2026 British Superbikes: Donington Park – Qualifying Results

Qualifying for the first BSB race at Donington Park saw Kyle Ryde  claim back to back pole positions, setting a huge new lap record.

Fastest on Friday with the lap record already lowered by the local rider in pre-qualifying, Ryde, who also took pole at the first round at Oulton Park got his day off to a confident start by topping morning warm-up.

The Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions rider was immediate fast in Q2, dropping a new record on his first flying lap.

Max Cook then lowered the benchmark further- but the number one bike responded with Ryde faster again, but running wide in the Melbourne Hairpin meant there was more to come.

A final run behind Bradley Ray saw Ryde hone his lap further and cross the line with a huge new record time of 1m 26.123s, trying to keep pace saw the top eight all under the old lap record for the track.

Cook was only 0.148s slower for AJN Steelstock bimota, a personal best bringing a first front row start.

As Ryde improved so did Redding, the PBM rider was on pole for the Showdown visit to Donington. This time Redding was second for a spell on his way to the final front row slot for Hager Ducati.

There were morning gremlins for Leon Haslam who left FP3 with no time set, but the Moto Rapido Ducati rider was back up to speed for qualifying, fourth fastest in the session after his solo run.

Danny Kent was the best of the Q1 graduates, but finished the session in the pits in fifth for Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha, the highest placed qualifier for the manufacturer.

Storm Stacey had a strong start on Friday, but only just held onto his Q2 slot. The morning was no kinder as there were further issues with the Bathams AJN Steelstock Ducati, which saw a bracket snap and Stacey completing the brief session with no mudguard attached. Stacey recovred to sixth on Q2.

Ray, who took pole at the round last season on his way to a triple, was in recovery mode after a Friday fall, with small progress late on taking the McAMS Yamaha rider to seventh.

Glenn Irwin ran wide over the grass and gravel, looking down at his Nitrous bike on his way to eighth.

Rory Skinner moved the second Cheshire Mouldings bike through Q1 to ninth, with Andrew Irwin completing the top ten for MET fonaCAB Racing.

Joe Talbot was last Q2. The second bimota experienced a highside through Goddards, flicking the rookie onto the grass, with a trip to the medical centre for checks as the session progressed.

Official British Superbike Donington Park Records:

Lap record : Glenn Irwin 1m 26.832s (Ducati, 2025)
New lap record: Kyle Ryde 1m 26.123s (Ducati, 2026, Q2)
Pole lap record : Scott Redding 1m 26.781s (Q2, Ducati, 2025)

2025

Round 2

Qualifying: 1. Bradley Ray (2. Kyle Ryde, 3 Glenn Irwin)
Race 1: 1. Bradley Ray (2. Kyle Ryde, 3. Josh Brookes)
Race 2 (sprint) 1. Bradley Ray (2. Kyle Ryde 3. Glenn Irwin)
Race 3: 1. Bradely Ray (2.Glenn Irwin, 3. Rory Skinner)

Round 8 (Showdown)

Qualifying: 1 Scott Redding (2. Kyle Ryde, 3 Rory Skinner)
Race1: 1 Scott Redding (2. Kyle Ryde, 3 Rory Skinner)
Race 2: 1 Kyle Ryde (2. Scott Redding, 3 Rory Skinner)
Race 3: 1 Kyle Ryde (2. Bradley Ray, 3. Scott Redding)
Race 4: 1. Kyle Ryde (2. Rory Skinner, 3. Scott Redding)

Q1

Bike issues on Friday left Skinner in Q1, an early confident lap saw him back in business and leading the way to Q2, sat in the pits as the chequered flag waved.

Lee Jackson (14th) moved up to second with three laps remaining, pushing Danny Kent out of the progression slots.

The Yamaha rider responded to join team-mate Skinner in Q2 in third, with his time in turn pushing out Jackson’s DAO racing team-mate Josh Brookes, who was also sat in the the pits, confident of having done enough to move on, so unable to respond.

That left the Australian just missing out, ahead of rookie Ilya Mikhalchick, the rookie putting in a late personal best but staying fifth in the session for BMW ROKiT Motorrad, for 17th on the grid.

The session was over before it had begun for Jason O’Halloran, who was straight off at Goddards. The Australian was throwing hands in desperation, trying to get his bike returned. Allowed back to the pits after his slow tip off, the Australian had eight minutes left on the clock.

O’Halloran made it back on track, his late laps moving him up to eighth in the session.

Connor Thomson was not able to take part at the Donington round, following his falls at Oulton Park, joining Davey Todd on the sidelines.

Full results for the 2026 Oulton Park BSB Qualifying session: