“Been a while!”: Rory Skinner leaves Thruxton BSB “happy” despite no Sunday podium

Although there was no podium for Rory Skinner on Sunday at the Thruxton BSB, the Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha rider was able to leave round seven “really happy”.

The Thruxton round brought Skinner his first podium in Saturday’s Race 1, but Sunday saw him miss out in both races – sixth in Race 2, and fifth in Race 3.

But there were still positives to take from the final day of the weekend for Skinner, even if he was "gutted", mostly that he led for several laps in the final 20-lapper.

“A really good weekend,” Skinner summarised, speaking to Crash.net after BSB Race 3.

“I think if it had went sixth, fifth, and then second we would’ve been all ‘happy as Larry’, jumping about.

“[Race 3 was] a little bit disappointing after the start of the weekend, but really happy to lead a race again, it’s been a while!

“I felt really comfortable doing it, it didn’t really seem like I was riding out of my skin to do what I was doing. 

“I felt like I set a reasonable pace, wasn’t trying to go too hot, and I felt like it was a fairly mature ride. 

“Bit gutted on the last couple of laps, obviously slipstream is a big thing here, there’s always big battles and big overtakes. I got sucked into the back of Kyle [Ryde] at Goodwood and very nearly hit him – managed to pick the bike up, but then had two or three near-crashes where all the marbles are, the tyre rubber. 

“So, dropped back to sixth, and then managed to get Danny [Kent] back at Church. 

“Pretty gutted, but at the same time quite happy about it”

Skinner added that he feels his riding is continuing to improve in 2026.

“I think it’s a good, positive move we can make going on to Cadwell Park,” he said.

“I’m feeling better and better on the Yamaha, we changed practically nothing on the bike compared to where we were last weekend at Oulton Park, so for me it’s nice to have some consistency with the bike and I think over the last few rounds that’s really showed and my riding’s got a lot better.”

He continued: “It’s definitely the happiest I’ve been riding all year, and I really enjoyed myself. 

“I just like riding motorbikes, whether it’s my 250 or this R1, I’m enjoying them both right now.”