2022 British Superbike calendar

The 2022 British Superbike Championship provisional calendar has been announced.

- 2022 Bennetts BSB Dates
- 2022 Bennetts BSB FAQ
- 2022 Bennetts BSB Riders & Teams
- 2022 Bennetts BSB Support Races

When does British Superbikes start in 2022?

The 2022 BSB season will start on Friday the 15^th April 2022 on the Silverstone National Circuit. 

BSB Dates 2022

As at 27th September 2021

BSB Test Days 2022

The countdown to the opening round of the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) is now well and truly underway after series organisers MSVR confirmed a bumper 34-strong entry list for the new season.

After months of steady reveals and revelations, the final pieces of the jigsaw on the grid have fallen into place with a vast number of riders set to line-up for the opening round at Silverstone on 16-17 April.

Once more Bennetts will be in the thick of the action for 2022 as it begins its fifth consecutive year as title sponsor for the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (in addition to its stint between 2005 and 2008) for what promises to be another thrill-a-minute 2022 BSB season.

With esteemed veterans, precocious up-and-comers and a couple of headline returnees filling the pack, this is the full rundown of who rides where…

The BSB Manufacturers, Teams and Riders

Yamaha

The dominant force of BSB in 2021 with 21 wins from 33 races, Yamaha pretty much commanded everything on two wheels in motorsport last year with titles in MotoGP, WorldSBK, WorldSSP and MotoAmerica.

As such, it has a mighty task in 2022 to cling onto its crowns across the board, not least in BSB where it will again have a heady mix of five factory-backed teams plus assorted well-backed privateer entrants to contend with.

Working in its favour though is continuity… and not just in terms of riders. Indeed, the Yamaha R1 is one of the older models on the grid right now but has matured like a fine wine in competitiveness, experience that allowed the McAMS (Raceways) team to strike a fine balance of speed and handling at every track.

It doesn’t hurt that it will enter the 2022 BSB season with the same rider line-up for a fourth consecutive year, including its new champion Tarran Mackenzie, who despite being tempted by the bright lights of the WorldSBK Championship has opted to remain in BSB to defend his title, dovetailing his commitments with a handful of international wildcards that he hopes will lead to a high-profile factory-endorsed deal for 2023.

On the other side of the garage will again be Jason O’Halloran, whose breakout campaign of 2021 - during which he elevated an eleven-year BSB career win total from four to 15 in one season - didn’t quite bring home the title he was on course for had it not been for the Title Showdown format. Expect him to come out punching in 2022.

Having persevered with just a single team entry in 2021, Yamaha’s ranks will double for 2022 as RICH Energy OMG Racing embark on new era as they make switch to the Japanese manufacturer.

OMG Racing - which made its BSB debut in 2018 with Suzuki machinery before switching to BMW for 2020 - will stick with the same riders for 2022, race winning pair Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde who will certainly be ones to watch for this coming season.

Ducati

Champions in 2019 and 2020 with Scott Redding and Josh Brookes respectively, Paul Bird Motorsport may have left it late to formally confirm its place on the 2022 BSB grid but it’s arguably saved the best until last.

Following months of rumours, PBM confirmed Tom Sykes will make a high-profile return to the BSB series 14 years after he departed the series to join the WorldSBK grid, where he proceeded to score 34 race wins and the 2013 WorldSBK title for Kawasaki.

The fan favourite will look to continue PBM’s rich vein of success in BSB, a target shared by retained team-mate Josh Brookes, who will look to recover more of the form that took him to the 2020 BSB title after an uncharacteristically lacklustre 2021 campaign.

Once more there will be a trio of Ducati Panigale V4 R’s on the grid in 2022 with the Oxford Racing Moto Rapido team entering into a fourth season partnered with Tommy Bridewell. The Devizes man will be looking to go one better in 2022 after winning the inter-brand Ducati fight and scoring a career-best runners-up spot in 2021.

BMW

As ever, BMW will be well represented on the 2022 BSB grid with its two Title Showdown dwelling TAS Racing Synetiq and FHO Racing teams present and correct with a pair of M 1000 RRs each.

Cushioning the blow of losing RICH Energy OMG Racing to Yamaha, BMW will continue to provide its factory support to long-time collaborators TAS Racing Synetiq in BSB, while FHO Racing gets de facto works machinery for BSB with proper ‘Motorrad’ backing for its road racing campaigns at the Isle of Man TT, et al.

After delivering TAS Racing its first BSB wins since 2016, Danny Buchan stays on board for another season, where he will again be joined by four-time race winner Andrew Irwin, the younger of the Irwin brothers hoping to improve on a lean 2021 campaign that yielded just a single podium.

FHO Racing, meanwhile, will look to carry on what it started in 2021 following Faye Ho’s purchase of the erstwhile Smiths Racing set-up with fan favourite Peter Hickman back to combining BSB with the TT, North West 200, Ulster GP and Macau GP road races, while youngster Ryan Vickers comes on board looking to build on more of the promise and fewer of the errors during an otherwise eye-catching three-year stint on the RAF Kawasaki.

iForce BMW (PR Racing) swells to an all-new three-rider assault for 2022 with the experienced Dan Linfoot coming on board and joined by two rookies in Superstock 1000 standout Fraser Rogers and British GP2 front runner Dan Jones.

