BSB battle royale as Redding and Ryde share wins in dramatic Showdown opener.
Scott Redding and Kyle Ryde shared the victories in a dramatic opening round of the 2026 British Superbike Championship Showdown at the TT Circuit Assen, with the final race of the day delivering a hallmark finish at The Cathedral of Speed as Ryde, Redding and Bradley Ray went head-to-head in an intense three-way battle.
The opening race of the day began in dramatic style when Rory Skinner had an oil cooler pipe failure on the Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha during the warm up lap, which sent him crashing out delaying the race start for a clean-up operation.
When the race got underway, Redding instantly hit the front of the pack ahead of Ryan Vickers, Ray and Ryde, but the defending champion was instantly fighting and he made a move on both his rivals on the opening lap.
Redding was again holding off his closest championship rivals, but on lap seven, Ryde was cautious of a change of conditions and Ray seized the advantage to take second. Light rain then began and the race was subsequently red flagged, with Redding, Ray and Ryde claiming the podium positions.
Vickers had another strong race in fourth place for Honda Racing UK with Max Cook completing the top five on the AJN Steelstock bimota.
The stage was set for a race three thriller and the TT Circuit Assen delivered as Ryde retaliated with a sensational victory, beating Ray and Redding to the chequered flag after a thrilling final-lap battle that went down to the wire at the iconic final chicane.
At the start of the race, Vickers had grabbed the lead, but Ryde was determined to return to winning ways and he instantly made a pass to hit the front of the field. The Honda Racing UK rider was then under pressure from Ray and Redding, with the McAMS Yamaha contender moving second on lap fourth.
By lap six, Ryde and Ray were duelling for the advantage, trading places throughout the laps, whilst Redding had his sights on joining the battle after he made a move into third on Vickers on the tenth lap.
Ryde and Ray continued to switch the lead and with five laps to go, the pair were trading blows in the battle for victory, but they then had to contend with Redding. Ray and Ryde had both taken the lead on the penultimate lap and it was going down to the wire in a traditional battle at the TT Circuit Assen.
Ryde started the final lap in the lead with Redding then making his move on Ray to claim second position and then with his sights set on making it a treble. The Hager PBM Racing Team rider made a move down the inside into the Chicane and was able to stay just ahead of Ryde, but on the exit, the rear tyre stepped out and Redding had to save it and lost drive.
Ryde was able to reclaim the lead to take the chequered flag first to return to the top step for the first time since race one at Thruxton, whilst Ray seized the advantage on the drag to the line to take second from Redding.
Vickers had another strong points scoring weekend in fourth place with Max Cook completing the top five for AJN Steelstock bimota, after his teammate Joe Talbot retired from the final race of the weekend.
Leon Haslam delivered another gritty performance to finish sixth after starting 22nd on the grid on the Moto Rapido Racing Ducati after he was forced out of race two on the warm up lap.
Skinner also battling through after his dramatic warm up lap crash in race two to take seventh as the BSB Showdown now heads to Donington Park for the penultimate round of the season.
British Superbike Championship, TT Circuit Assen, Race 2 result:
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Racing Team)
- Bradley Ray (McAMS Yamaha) +0.918s
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing) +1.106s
- Ryan Vickers (Honda Racing UK) +2.464s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock bimota) +3.643s
- Ilya Mikhalchik (ROKiT BMW Motorrad British Superbike Race team) +4.365s
- Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing UK) +5.444s
- Glenn Irwin (Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing) +12.009s
- Lee Jackson (DAO Racing Honda) +12.768s
- Andrew Irwin (MET fonaCAB Racing) +13.196s
British Superbike Championship, TT Circuit Assen, Race 3 result:
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing)
- Bradley Ray (McAMS Yamaha) +0.160s
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Racing Team) +0.214s
- Ryan Vickers (Honda Racing UK) +3.231s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock bimota) +10.691s
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Racing) +14.911s
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha) +26.147s
- Danny Kent (Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha) +26.358s
- Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing UK) +26.570s
- Glenn Irwin (Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing) +26.887s
British Superbike Championship standings:
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing) 459
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Racing Team) 391
- Bradley Ray (McAMS Yamaha) 349
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Racing) 294
- Ryan Vickers (Honda Racing UK) 289
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock bimota) 240
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha) 217
- Danny Kent (Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha) 139
- Lee Jackson (DAO Racing Honda) 139
- Glenn Irwin (Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing) 134
For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Kyle Ryde – Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions Racing Ducati:
“I think it was my best start of the weekend in race three! I settled in behind Ryan, well I say settled in, I passed him first lap into the last corner and I got my head down! I tried to not win the race in those first laps, but make it easier for us three to get to the end.
“I did a few fast laps and it was a very fun race to be a part of. I just didn’t want to sit behind for any sort of half a lap because it was obvious Brad was going to be faster than me in some parts and I didn’t want to play cat and mouse.
“As in he would pull two tenths and then catch it back and the Scott catches me, so whenever he passed me I just went back, which made the lap time a lot slower. I just tried to keep fighting to get myself to the front.
“I wasn’t looking at the pit board and before you know it there was three laps to go and I went so defensive everywhere. As Scott said, the physical side was probably not there because the lap time wasn’t there, but it was a great race to be a part of. To beat Scott in one of the races after the weekend he’s had was a good feeling.”
Scott Redding – Hager PBM Racing Team:
“Race two was good, I didn’t feel that good with grip, but it was hard because of the track conditions. I didn’t really want to lead the race when it was changing, but I am just happy to have taken that win. It was a good call on the red flag and then I felt ready to go again in race three.
“Race three physically that was the easiest race for me, mentally one of the hardest trying to overtake! It took me forever to get past Ryan and I kept saying to myself “just be patient, just be patient”.
“I was getting a bit impatient! I just had to try to make unconventional moves and try and do stuff that I wouldn’t really expect myself to do. Everyone was riding so good that it was so hard, and then when Brad and Kyle started battling, I thought “I need to look at this as a three way battle and not a two way battle”.
“I don’t know what happened but I ended up second at the last chicane and I thought “right I’ve got to go”, but Kyle’s bike’s just really good at getting off the corners. On the last lap, I just thought “the championship is on the line, I have to win”.
“At that point I thought the only place I could do it is into the last chicane, but I had a bit of a big slide out of right coming back towards the stadium section and a gap was there. I thought “man, what you gonna do now”. I just went very late on the brakes and just fully committed to it and Kyle was protecting and going wider and wider!
“I said “when he brakes, I just have to brake after” so that is what I did! I went sideways going in and I lost the front. I was so eager to get on the gas, I had a bit of a slide then a wheelie, just thinking “get to the finish line” and then I saw Brad fully lent over!
“To be fair you lose a race like that battling for a championship, I still go home happy, I thought “you know what, we put on a spectacular show and that is what people want.”
race2
race 3
