Rory Skinner “over the moon” to leave Donington with a pole and podium
Rory Skinner has rapidly adapted to a change to Ducati machinery to feature on the podium as early as round two of the British Superbike Championship at Donington Park.
Rory Skinner backed up his Friday practice form by improving place by place over the weekend to leave the BSB round at Donington Park a podium finisher.
The Cheshire Mouldings man was a BMW rider last season, where in an injury hit season he secured a race win at home in Knockhill.
- 2025 British Superbikes: Donington Park - Race Results (2)
- 2025 British Superbikes: Donington Park - Race Results (3)
The team made the switch to Ducati for 2025 and Skinner did not need long to adjust - after finishing both Friday practice sessions third, the Scottish rider just missed out on a rostrum visit in the sprint, having to settle for fourth after a pass by Glenn Irwin.
His pace in that race saw Skinner on pole for the final race, with his elevated grid position helping him to a podium at just the second round:
“Looking back two weeks ago to Oulton park, we were just kind of fighting for the top ten, knew the pace that we had would have been good for the top five, it was definitely a tough one” Skinner said, adding:
“Coming into Donington Park, it felt pretty good straight away, it was nice to get straight into the action. Friday went good, Saturday went good and then today we just went one better, pole position, and a third place in the last race and I’m over the moon!”
The #11 rider was full of praise for his team, who have worked hard to help him adjust to the change to Ducati:
“The guys at Cheshire Mouldings Ducati have been non stop, relentless, working, trying to get the bike sorted.
We had a couple of little gremlins in testing, which put us on the back foot a little bit, but I’m certainly feeling happy on the bike now I’m really enjoying it.”
There is an extended break between Donington and the next round at Thruxton, which is not until the 20 - 22 June with Skinner and the team all set to continue working where possible between the rounds for further gains:
“I’ll be speaking with the boys over the break, and trying to work out what we can improve on, what we can do better when it comes to Snetterton - I’m looking forward to it. I think we’ve found what we were looking for with the bike and I’ve found what I was looking for with my riding, excited to build on it.”
