Rory Skinner adamant Yamaha BSB performance deficit not impacting motivation

The dominance this year of Ducati in BSB has been almost absolute, the Italian factory having won 14 of 15 races through five rounds, but this is not affecting the motivation of Rory Skinner, he says.

Skinner, who rode a TAS Racing Ducati last year and won at Knockhill before the team switched to Yamaha for 2026, has not yet stood on the podium in the 2026 BSB season, his first aboard the YZF-R1.

His best result, in fact, is a fourth, taken from 19th on the grid at Snetterton in Race 2 at the Norfolk track.

Brands Hatch, two weeks after Snetterton, was perhaps the worst weekend of the season for Skinner, going 9-9-7 over the three races, but the Scottish rider was able to some positivity from that seventh in Race 3, as it meant he beat Bradley Ray by one place and finished as top Yamaha.

Even still, he was 12 seconds off the win in a race that was interrupted by a safety car. The victory was taken by Scott Redding aboard the PBM Ducati, ahead of Kyle Ryde.

Max Cook was the only non-Ducati rider inside the top-five in Race 3 at Brands Hatch, the Bimota rider taking third place ahead of Leon Haslam and Glenn Irwin.

It continued the trend of the 2026 season which has seen Ducati prove incredibly difficult to beat, but despite the deficit to the front Skinner insisted his motivation is unaffected.

“No,” Skinner said when asked by Crash.net after Race 3 at Brands Hatch if the advantage currently enjoyed by the Ducati riders is impacting his motivation.

“The motivation is always there. 

“I go home, I train to win. 

“I know I’m as good as any of the other riders on the grid, it’s just about putting everything together. 

“Brad [Ray] showed at Snetterton that the bike is capable of winning and doing the job, so I’ve just got to get to the point where I could do that. 

“I had a good [Race 3], I managed to beat Brad, so for me that’s a good step in the right direction. 

“It’s my first year on the bike, it’s – for my side of the garage – [the team’s] first year working with the Yamaha, so we’re kind of going off in our own little direction with it and it’s starting to come good.”