2026 British Superbikes: Knockhill - Qualifying Results

Qualifying for the first BSB race at Knockhill of the weekend saw Kyle Ryde take his third consecutive pole position, with a late lap needed from the Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions rider.

After sitting out much of the wet Friday, Ryde had topped PQ in the morning to head straight to Q2.

The early banker from the reigning champion had slid to seventh, with his first fast lap out of the pits taking him just one place higher to sixth.

Riding with an illness in Scotland, the number 1 bike gave one final push for a best lap of the weekend of 47.260s, just a little short of the lap record.

That run dethroned Storm Stacey, who had secured provisional pole while Ryde was still in the pits, leaving the Bathams AJN Racing rider second, just 0.139s slower than Rude, but with every thousandth counting with the short Knockhill lap.

Scott Redding also saw late improvements, despite also feeling under the weather, to complete an all Ducati front row for race one with Hager PBM Ducati, at the track where Redding made his BSB return last season.

Bradley Ray was the top Yamaha for McAMS in a strong, competitive fourth.

Rory Skinner gave everything in front of his home crowd, pushing hard he found the limit, a late faller from his Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha on his way to fifth.

Sixth went to Max Cook, who crashed while holding provisional pole with ten minutes remaining, not able to get back on track the AJN Steelstock bimota rider could only watch as his time dropped, but was still in good spirits as sixth remained his best qualifying at Knockhill, and coming through Q1 had made significant improvements to the bike to be competitive in the race later on Saturday.

Ryan Vickers flirted with the front row places, before struggling to control his bucking Honda through the chicane, finishing Q2 in seventh.

Glenn Irwin was eighth on the second Nitrous Competitions bike, ahead of DAO Racing’s Lee Jackson and Sencat Racing rider Christian Iddon, who completed the top 10 on the grid.

Both Cheshire Mouldings bikes ended up in the gravel with Danny Kent falling at the same spot as Skinner in the hairpin, having done enough to hold onto 11th.

Leon Haslam was faster after pushing into Q2, but was still unhappy with his Moto Rapido Ducati set up in 12th.

Joe Talbot was the best of the rookies, benefitting from the bimota improvements overnight to also come through Q1 for 14th.

Official British Superbike Knockhill Records:

Lap record : Rory Skinner 47.126s (Kawasaki, 2022)

2025

Round 4

Qualifying: 1. Bradley Ray  (2. Kyle Ryde, 3 Rory Skinner)
Race 1: 1. Bradley Ray (2. Kyle Ryde, 3. Rory Skinner)
Race 2 (sprint) 1. Bradley Ray (2. Rory Skinner 3. Tommy Bridewell)
Race 3: 1. Rory Skinner (2.Bradley Ray, 3. Fraser Rogers)

Q1 - Cook leads the bimota charge to Q2, Haslam progresses.

The first qualifying session saw Cook quickly rise to the top of the standings to move confidently into Q2, joined by Haslam and Team-mate Talbot.

There was pressure from Ilya Mikhalchik, who was improving all the while, but fell just short, for fourth in the session, which equals 16th on the grid for ROKiT BMW Motorrad, the only BMW on the grid after the exit from the BSB championship of the LEW 8TEN Racing Team.

There was also no way out for Jason O’Halloran, still adjusting to his BSB return with Honda Racing UK, who will line up one place further back in 17th.

Fraser Rogers (19th) needed an early trip back to the pits as his transponder was not working on the TAG Honda, a podium finisher last season, Rogers lost valuable track time in the short session.

Graeme Irwin (23rd) is replacing his brother Andrew at MET fonaCAB Racing, while a change of personnel at NP Racing sees Brayden Elliott (24th)  make a return to the class.

Full results for Knockhill BSB Qualifying session:

PQ-  Ryde leads delayed session, Q1 for Haslam and bimota duo

Ryde eased out to the best lap of the weekend so far in the Pre-Qualifying session, delayed from Friday after a wet arrival at Knockhill.

The Nitrous Competitions rider bettered his own time just before the chequered flag to finish the session 0.152s ahead of his nearest rival.

That was Ray, who had topped the first BSB session of the day, the moved FP3 session, which was earlier to accommodate PQ, after it was bumped to Saturday’s schedule.

Stacey was third quickest after his technical issue in FP3, ahead of Redding and Kent, whose late push ensured a top five finish in the session.

Josh Brookes was seeing gains from his Isle of Man TT track time in the dry as well as the wet in sixth, ahead of Iddon in seventh.

Scottish rider Skinner secured his Q2 place in eighth, joined in automatic progression by Glenn Irwin, Vickers, Charlie Nesbitt and Jackson, who had dropped to 13th before responding and swapping places with Haslam.

Haslam had immediately pulled back into the pits at he start of the session, and just missed out in the close session, just over half a second off the lead pace.

Both bimota riders also needed a Q1 trip, after two strong rounds for the manufacturer on joining the BSB championship. Cook was also frustrated with Jackson, as on his best effort he had come across e number 14 bike riding slowly in Clarks at the apex.

Full results for the 2026 Knockhill BSB PQ: