2025 British Superbikes: Thruxton - Practice Results

The opening Friday of the British Superbikes round at Thruxton saw Danny Kent lead both sessions and be the only rider to dip under the 1m 15s benchmark at the  Hampshire track in FP2 to move into qualifying with the best time.

Kent kept his momentum from Brands Hatch going, where he claimed two podium finishes, with a best of second in race three, as he lead the way across both Friday practice sessions.

The McAMS rider was top in FP1 and built on that in FP2, spending some time circulating with Rory Skinner as well as completing plenty of solo laps as the Yamaha rider improved again to a best of 1m 14.907s.

That saw the #52 as the only rider to set a sub 1m 15s lap on the opening day finishing  in the pits and at the top of the timesheets.

Also back in the garage, Storm Stacey improved to second in the flurry of purple sectors heading into the final five minutes of track time, to put his Bathams AJN Racing BMW second overnight, just 0.256s slower than Kent.

Honda UK’s Tommy Bridewell held the top automatic progression slot earlier in the session, with his time seeing him third quickest of the opening day of British Superbike action at his home track.

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Reigning Champion Kyle Ryde also lead the way briefly before trying to help new teammate Glenn Irwin through, finishing with the fourth best time for Nitrous Competitions OMG Yamaha.

Rory Skinner put in a huge 52 laps over the two sessions with his hard work paying off - just 16th in FP1 the Cheshire Mouldings Ducati rider was improved and race ready in fifth by the close of FP2.

Josh Brookes reacted to being outside the top twelve heading into the final ten minutes, returning to track to improve to sixth for DAO Racing Honda.

Local rider Charlie Nesbitt placed seventh for MasterMac Honda, just quicker than championship leader Bradley Ray, who was eighth for Raceways Yamaha.

The AJN Steelstock Kawasaki duo of Max Cook and Christian Iddon at one point held a 1-2 placement in the session, those times saw them drop to finish ninth and tenth, with Iddon enduring a slightly more nervous wait of the riders who sat out the final minutes in the pits.

Scott Swann was the final rider to improve, leaping into eleventh for Send My Bag Racing by IWR Honda at the chequered flag. Swann had been the lead rookie all Friday, with John McPhee getting in plenty of laps at a track he had not visited before, in 18th .

Scott Redding, now the full time rider at Hager PBM Ducati, was one of several riders to have a late lap chalked off for exceeding track limits, just holding onto the final place inside the automatic Q2 top twelve with his previous best effort.

Combined Direct Q2 Top Twelve

1: Danny Kent (McAMS Yamaha) 1m 14.907s (FP2)
2:  Storm Stacey (Bathams AJN Racing BMW) 1m15.163s (FP2)
3:  Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 1m 15.178s (FP2)
4:  Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha) 1m15.182s (FP2)
5:  Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) 1m 15.215s (FP2)
6:  Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) 1m 15.228s (FP2)
7:  Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) 1m 1m 15.347s (FP2)
8:  Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) 1m 15.396s (FP2)
9:  Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 1m 15.402s (FP2)
10:  Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 1m 15.416s (FP2)
11:  Scott Swann (Send My Bag Racing by IWR Honda)1m 25.792s (FP2)
12:  Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati) 1m 15.641s (FP2)

Leon Haslam was not as lucky, as the rider pushed out by Swann he finished 13th with a Q1 trip beckoning for the Moto Rapido Ducati rider.

Glenn Irwin was back on track for FP1 for the first time as a Nitrous Competitions OMG  rider, following the parting of ways with the PBM Team, after being given an initial fit to ride with a review after the session.

Getting used a Yamaha superbike for the first time, Irwin was 19th in FP1. Declared fit to ride for the second session, FP2 saw big improvements for the returning rider, finishing 14th and close to progressing in a close session, fast both behind Ryde and solo.

Andrew Irwin had a technical issue, stopping at Goodwood on track, which saw him drop back to 16th overall.

Official British Superbike Brands Hatch Records:

Lap record: Josh Brookes (Ducati, 2019) 1m 14.655s

Thruxton in 2024:

Round 7:

Qualifying: 1 Ryde (2 O’Halloran, 3 McConnell)

Race 1: 1 Ryde (2 Vickers, 3 O’Halloran)

Race 2: 1 Vickers (2 Cook, 3 Kent)

Race 3: 1 Vickers (2 Kent, 3 McConnell)

FP1

FP1 saw Kent leading the way with a 1m 15.700s lap, set early and still holding provisional first for the final half an hour of the session.

Ryde was second, with Billy McConnell in third at a track he favours (the Australian qualified third and went on to collect two fifth places and a podium finish) after a tyre change to the soft compound helped with the feeling of his Honda, though by the second session he had dropped to 17th overall.

Cook endured another technical issue, also coming to a halt at Goodwood with 20 minutes remaining - third at the time with just ten laps completed the Kawasaki rider only dropped one place to fourth.

Bridewell completed the early Friday top five. Haslam was the best of the Ducati Riders in the first stint on track, in ninth, with Stacey the top BMW in eleventh.