position. This was a great showing from Joe who had a crash early in qualifying and only managed to complete 7 laps, so it was a great lap that he put in early on. The top 12 riders were covered by less than 1 second!!!

Joe Francis

In his first ever BSB qualifying Graeme Irwin, (yeah that's right another Irwin, he's the middle one of the 3 brothers) he would start the first race from 21^st place on the grid, with the final rider Josh Owens starting from 24^th place. Both Graeme Irwin and Josh Owens would move up 1 place on the grid due to Keith Farmer not being able to race due to injury.

Glenn Irwin

In race one there was action all the way down the field but it was Glenn Irwin who finished in 2^nd place only to be beaten by younger brother Andy, yeah 3 Irwins on the grid in the same race!! Commentators nightmare!! Glenn led the race for a while but in the end was overtaken on the final lap by his brother. Luke Mossey had a great race and crossed the line in 6^th position, just geting the best of Tarran Mackenzie. Josh Owens just missed out on championship points and finished in 18^th place. Meanwhile there were DNF's for Hector Barbera, Joe Francis and Graeme Irwin.

Luke Mossey

In race 2 it was much of the same, a race-long battle between Glenn and Andy Irwin. Glenn took the lead from the opening lap and held a steady lead but it was always under 1 second from the chasing pack. Glenn led 25 of the 26 laps, only to be mugged by his younger brother at the final corner. But consistancy will be key in this seasons championship due to the whole championship being decided over 18 races! Hector Barbera came home in 10^th place to score his first points for the OMG team, next over the line was Joe francis who came home in 16^th with Luke Mossey behind in 17^th. Graeme Irwin had a 21^st place finish meanwhile Josh Owens had a DNF next to his name due to a crash in the early stages of the race.

Graeme Irwin

The third and final race of the day all the J&S backed riders crossed the finish line. But it was the events after the race which cause the most controversy. Andy Irwin was removed from the results due to an incident with Josh Brookes which in the end meant all the riders would move up one place. So Josh Owens would be credited with 20^th place, Graeme Irwin in 18^th and Joe Francis scoring 1 point for 15^th place with Luke Mossey being given 13^th and team mate Hector Barbera in 10^th place. Hector was running in the top 5 all race but a small mistake saw him drop down the field, but he did set the fastest lap of the race.

Josh Owens

But it was a trio of 2^nd places for Glenn Irwin and his Honda Fireblade. Glenn steadily made his way through the field after starting from 12^th on the grid. So 3 second places for Glenn means he leads the championship after 3 races.

Glenn Irwin Podium

In Superstock 1000 it was an exciting race for J&S supported riders. Lewis Rollo started from 11^th on the grid aboard the J&S backed IN Competition Aprilia. Billy McConnell was right behind in 12^th place with Joe Collier starting from 19^th. The superstock grid is so tight that the first 21 riders were covered by less than 1 second.

Lewis Rollo

In the first race it was a mixed bag of results for our riders Lewis Rollo was taken out by another rider on lap 7 and failed to finish. Billy had a little detour through the gravel trap which sent him to the back of the field but he managed to battle back up to 19^th place. But it was Joe Collier who came home in 6^th place and start his season in a great way.

Joe Collier

The second Superstock race saw Joe Collier back up his 6^th place from race one with a solid 8^th place in race 2. Lewis Rollo finished in 4^th place and just missed out on a podium place. One of those podium places was taken by Billy McConnell, he finished in 2^nd place and turned his weekend around. A much deserved return to the podium for Billy.

Billy Mcconnell

In Supersport 600 we have Ben Currie and Dan Jones in the GP2 cup. Ben qualified on the outside of the second to start from 6^th while Dan was 22^nd on the grid but the 7^th fastest GP2 bike. Again just like in Superstock 1000 the times were really close and the top 13 riders were covered by 1 second.

Ben Currie

In the first race Ben was up to 2^nd place but a bike issue meant that he had to retire whilst in a solid points scoring position. Dan Jones came home in 14^th place overall but was the 5^th GP2 bike to finish, which is a great result for the young rider in his first race on the new bike.

Dan Jones

The second Supersport race saw drama at the start for Ben. After completing the warm up lap, he had an issue with the bike whilst sat on the grid waiting for the race to start, this meant that Ben had to jump off the bike and delay the start. This meant another warm up lap but Ben had to start at the very back of the grid!! Things got worse for Ben during the race as he picked up 2 time penalties, this meant that 3 seconds were added to his total race time. After the time was added on Ben had a creditable 11^th place finish but with four GP2 bike in front of him, he would be 7^th in the Supersport class. Dan Jones had a steady race and came home in 13^th overall and 6^th in the GP2 standings.

Sullivan Mounsey

In the Honda Talent Cup, young Sullivan Mounsey in his first race weekend qualified in 21^st place and in his first race came home in 14^th position to score 2 points and in the second race he was just outside the top 10 with a 11^th place finish.

Zak Shelton

In Junior Supersport we had Zak Shelton taking part, he qualified in 8^th place, once again the times were really close in qualifying and the top 14^th times were covered by 1 second. In his first race he finished in 9^th but only missed out on a 5^th place finish by 0.4 of a second. In his second race of the weekend young Zak came home in 8^th and scored more points for a solid weekend.

Taylor Moreton bike

The final class to focus on is the Superstock 600. J&S have 4 riders taking part in this class. Taylor Fox Moreton who qualified in 22^nd place on his new Kawasaki, next up was Louis Valleley in 18^th place and then comes more Irwin brothers, first was Rhys who started from 19^th position but brother Caolan wold start from 4^th on the grid.

Caolan Irwin

In the race unfortunately Taylor suffered a DNF, whilst Louis just missed out on a point by finishing in 16^th place, but it was the 2 Irwin boys who were both in the top 10. Rhys crossed the line in 8^th place but Caolan secured another podium for J&S by coming home in 2^nd place.

Louis Valleley bike and suit

So all in all a great weekend for the J&S backed riders with 5 podiums in total. That brings an end to the first weekend of racing but no rest for the riders as in a couple of weeks time they go out and do it all again this time at the Snetterton circuit over the weekend of 21-23^rd August.

Caolon Irwin Podium

Until then, thanks for reading,

Danny