Joe Talbot “devastated” by Thruxton BSB Race 3 crash despite “very good” weekend

After two strong races at the Thruxton BSB, a crash in the third race left Joe Talbot “devastated”.

The Bimota rookie has been in the top-10 in Race 1 and Race 2 at Thruxton, and was running close to the front group in Race 3.

But a low-side at turn three saw him register his fifth DNF of the 2026 BSB season, and meant no Bimota finished the final race of the weekend after Max Cook was ruled out of Sunday’s races following his Race 1 crash.

“Physically I’m fine,” Talbot said, speaking to Crash.net after Race 3 at Thruxton.

“Just obviously a bit devastated, to be honest. I had a really strong, solid weekend up until that point. 

“Overall it’s still been very good for myself, best Thruxton I’ve had and I’ve learnt a lot, first time here on the Superbike: a lot to learn and a lot to get your head around with the tyre life. I’ve worked really hard all weekend. 

“Just gutted, really: a ninth, an eighth, and unfortunately a DNF; I was just starting to close down that lead group, didn’t feel like I was spinning the tyre, just found like a nice little rhythm. 

“I’ve done 100-odd laps around here this weekend and one little mistake cost me a lot. Unfortunately, that’s the price you pay in this game and just gutted– gutted for the team because they did a mega job for me and I was obviously the only Bimota out there. 

“To not finish a race isn’t good, but the team have done a mega job this weekend, Max [Cook] is on the mend. 

“It’s not been the best round for the team in general, but we did a really solid job, and it’s the closest I’ve been to the lead ever. So, to finish a couple of seconds off in both races that I’ve completed, it just shows that I’ve made steps and we’re getting there, it’s just that the goal was to finish three solid races and I didn’t.”

Race 2 in particular was a stand-out for Talbot, who was latched onto the back of the lead group for the majority of the race, but just lost out at the end as Bradley Ray came through after a pass from Leon Haslam earlier in the race dropped him down the order.

“It was good,” Talbot said of Race 2. 

“In the sprint race, the pace was fast. I got spat out a little bit at the end because Brad [Ray] come through and made some big moves, moved me out the way and that lost us a second – round here, as soon as you lose a second it’s difficult to gain it back. 

“It was good, I finished three seconds off the lead, which is nothing really, especially around here, and to be within a second [of the lead] the whole race up until the last two laps was good. 

“Oulton [Park], didn’t finish the last race there because of a technical, but all the races there I was somewhat near the leading group, so now to be making it to the end of the races still there, it just shows that we’re making progress and we’re doing a good job. 

“It’s just silly mistakes like [in Race 3] like a rookie like myself makes, but it shouldn’t be.

“We’re chipping away, it’s just hard to not finish the last race because, obviously, the last race of the weekend, we’ve done a brilliant job, but just a bit devastated with the result.”