In a race that will be remembered for it’s huge crashes and Glenn Irwin’s missing footpeg, it was hard to stand ouꦰt at the front, but Bradley Ray got his head down to pick up the full 25 points to add towards his championship tally.

The red flag and safety would have put many off but Ray was ready to use the restart as a chance to improve and h𝓀it theꦗ front after Tom Sykes had started in the lead, lining him up for a triple at Donington Park.

The Rich Energy OMG Yamah𒅌a rider Stated “The race was strange, obviously the safety car, the red flag at the start, was a bit of a shame but we got the restart done and the safety car came out - Glenn [Irwin] actually did a really good job of getting that fast corner and pulling a small gap that I had to close down a little bit”.

Undeterredജ by Irwin’s great start as the safety car left, Ray still felt like the race was worth chasing. His patience behind was rewarded when the unfortunate Honda rider lost his footpeg, allowing him to re-take the lead.

“[I] got to the lead of the race. Felt quite comfortable, then𝄹 Glenn went past me againso I assumed he had better pace than me and , to be fair, in sector one I was a little bit stronger but in the rest of the track he was a little bit quicker than me so I was happy to sit there, but unfortunately for him, he lost his footpeg coming out of the Foggy Esses and I knew at that moment that I had to pull out a few clean laps to pull enough of a gap to manage it towards the end”.

Lowering the lap record helped and Ra𒁃y crossed the line 2.226s ah💮ead of an Irwin, but it was brother Andy in second.

The Synetiq BMW Moto🐷rrad rider had one of his best race this season, helped by a first crash free weekend to make it back to the podium for the first time since the opening round at Silverstone.

Irwin credited his team and all the hard work they have put in for him this seꦍason:

“I think the team have tr♎ansformed the bike. We started off good then we ꧂went, I think, a funny direction, it definitely didn’t work - and now we’re back feeling confident and comfortable”.

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‘Like a stiff Michael Rutter the last few laps’

The heroic ride by his brother, foot on the exha🤡ust without a peg to lean on was one of the big talking points of the race, not only because he managed to finish, but brought the Honda home on the podium.

After the bad luck at breaking the footpeg, he waꦆs due a little good and a wobble from Tommy Bridewell who had just rocked up behind as he struggled to pull out a  pass on him, was window enough to go back through and block all the way to the chequered flag.

Irwin said of the incident:
“The footpeg snapping will probably be the talking point,ꦕ bꦯut like I said there’s so much positive to take.

I had to find another place to put my foot, I don’t ride like Bradley or Andrew with the elbow to the ground, but it doesn’t hinder me too much - I was certainly like a stiff Michael Rutter the last few laps there, I tried everything I could . If the front is go𒈔ing to fold, then the front is going to fold, because I couldn’t do anything to help, my centre of gravity was so high.

Off the podium

That left Oxford Products Ducati rider Tommy Bridewell in fourth, with the pair still൩ in with a slim chance of the title.

Danny Buchan made the most of the restart to put both of the S🐽ynetiq BMW Motorrad bikes inside the t✃op five.

Kyle Ry👍de was a much improved sixth on t💎he second Rich Energy OMG Yamaha bike - Lee Jackson was next to finish in seventh, ruling him out of the title with Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki.

Ryan Vickers (FHO RAcing BMW with Attis Sports) was eighth  - his best re🐼sult of the🎀 season.

Buildbase Suzuki’s Danny Kent and VisionTrack Kawasaki rider Leon Haslam completed the t🍬op ten, an improvement for both on the previous race.

Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) faded back to eleventh, with Storm Stacey (Tꦍeam LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki) twelfth, equalling his second best result of the season.

Charlie Nesbitt improved again on his third replacement ride, sitting in for Chr꧒istian Iddon at Buildbase Suzuki.

Honda riders  Tom Neave and Takumi Takahashi wꦏ🦄ere 14th and 15th.

Tom Sykes was named rider of the rouꦏnd for his double wins in the first two races.

Injury update

Sykes didn’t finish the th☂ird race after Jason O’Halloran couldn’t get his bike stopped and ran into the back of the former World Champion, sending himself flying into the air. Sykes retired into the pits.

His crash at the Melbourne Haripin brought out the safety car. The #22 was released from🌠 medical care shortly after the race. He took a knock to his thumb, ankle and face to add to his injury woes and visited Sykes to apologise for his error. Dean Har❀rison also retied from the race.

The situation regarding the first accide▨nt, which brought out the red flag remains more serious. That was for the crash of Chrissy Rouse, who fell exiting Goddards Corner after one lap.

Rouse sustained a significant head injury so was stabilised and put in a medically induced coma by the BSB medical tea෴m. He was transferred to Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham.