The Bennetts British Superbike Championship finally returns this coming weekend at Oulton Park – 250 days after Josh Brookes was crowned champion.
There are plenty of familiar faces returning this year as well as an exciting crop of new riders with their sights firmly set on glory in the best domestic superbike series in the world.
Below is all the information you’ll need for this weekend including a full schedule for the BSB class, Oulton Park track details and the 2021 rider list.
First of all lets take a look at what’s new/returning for 2021.
TRIPLE HEADERS AT EVERY ROUND: Following the positive reaction to the triple-header events during 2020, all eleven events this season will feature a three race format for Bennetts BSB, bringing more action into a championship season than ever before.
THE SHOWDOWN RETURNS WITH SOME CHANGES: The Main Season will now consist of 8 events and 24 races.
Points will be awarded to the first 15 finishers using the regular format of 25-20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
After the 24th race, the top eight riders in the championship standings will graduate as ‘Title Fighters‘ and be elevated to 1000 points together with any Podium Points accrued in the Main Season. Podium Points will be awarded for each main season race as follows: 1st – 5 points, 2nd – 3 points, 3rd – 1 point.
For the remaining 3 events, 9 races, points will awarded to the first 15 finishers using the regular format of 25-20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
FANS ARE BACK!: For the first time since October 2019 there will be spectators in the grandstands at a BSB race. The opening round will see 4,000 passionate fans watching on. It is hoped that this will increase to pre-pandemic levels after the 19th July but this is dependent on government guidelines.
NEW WEEKEND FORMAT: The event programme will also take on a new format, with the opening day of the event returning to two SUPERPICKS free practice sessions for the BSB class. The fastest 12 riders overall will be seeded directly to the Day 2 Qualifying 2 (Q2) session.
The second day of action will begin with a third, shorter Bennetts BSB free practice session in the morning, followed by Qualifying 1 (Q1), where the fastest six riders will progress through to the Q2 session to join the 12 pre-qualifiers from the opening day in the final fight for the pole position for the opening Bennetts BSB race.
The opening race of the weekend kicks off on Saturday afternoon with the BikeSocial race, ahead of the two feature races on Sunday.
| Schedule |
| Friday: | |
| FP1 | 12:45 – 13:25 |
| FP2 | 15:50 – 16:30 |
| Saturday: | |
| FP3 | 10:05 – 10:25 |
| Q1 | 13:15 – 13:27 |
| Q2 | 13:34 – 13:46 |
| RACE 1 | 16:15 (14 laps) |
| Sunday: | |
| Warm up | 12:00 – 12:10 |
| RACE 2 | 13:45 (18 laps) |
| RACE 3 | 16:45 (18 laps) |
| Track Details – Oulton Park |
| Length | 2.69 miles/4.33km |
| Corners | 17 |
| Lefthand | 6 |
| Righthand | 11 |
| BSB Lap Record | Tommy Bridewell (2019) 1:33.941 |
| Riders |
| NO. | RIDER | NAT | TEAM |
| 1 | Josh Brookes | AUS | VisionTrack Ducati |
| 2 | Glenn Irwin | GBR | Honda Racing |
| 4 | Dan Linfoot | GBR | TAG Racing Honda |
| 5 | Dean Harrison | GBR | Silicone Engineering Kawasaki |
| 7 | Ryan Vickers | GBR | RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki |
| 11 | Brian McCormack | IRL | Roadhouse Macau by FHO Racing BMW |
| 12 | Xavi Forés | ESP | FHO Racing BMW |
| 13 | Takumi Takahashi | JPN | Honda Racing |
| 14 | Lee Jackson | GBR | FS-3 Racing Kawasaki |
| 18 | Andrew Irwin | GBR | Synetiq BMW Motorrad |
| 20 | Brad Jones | GBR | iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW |
| 21 | Christian Iddon | GBR | VisionTrack Ducati |
| 22 | Jason O’Halloran | AUS | McAms Yamaha |
| 27 | Bjorn Estment | RSA | Powerslide/Catfoss Racing Suzuki |
| 28 | Bradley Ray | GBR | Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW |
| 40 | Joe Francis | GBR | iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW |
| 44 | Gino Rea | GBR | Buildbase Suzuki |
| 46 | Tommy Bridewell | GBR | Oxford Products Racing Ducati |
| 52 | Danny Kent | GBR | Buildbase Suzuki |
| 60 | Peter Hickman | GBR | FHO Racing BMW |
| 65 | Josh Owens | GBR | Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki |
| 69 | Rory Skinner | GBR | FS-3 Racing Kawasaki |
| 74 | Joey Thompson | GBR | NP Motorcycles BMW |
| 77 | Kyle Ryde | GBR | Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW |
| 79 | Storm Stacey | GBR | Team LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki |
| 83 | Danny Buchan | GBR | Synetiq BMW Motorrad |
| 88 | Ryo Mizuno | JPN | Honda Racing |
| 95 | Tarran Mackenzie | GBR | McAms Yamaha |
Words: Daniel Blackham Lead Image: Ducati UK