Elsewhere, Chrissy Rouse returns to the BSB grid with the Crowe Performance team with which he sealed the 2020 Superstock 1000 title, while NP Motorcycles expands to a two-rider entry with Sam Cox and Joe Sheldon-Shaw.

Honda

After its dominant debut with the new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade in 2020, it was a surprise to see Honda struggle to rediscover that momentum with the benefit of development time in 2021 with Glenn Irwin managing just a single - somewhat fortuitous - win at Silverstone.

Nevertheless, Honda UK are certainly nothing less than committed as it grows to a four-man effort in 2022, including each of its 2021 riders - Irwin, Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi - plus its Superstock 1000 title-winning protege Tom Neave.

Irwin’s place in the team is complemented by a plan to finally get his road racing programme underway, with an entry into the Isle of Man TT and North West 200 - the latter of which he has won with Ducati and Kawasaki - having originally been pencilled into his 2020 BSB contract before COVID struck.

The addition of Neave is also a no-brainer, Honda keen to develop a dedicated junior programme of which Neave is front and centre after winning a very competitive Superstock 1000 series last year.

Mizuno and Takahashi, meanwhile, are a touch more surprising, the two leading lights of the Japanese domestic superbike series finding the going very tough in BSB as they acclimatised to the less electronics-dependent Fireblade on more particular bumpy circuits against more aggressive racers. While Honda is clearly attempting to make a Ryuichi Kiyonari out of both, neither have thus far threatened to be anything like the three-time champion.

Elsewhere, Honda will also be represented by its official TAG Racing privateer effort, with BSB race winner and former Showdown contender Luke Mossey returning to the class following a stint in British Supersport, while Luke Hopkins is back riding with the Black Onyx Security team.

Kawasaki

Despite the introduction of a new ZX-10RR, Kawasaki failed to get a rider into the Title Showdown for the second-year in succession, piling some pressure on its nominated factory representatives FS-3 Racing.

That’s not to say there wasn’t good promise though with the consistent Lee Jackson only just missing out on the Top 8 when it mattered before going on to clinch the Riders’ Cup - ie. the best placed non Title Showdown contender.

Though he managed just a sole podium all year, Jackson remains for a third season with the team, joined once more by up-and-coming star Rory Skinner, who stole the headlines with a stunning double podium performance at his home Knockhill round to show what the teenager can do with the benefit of experience.

Though he didn’t reach those heights again for the remainder of the year, it was a sure sign that he is someone to watch for 2022 with a solid year of results behind him.

However, FS-3 Racing will face a task in maintaining its status as top Kawasaki representative after Lee Hardy Racing pulled off a coup in securing the signature of runaway 2018 BSB champion Leon Haslam.

The experienced Briton is statistically one of the BSB’s most decorated riders with his deal coming four years after beating Lee Hardy Racing (to be known as VisionTrack Kawasaki) and its rider Jake Dixon to the 2018 crown.

Elsewhere, Rapid CDH Racing will look to build on a solid showing in 2021 by expanding its line-up to two Kawasaki entries, one for the retained Josh Owens and another for Liam Delves, while TT star Dean Harrison (DAO Racing) and Storm Stacey (LKQ Euro Car Parts) will also be back for another season.

Suzuki

After a long wait, Buildbase Suzuki heads into the new season with the venerable GSX-R1000R with a revised rider line-up of Christian Iddon and Danny Kent.

Iddon comes on board following a gnarly exit from Paul Bird Motorsport, the experienced racer losing out on a seat at the team despite two seasons that saw him twice fight for the title and comfortably out-perform Josh Brookes in 2021.

He will be joined by 2015 Moto3 World Champion Danny Kent, who has been retained after an eye-catching, yet truncated campaign in 2021. Indeed, Kent was just hitting his Superbike stride when an injury sustained in a crash at Donington Park a week after his maiden podium at Thruxton ruled him out for the remainder of the year.

Elsewhere on the grid, Hawk Racing will expand its efforts in BSB by providing support to the Powerslide Catfoss Racing team, which will head into a second season with Swedish rider Bjorn Estment and add 13-time BSB race winner James Ellison as team principal, while Hawk’s own test rider Leon Jeacock makes his full debut with the Specsavers Suzuki outfit.

Provisional 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Rider Line-up (As at 4th March 2022)

2022 Bennetts BSB Support Races

QUATTRO GROUP BRITISH SUPERSPORT/GP2

HONDA BRITISH TALENT CUP

PIRELLI NATIONAL SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIP

PIRELLI NATIONAL JUNIOR SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIP

HEL PERFORMANCE BRITISH JUNIOR SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP

DUCATI PERFORMANCE TRIOPTIONS CUP

MOLSON GROUP BRITISH SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP