2026 British Superbikes: Assen - Practice Results

After a return to Superpole at the last round in Cadwell Park, British Superbikes were back to the more usual PQ format, with Scott Redding taking advantage as the other riders in the title battle fell to top Pre-Qualifying and lead the way to Q2 at TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands.

The Hager PBM Ducati rider got his best time in before the spilt in the session for a red flag, and although the time - a 1’ 35.619s best - was not the quickest of the day, that was Bradley Ray in FP2, it was the best lap at the right time, backed up by a return to track and consistent lapping at a circuit where the former WSBK rider has valuable experience.

Jason O’Halloran had gone second early in PQ and his best effort, just 0.185s slower remained just behind Redding for Honda Racing UK.

Ilya Mikhalchik was only a thousandth slower than the Australian at a familiar track for third, the top rookie on the only remaining BMW for ROKiT BMW Motorrad.

Ryan Vickers was running with an intermittent transponder after an earlier crash, moving into fourth before it failed completely on the second Honda Racing UK bike.

Max Cook was the best of the bimota riders in fifth, ahead of Danny Kent, the top Yamaha for Cheshire Mouldings in sixth.

The red flag was for championship leader and reigning champion Kyle Ryde. An out of character and fairly minor error - the Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions rider caught his right foot on the brake - saw enough gravel spill on track for a clean-up and pause in the action with 11 minutes of the session remaining.

Moto Rapido Ducati rider Leon Haslam was down in eighth after having his best lap cancelled, one of many riders to struggle with the track limits at Assen.

Glenn Irwin was a more positive ninth on the second Nitrous entry, with rookie Joe Talbot completing the top ten on the second bimota.

After dominating in the lead-up to PQ Bradley Ray was off of his McAMS Yamaha right at the start if the session, going from being the man to beat to just holding on to a automatic Q2 placement in 11th.

The final place in Q2 went to Storm Stacey for Bathams AJN Ducati.

Rory Skinner just missed out in 13th for Cheshire Moildings, so will head to Q1 to try and claim a top three spot for Q2 entry, along with Christian Iddon, who was 14th after making changes to the Sencat Yamaha and Lee Jackson in 15th for DAO Racing.

Andrew Irwin was 19th on his return for MET fonaCAB Racing after his long injury absence from the track.

There were also falls for Josh Brookes and Eugene McManus.

There are some personnel changes in the BSB paddock for the first showdown round, with no Brayden Elliott or NP Racing Honda bike. The departure of Charlie Nesbitt at TAG Honda sees Scott Swann make a return to the class. The Carrickfergus rider is currently third in National Superstock in 2026, with two wins and finished day one at Assen in 18th.

Full results from Thruxton BSB PQ:

Official British Superbike Thruxton Records:

BSB lap record: Bradley Ray 1’ 35.579s (Yamaha, 2025)
Pole record: Bradley Ray 1’ 35.579s (Yamaha, 2025)
Race lap record : Scott Redding 1’ 36.032s (Ducati, 2025)

2025:

Qualifying: 1 Bradley Ray (2 Scott Redding, 3 Charlie Nesbitt)
Race 1: 1 Scott Redding (2 Leon Haslam, 3 Danny Kent)
Race 2 (sprint): 1 Christian Iddon (2 Rory Skinner, 3 Bradley Ray)
Race 3: 1 Scott Redding  (2 Leon Haslam, 3 Kyle Ryde)

FP2

The second session, like the first, went to Bradley Ray, with Redding again his closest rival.

Haslam was third quickest, ahead of Ryde, with Talbot the top rookie in the session in fifth.

Skinner was out of his seat on the last lap at the hairpin for ninth, having already crashed earlier in the session at turn five.

Vickers fell around the same time, with Fraser Rogers and Richard Kerr investigated for their incident on track, involving a yellow flag infringement.

Swann finished the second session 12th, indicating he could get in the mix for progression from Q1 in the right conditions.

FP2 Results:

FP1

The first session on track began with caution, with a wet track for the classes out before, but drying quickly as the BSB bikes headed out.

Improved conditions saw the best times come at the end of the fifty minutes, with Ray lowering his own best to lead, ahead of Redding, who was then over half a second away from the Yamaha rider, with Ryde, Kent and his team-mate Skinner completing the top five.

Cook was the best bimota in seventh ahead of top rookie Mikhalchik, with only a thousandth separating himself and Talbot.

There were no falls in FP1, but Ryan Vickers parked in the gravel with a technical issue with 25 minutes remaining, which saw the Honda rider drop to 19th.

FP1 Results: