Round 6 of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton was a weekend dominated by blue, with the Yamaha R1 extending its victory streak around the Hampshire venue to 15 consecutive race wins.
It was Kyle Ryde and Nitrous Competitions Racing who clinched the first victory of the weekend on Saturday, with Danny Kent and McAMS Racing reaping the rewards of a sensational double victory on Sunday – joining Ray and Ryde in the top three of the standings.
For Yamaha’s R1 riders, Kent and Ryde, the weekend in Andover got off to a flying start, with the pair finishing first and fourth respectively come the end of Friday. Brad Ray and the Raceways Yamaha team endured a tricky start to the weekend, finishing eighth overall but securing a spot in Qualifying 2.
Saturday’s Qualifying session saw Ryde clinch pole position, with Ray pulling through to join him on the front row with a second place spot on the grid. It was a challenging Qualifying for Kent, who finished eighth, yet both he and the team remained confident in his pace over a long distance charge – crucial at the fastest circuit on the calendar renowned for being harsh on tyres.
With all eyes on the lights ahead of the opening race at Thruxton, Raceways Yamaha’s Ray made an exemplary holeshot into Turn 1.
From eighth on the grid, Kent stormed into podium contention within the first few corners, while pole-sitter Ryde slipped back to sixth.
The early laps of Race 1 were frantic, with the Club Chicane hosting much of the action. Ray dropped to seventh by Lap 3, while Kent held firm up front.
By Lap 5, Ryde had regrouped, slicing through the pack to rejoin the podium fight. Kent, showing strong pace all weekend, took the lead just before half distance, with Ryde chasing in second place.
The second half of the 20-lap charge saw Kent and Ryde locked in battle with Christian Iddon and Max Cook, trading moves at the final chicane. Ryde took the lead on Lap 16, while Kent pulled off a bold outside pass on Cook at the end of Lap 17.
On the following lap, Cook returned the favour, edging under the inside of Kent at the chicane to begin the penultimate lap of the race.
It was all to play for throughout the remaining two laps, with the leading three bunched together yet again.
Ryde, on a well-worn tyre, held firm at the front to take the win, extending Yamaha’s victory streak to an exceptional 13 consecutive race victories. Further back, Kent picked off Cook at Church on the final lap, edging the McAMS Racing R1 into P2, where he took the flag after 20 laps of battle.
Having struggled to find rhythm after a tough start, Ray ended the opening race of the weekend in eighth with Glenn Irwin, making his debut on the R1 with the Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha taking the flag in sixteenth.
Ahead of Sunday’s Sprint, a victory-hungry Kent would sit as the highest placed Yamaha rider on the Bennetts BSB grid, with Ryde joining him on the front row in third. Ray and Irwin sat further back in 12th and 16th respectively.
With less of a tyre-saving strategy limiting pace throughout the 12-lap charge, Sunday’s opening race was guaranteed to deliver fireworks.
From second on the grid, Kent made a rocketship start to sit at the front of the field by the end of the first lap, while Ray made an impressive start from the line, progressing six positions up the order. Ryde slipped back to fourth.
With Kent setting the pace for the first handful of laps, Ryde and Ray held their own further back, sat in third and fifth respectively before a red flag incident put a halt to action on Lap 5 at the Andover-based venue.
An 8-lap restart would later get underway, with riders starting from their previous race positions.
A sensational blast from the line for Ray, Ryde and Kent made for a Yamaha 1-2-3 on the opening lap of the restart, with the R1 trio showing serious pace at the front.
The three would scramble for positions for the remaining laps of the race, all putting in spectacular attempts to push to the front, with a podium hopeful Iddon also getting involved in the action.
On the penultimate lap after showing no mercy to his rivals, Kent entered the lead, holding his own ahead of a trying Ryde and Ray, fending off pressure to take his first win of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
The McAMS Racing rider’s win would extend the R1’s victory streak at Thruxton yet again, making it 14/14 race victories.
Ryde and Ray joined him on the podium in second and third respectively – making for an R1-dominated podium. Further downfield, Irwin finished 15th.
The final race of the weekend began with an R1 front row takeover, with Ray, Kent and Ryde sat first, second and third respectively.
As the lights dropped, Ray got the holeshot to lead into Turn 1, with Iddon making moves up the order to nestle in just behind the No. 28 R1. Ryde remained within the top three throughout the first lap, with Kent slipping back to second.
In a conservative first half of the race, the R1 trio up front maintained position in an attempt to preserve tyre life. It was Kent who made the first attempt of the race amongst the top four runners, overtaking Ryde to enter podium contention on Lap 9.
With Kent showing intent to push on, he set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 14, still sat in third and chasing leaders, Iddon and Ray. It was a tough second half of the race for Ryde, who found himself getting beaten up in an ultra-competitive leading group, falling to eighth on the same lap.
As the laps unfolded, the order remained the same up front, with the Nitrous Competitions rider making every effort to regain position, progressing up to fifth place by the penultimate lap.
With Ray holding firm at the front, Kent looked eager to progress, firstly picking off Iddon for second, before entering the lead at Club Chicane to begin the final lap.
Fending off pressure yet again, the former Moto3 World Champion took his second victory of the weekend, with Ray close behind in second. After his best efforts to resume podium contention, Ryde finished in fifth, with teammate, Irwin ending the final race in 17th.
As the championship heads to Cadwell Park in two weeks’ time, the McAMS Racing rider progresses two spots up the standings, entering third behind Ray and Ryde in first and second respectively.
In the Pirelli National Sportbike Championship, the R7’s efforts were led by RB-Racing Yamaha Rider, Rossi Banham, finishing within the top 10 of the second race of the weekend, having started from the front row of the grid.
Raceways Yamaha and Ash Barnes endured a challenging outing, facing technical issues and bringing home a finish of 13th in Sunday’s race – still setting the second fastest lap of the final 12-lap stint.
Heading to his local round of Cadwell, the Lincolnshire rider sits eighth in the championship standings.
“This weekend has been a dream come true for the team and I. Our success stems from a strong Friday, where we worked so hard on endurance and making the tyre last, which has paid off massively in the weekend’s races. What an amazing weekend it’s been for me and McAMS Racing, we’ve moved up to third in the championship standings which is a great result for myself, the team and for Yamaha. We’ll keep working and come back strong next time out.“
— Danny Kent – McAMS Racing
“This weekend, we started better and got worse. It’s been a good weekend, securing a race win and a podium finish, I’m just slightly frustrated by the final race. I know we had the pace to be competitive; I just found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time and found myself slipping down the order and battling with people that I didn’t want to be battling with. The speed was there; we were just a bit unlucky. Overall, I’m happy with our results this weekend and with how I rode.”
— Kyle Ryde – Nitrous Competitions Racing
“I’m super happy with how Sunday went here at Thruxton. On Friday and Saturday, we were scratching our heads a lot and struggling to understand why we weren’t as competitive as we anticipated. We made a radical change for warm up and went in the right direction. I felt better immediately, and achieving two podiums today is the icing on the cake for the work the team have done. To end the weekend in a strong way means a lot, I’m looking forward to getting back to Cadwell Park. One week off and we go again!”
— Bradley Ray – Raceways Yamaha
