2025 British Superbikes: Oulton Park- Qualifying Results

The first British Superbikes session of 2025 saw an at ease Bradley Ray back on form, as if he had never been away from the BSB paddock, setting the standard with a new lap record.

Ray, now at Raceways Yamaha after the pre-season drama which saw him ride-less at the eleventh hour, was closest to Haslam on Friday and topped the recent test at the same track -with on-record pace.

His Saturday got off to a positive start, leading the brief FP3 session directly before qualifying, edging out Haslam and Storm Stacey.

Once back out on track the 2022 champion was immediately quick, showing the pace he had in testing, and needed only out for four laps before triumphantly returning to the pits, with the new record 1m 32.851s record lap under his belt. 

• Leon Haslam tops BSB practice: “Always a doubt” Ducati would “suit my style”
• 2025 British Superbikes: Oulton Park - Practice Results

Issues blighted the opening day for reigning champion Kyle Ryde, who like Ray was without a seat on the eve of the new season before Nitrous Competitions stepped up to help sponsor the OMG team.

Things were looking up on Saturday, and after a banker took the #1 plate to sixth, Ryde pushed harder to find the one lap pace he was missing and pick up second on the grid for race one later in the day, finishing 0.382s behind.

Haslam had effortlessly completed the transition from his own BMW to his new Moto Rapido Ducati on Friday, where he topped the standings on day one heading into qualifying.

Though feeling he still lacked one lap pace, the #91 was initially disappointed to have only matched his race pace lap from Friday, before realising it was good enough for the front row, all former champions, but breaking up the Yamahas.

Max Cook wisely followed Ray around on his record lap to finish fourth fastest and top Kawasaki for the AJN Steelstock team.

Danny Kent took his McAMS Yamaha to fifth, having fixed his issue which needed an engine change after smoke billowed out of his bike on Friday.

The second row will be completed by Charlie Nesbitt, the best of the Honda riders for MasterMac in sixth.

Christian Iddon was one of three fallers in the session, and held seventh where he was at the time of his crash.

The AJN Steelstock rider was wide as Cascades, which saw him offline and out onto the grass at turn three.

The first fall came right at the start of the session, with Glenn Irwin straight off at Brittens, at the chicane.

Crash leaves Glenn Irwin 15th

The opening day of the Oulton Park meeting had already seen issues and gremlins aplenty, with Glenn Irwin almost missing out on a Q2 spot, the Hagar Ducati rider needing a quick dash after a late red flag to ensure his progress.

The crash in Q2 was a big dent to the Northern Irish riders progress. Though allowed to ride back to the pits after a quick check, the PBM mechanics only got their bike back on track just before the chequered flag, with enough time to give the bike a quick check, but not to set a lap time  - so Irwin will start 15th for race one.

A final fall saw Andrew Irwin slip off at Island at the end of the session, leaving the Honda rider 14th after coming up from Q1.

Further up the grid, Stacey saw his early practice form desert him when it counted. The #79 began Friday on a high, inside the top three before failing to set a lap in the second session with a gearbox issue. His FP1 time saw his time hold on to an automatic Q2 spot, where the Bathams AJN rider could only manage eighth.

Josh Brookes was also heading in the wrong direction, with a small late improvement taking the DAO Racing bike to ninth, with teammate Lee Jackson completing the top ten.

Tommy Bridewell continued to struggle for one lap pace, with the Honda rider over a second away from the pole time in eleventh.

Scott Swann was the best of the rookies and the top rider to graduate from the Q1 session in eleventh for IWR Honda.

Official British Superbike Oulton Park Records:

Old Lap record: Bradley Ray (Yamaha, 2022) 1m 33.620s
New Lap record: Bradley Ray (Yamaha, 2025) 1m 32.851s

Oulton Park in 2024:

Race 2:

Qualifying: 1 Ryde (2 G Irwin, 3 Vickers)

Race 1: 1 G Irwin (2 Iddon 3 Ryde)
Race 2: (Sprint): 1 G Irwin (2 Bridewell, 3 Iddon)
Race 3: 1 G Irwin (2 Iddon, 3 Vickers)

Race 9 (Showdown):

Qualifying 1 O’Halloran (2 Cook, 3 Stacey)

Race 1:  1 Ryde (2 G Irwin, 3 Jackson)
Race 2: (Sprint): 1 G Irwin (2 Kent, 3 Haslam)
Race 3: 1 Ryde (2 Bridewell, 3 Stacey)

Q1- Skinner through with rookie Swann

Rory Skinner (13th) topped Q1 for Cheshire Mouldings, after making the swap from Kawasaki to Ducati for 2025, with the best of the rookies, Scott Swann impressing, as he had done on the Honda in testing, with a close time.

The final progression slot was battled for to he chequered flag, with Andrew Irwin holding it, only for Peter Hickman to swoop in and take the position, with Irwin right behind to snatch the place back.

That left the LEW 8Ten rider just missing out, on his own late built bike for the championship.

It was a similar story for Richard Kerr, who did not attend the first test a Navarra as a late addition for the new Michael Laverty run team, Rokit BMW Motorrad. The Irish rider was he early session leader but slipped back to fifth , for 17th on the grid.

Former Moto3 rider John McPhee was eighth, so will be lining up 20th for his first BSB race with MasterMac Honda.

Lewis Rollo did not pass his Friday assessment with the BSB Medical Team. The Aprilia rider will be reviewed again ahead of the Donington Park round.