2025 British Superbikes: Donington Park - Practice Results

The different format for British Superbikes to allow for the extra race over round eight saw a range of strategies in play, with Scott Redding putting in a consistent performance to finish Friday on top of the timesheets ahead of qualifying for all tomorrow at Donington Park.

The returning rider spent the first session doing a long sequence of lap to re-acquaint himself with the track, with the joint most laps under his belt by the end of FP2, as well as the top time on the Hager PBM Ducati, with the 1m 27.454s lap one of many around the same benchmark for the former champion.

Holding around half a second advantage for much of the second session, it was Danny Kent who came closest to matching the time, just 0.102s slower on his McAMS Yamaha.

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Kyle Ryde left it late to pop up into third for a strong finish to the day at his home track, after topping the first session for Nitrous Competitions Yamaha.

Andrew Irwin was the top Honda as built on the momentum he has had over the last few rounds for Honda Racing UK, with Christian Iddon preferring the change in format - the best of the Kawasaki riders in fifth for AJN Steelstock.

Leon Haslam was within half a second of the top time in seventh for Moto Rapido Ducati, ahead of Max Cook in eighth, who had a lonely time solo on track on the second AJN Steelstock bike.

Tommy Bridewell was disappointed to only be ninth quickest after having made what felt like steps forward at Cadwell Park last time out.

Josh Brookes had been second in the morning but did not improve as drastically as his rivals, completing the top ten for DAO Racing.

Rory Skinner was an early session leader on his way to eleventh for Cheshire Mouldings Ducati.

It was another tough session for Bradley Ray, having missed all of the first session the Raceways team were on the back foot, still working hard at set up for the #28, which left him twelfth.

Scott Swann was the top rookie in 13th, ahead of John McPhee in 18th.

Fraser Rogers was 14th quickest ahead of Storm Stacey - back on track after he too missed much of FP1 in 15th.  Davey Todd was a much improved 16th, while Glenn Irwin equalled the most laps as he got to grips with a Yamaha at Donington, staying on the same set of tyres over both sessions to give the maximum choice for qualifying on Saturday.

The session saw a brief red flag to clear debris from turn ten after a bike left gravel on track at the Foggy Esses.

There were no falls, but Luke Hedger did stop on track by the exit to pit lane with a technical issue, he was quickly wheeled back to the pits.

Official British Superbike Donington Park Records:

Lap record: Glenn Irwin (Ducati, 2024) 1m 27.345s

Donington Park in 2025:

Round 2:

Qualifying: 1 Ray (2 Ryde, 3 Glenn Irwin)

Race 1: 1 Ray (2 Ryde, 3 Brookes)
Race 2(Sprint): 1 Ray (2 Ryde, 3 Glenn Irwin)
Race 3: 1 Ray (2 Glenn Irwin, 3 Skinner)

Donington Park in 2024:

Round 3:

Qualifying: 1 Rogers (2 Bridewell, 3 McConnell)

Race 1: 1 Ryde (2 Bridewell, 3 Haslam)
Race 2(Sprint): 1 G Irwin (2 Haslam, 3 Bridewell)
Race 3: 1 O’Halloran (2 Bridewell, 3 Kent)

Round 10 (Showdown):

Qualifying: 1 Ryde (2 Kent, 3 Brookes)
Race 1: 1 Ryde (2 Bridewell, 3 G Irwin)
Race 2 (Sprint): 1 G Irwin (2 Bridewell, 3 Ryde)
Race 3: 1 Ryde (2 Kent, 3 Vickers)

The different layout of the race weekend saw riders ready to do race runs and work on pace in FP1, with Ryde ahead after shadowing Brookes to perfect his lap, with the Australian second and long term leader Redding third.

There was less joy for both  Stacey and Ray. The Bathams team suspected a gearbox issue had limited them to two out laps, while Raceways completed an engine change after Ray went out and came straight back in, with no time set.

Joe Talbot (21st) got to make his British Superbikes debut at Donington, sitting in for Lee Jackson at DAO Racing. The current British Supersport rider will also be continuing in that championship at the round, looking to build on the win he picked up at Cadwell Park.

There is also a return for Peter Hickman, now recovered enough form his TT injuries to be back on track for LEW 8TEN Racing, in 25th after a few bike issues in the second session.