Series leader Kyle Ryde is once again the man to beat heading into the British Superbike Championship weekend at Thruxton after topping Friday’s pre-qualifying session.
In the sweltering summer heat, Ryde posted a best lap-time of 1:14.530 on his Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing Ducati to put himself 0.309s clear of the field.
Max Cook was the second-fastest rider as the AJN Steelstock Bimota KB998 made its debut at the Hampshire circuit. It looks like the bike will once again be in podium contention this weekend as rookie teammate Joe Talbot ended his day in fourth.
Scott Redding found himself sandwiched between the two KB998s on his Hager PBM Ducati, further showcasing that the 2026 Ducati V4 R will be much stronger around Thruxton than its predecessor.
Rory Skinner led a trio of Yamaha riders in fifth, with Christian Iddon and Danny Kent ending the pre-qualifying session in sixth and seventh respectively. Yamaha riders have won the last 14 races at Thruxton.
Ryan Vickers continued to lead the Honda project in eighth ahead of Bradley Ray, whilst Vickers’ Honda Racing UK teammate Jason O’Halloran completed the top 10. Lee Jackson and Ilya Mikhalchik secured the final two automatic Q2 qualifying spots.
Leon Haslam, fastest in Free Practice 2 earlier in the day, will have to go through Q1 on Saturday afternoon (August 15) after finishing a mere 0.024s behind Mikhalchik.
Eugene McManus ended his first day back in action after an injury in 14 th , finishing ahead of TAG Honda duo Fraser Rogers and Charlie Nesbitt.
Josh Brookes and Richard Kerr ended their day in 17 th and 18 th respectively, whilst Glenn Irwin endured another difficult afternoon down in 19 th . Rhys Irwin, Joe Sheldon-Shaw, Graeme Irwin and Brayden Elliott were the final classified riders.
Q1 at Thruxton is due to begin at 13:20 on Saturday afternoon, with Q2 following at 13:42. The opening BSB race of the weekend is scheduled for 16:15 later that afternoon.
Sunday’s BSB races are scheduled to take place at 13:20 and 16:15.
Sports Reporter - Motorcycle racing enthusiast Josh joined the MCN team in 2019. He studied Sports Journalism at the University of Sunderland, leaving with a 2:1 and a Gold Standard Diploma in Journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). Introduced to the world of motorcycle racing by his dad as a youngster, Josh became a fan of MotoGP, WorldSBK and BSB. Like many, Josh became a huge Valentino Rossi supporter…little did he know that years later he would ask a question or two to the man himself.
Sports Reporter and fan of all things motorsport