A Whole Different World: Honda Thrashes Ducati in the British Superbike Championship

Take a close look at the photo above: it’s not the first corner, but the final snapshot of the two fantastic showdowns that the British Superbike staged on the flat and ultra-fast Thruxton circuit. It’s truly another world here: the Honda CBR-RR with Ryan Vickers pulled off a sweeping double, roughing up the same Ducati Panigale V4 that in World Superbike is an untouchable spaceship.

In Saturday’s appetizer, the terrible crash of Max Cook, who ended up in the barriers on the long, curving finish straight, cut short the end of a race that, with three laps to go, was still wide open. The red flag froze everything, handing the 13th win of the season in 19 races to the dominator Kyle Ryde, the Ducati ace who has already won the BSB in 2024-25. Behind him, Rory Skinner on the Honda and Ryan Vickers himself didn’t get the chance to play their cards. By the way: Max Cook is fine: in the smash he briefly lost consciousness, so as per regulations he was declared unfit for Sunday’s races. But in two weeks at Cadwell Park, Bimota will have its little champion back.

Both the sprint (12 laps) and the late-afternoon decider were brawls worthy of the glory days of the World Championship. In the sprint Kyle Ryde finished fourth, losing (a little) ground in the standings to his most dangerous rival, Scott Redding, and also to the unleashed Yamaha protégé Bradley Ray. The first Honda win for the former Motocorsa WorldSBK rider was no flash in the pan. Even over 20 laps in the grand finale, Ryan Vickers was perfect: he attacked at the right moment, three laps from the end, and it seemed done. But on the last lap Bradley Ray nosed ahead, and the chaser had to pull a lethal braking move out of the hat at Club, the last and decisive corner, to settle the matter and gift Honda Britain, an HRC offshoot, a double triumph. Ryde can’t really complain: Scott Redding crashed on lap one after touching with the blameless Vickers, leaving precious points on the asphalt.

In Great Britain they follow with wry smiles the disputes and debates that have dominated the World Championship for years. While we fuss over flow meters, rev limiters, ballast for riders who win too much, and other such trifles, the BSB has created a simple technical rulebook that respects the Superbike identity: a single ECU and a straightforward, effective balancing system. Here it feels like time has stood still; the show is top-tier. Ducati wins very often, boasting the potentially best bike and rider. But in the meantime Yamaha and Honda have also already stamped their cards. The public approves: at Brands Hatch last month there were 75,000, compared to just over 100,000 recorded by MotoGP at Silverstone. Thruxton was packed as well.

Supersport race 2 also put on a show, with a pack of about ten riders staying bunched up to the end. This time, however, Can Oncu didn’t get tangled in the last-corner melee; he caught them slightly off guard and sparked celebrations in the Yamaha McAMS team, who enjoyed the luxury stand-in for the absent Ben Curry. The other World Championship rider, Oli Bayliss, had to settle for second after the skirmish in race 1 with Oncu himself that had thrown the door wide open for Luke Stapleford on the Honda.

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