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Kyle Ryde tightened his grip on the British Superbike weekend at Donington Park by taking pole in qualifying, leaving the field more than half a second adrift. His performance sets the tone for the opening race, which is scheduled for 16:15 this afternoon.
Ryde sets the benchmark
Ryde delivered a best lap of 1:26.249, securing his sixth pole of the 2026 season and putting a clear 0.534 seconds between himself and his nearest rival. The result underlines his strength at Donington: he has won 12 Superbike races at the circuit in his career.
Earlier this year Ryde recorded two wins at Donington, and last September he took victory in three of the four Sprint-length events held there. He races for the Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions team and arrives at Race One as the rider to beat.
Challengers on the front rows
Ryan Vickers continued his strong form to claim second on the grid, while Bradley Ray delivered a front-row lap for McAMS Yamaha in third. Vickers did suffer a minor incident during his run but still posted a competitive time.
Scott Redding qualified fourth on the Hager PBM Ducati. The 2019 champion will need to make up ground if he is to challenge Ryde for points this weekend. He will start the race alongside Max Cook and Rory Skinner on the second row.
Big names, mixed fortunes
Glenn Irwin will lead the third row on the second Nitrous Competitions machine. He was followed by Ilya Mikhalchik, Danny Kent and Christian Iddon, who complete row three.
Joe Talbot advanced from Q1 and lines up 11th on the AJN Steelstock Bimota. Storm Stacey and Lee Jackson qualified 12th and 13th respectively, while Jason O’Halloran — who topped Q1 — starts 14th.
Late-session issues and the lower half of the grid
Leon Haslam failed to set a competitive time in Q2 and was seen riding slowly across the grass in the closing seconds. The 2017 champion will begin Race One from 15th on the grid.
Eugene McManus was the fastest rider remaining from Q1 on the MasterMac Honda and will start 16th. He shares the sixth row with Josh Brookes and Brookes’ teammate Rhys Irwin.
TAG Honda’s Fraser Rogers and Scott Swann will line up 19th and 20th. They will be followed by Richard Kerr, Luke Hedger and Brayden Elliot further down the order.
Andrew Irwin crashed out of Q1 at the Old Hairpin and will be forced to start from the back of the grid in 24th.
