If the opening round of the BSB championship was any♐thing to go by, then the 2022 campaign could be the besꦅt one yet.

5 - BSB is at an all-time high!

We start off this list with perhaps the biggest appeal of British Superbike racing, its competitive🦋ness! 

• Can Redding bounce back from A♕ragon nightmare in Assen, Rea the favourite? 
• Irwin had 'nothing left' for final laps, Skinner calls pa🎃ce 'ridiculous' 
• 2022 British S💯upeꦍrbike Silverstone - Race (3) Results

Round one saw three different sessions including qualifying🐲 where 23 riders or more were separated by less than a second, making it one of the closest-fought series’ around. 

And although the Silverstone (National) circuit is less than a minute long in lap time, it once again highlighted how different machinery and rider styles were a💫ble to challen💟ge one-another. 

Although gaps did grow throughout the races, th🦹is was mostly down to tyre degradation and four riders in pꦉarticular laying down qualifying pace for 30 laps.  

Longer circuits will truly determine whether we continue to see 20-plus riders all within a second, but what we can say is British Su𒐪perbik🀅e in 2022 looks to be a fascinating watch, and one where many riders can stake their claim as a potential race winner. 

4 - Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam struggle on their return

Going into the season opener all eyes were on two riders, 201𒊎8 series ch🔯ampion Leon Haslam and 2013 WorldSBK champion Tom Sykes. 

Both riders showed good pace in testing with Sykes being part of a six-rider group to go underneath the📖 official lap record at Snetterton, however, once racing commenced both struggled. 

Haslam qualified fifth for race one which was an impressive eꦍffort, but after sliding back to tenth during the early stages, the Kawasaki rider then failed to finish because of a ൲technical issue. 

Haslam then took four points from the next two races, a tally that matched what Sykes achieved in race one - turned out to be 🧜his only points after crashing in race two and finishing 16th in Sunday’s final race. 

3 - Ducati’s woes at Silverstone continue

Continuing on with Sykes a𒁏nd Ducati, Silverstone was a shocker for all the Panigale V4 R ಌriders. 

Tommy Bridewell led the way in all three races, h𝕴owever, the Oxford Products Racing man could only manage two sevenths and an eighth. 

Struggling the most was Josh Brookes, who after♚ a disastrous title defence in 2021, is quickly becoming a rider under pressure. 

Like Sykes, Brookes appeared to carry his late season fℱorm into testi꧂ng, but the Australian was absolutely nowhere when it came to both race days. 

“We came here 𝓰with high expectations particularly as we took two po💛diums last year and whilst we’ve been able to match our times from 2021, the pace has obviously moved on,” said Brookes. 

“We had a few issues in th🐓e last ꦦrace so I can’t really use that as a reference but we need to try a few things at the Oulton Park test next week to try and improve both the grip and the lap times. We tried a few settings this weekend and did make progress but not enough clearly, so we’ve got work to do. 

“The test obviously has more importance now 𒈔but it’s a circuit I like and suits the Ducati, so we’ll be working hard to get back 🐈to where we need to be.”

The last Ducati rider to win at Silverst꧂one wa♔s Irwin in 2017. 

Better tracks lie ahead for Ducati but with a lot expected fr🐈om all three riders in 2022, Silverstone can only be described as a big disappointment. 

2 - Young guns have arrived?

Although Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde have spent several seasons in BSB and both have wins to their names, the two Rich Energy OMG Racing Ya♚maha men seemed to take huge steps back in the right direction at Silverstone. 

After a tough 2021 season aboard the BMW M 1000 RR, Ray and Ryde have gelled perfectly with the R1, which 🔯was highlighted in their two podiums each. 🔜;

Ray 𝔍could have won rac🌄e two after pulling clear of Ryde and Irwin, but just as he looked to have things under control, the former Suzuki rider lost the front at Luffield.

On the other hand, Ryde came very close to winning t𒐪hat same race after a late effort to dethrone Irwin culminated in minimal contact at Luffield once more. 

Another young rider who’s seemingly taking a ste🌊p forward co🥂mpared to his rookie season was FS-3 Kawasaki rider Rory Skinner. 

No lower than fourth𒆙 in any race, Skinner might have cemented himself as♎ a title challenger for 2022. A first race win is surely right around the corner. 

1 - Glenn Irwin sets himself up for a title challenge following unlikely treble

One of the biggest surprises from the weekend was not💙 only Irwin winning after the Honda rider suffered several big injuries just a few weeks ago, but also because such pace wasn’t demonstrated at any time during pre🦄-season or practice. 

But when it mattered most Irwin was sensational!

The Northern Irishman had the paℱce to rival anyone as he showed particularly in race three - climbed his way to the front before putting a ❀near two second lead into second place.

Irwiꦗn also showcased great examples of defensive riding in races one and two as he gave Ryd𓄧e, who clearly had more corner speed, no real opportunity to make a pass, or at least make a ‘clean’ overtake.