Kyle Ryde “still learning” Ducati BSB bike despite early speed

Reigning BSB champion Kyle Ryde says he is “still learning” his Ducati BSB bike ahead of the first round of 2026 this weekend (2–4 May).

Ryde enters the 2026 season having won the last two titles in BSB with Yamaha, but his Nitrous Competitions Racing team has switched to Ducati for this season – the first full-season for the squad under Nitrous Competition ownership after they came on-board midway through 2025 after stepping in as a sponsor to rescue the team from collapse in the beginning of last year.

Ryde’s form with Yamaha was exemplary. In four seasons he scored no DNFs, 22 wins, 57 podiums, and of course those two titles. 

Switching bikes, then, seems to come with a risk, but Ryde started his stint with Ducati strongly, setting the fastest time in his first test aboard his race bike at Oulton Park on 21–22 April.

As a result, the reigning champion comes into this weekend firmly among the favourites, but his inexperience with the Ducati means, as he admits, he is “still learning” the bike.

“So after the test that we did last week, there were good signs and now going into round one we’re hoping for the same sort of weather that we had at the test,” Ryde told BritishSuperbike.com ahead of round one.

“The bike has been working really well and we’ve not made too many changes yet because we were learning the bike and we were already quite fast. 

“There’s a lot of things to try with the bike still, but we have a great starting point.”

Ryde added: “Credit to all the team for getting everything ready for round one; it’s not going to be easy but we’ll give it our best shot and hopefully we can have a good weekend as we try and go for the three-peat.”

A successful defence of his title this year for Ryde would make him the first rider since Niall Mackenzie in 1998 to win three titles back-to-back. Mackenzie’s run started in 1996, the first year of BSB in its current format and the subject of BSB’s 30th anniversary celebrations this year.