British Superbikes takes its annual step onto the world stage this weekend, as the series hops over the North Sea to the MotoGP and WorldSBK circuit of Assen in the north of the Netherlands.
This iconic ‘Cathedral of Speed’ has hosted Grand Prix racing since the championship’s inception in 1949 and, with the exception of the Covid-cancelled 2020 race, is the only circuit to have held a race in every single world championship season.
This weekend is BSB’s opportunity to showcase its own world class talent to a wider audience. Heading into race one, seven riders have a mathematical chance of becoming the 31st British superbike champion. Each one with comes with world championship credentials and most spent their formative years racing alongside some of today’s biggest names in the sport.
BSB’s top riders grew up with, raced against and often beat some of these superstars in the youth ranks. Here’s a fun fact, every single permanent rider on the 2026 MotoGP grid has raced against at least one current BSB rider at some stage in their career, and they’ve all finished behind one of our home heroes on at least one occasion too.
MotoGP’s current top eight: Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Giannantonio, Ai Ogura, Pedro Acosta, Raul Fernandez and Francesco Bagnaia, not to mention WorldSBK legends Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega, have been beaten fair and square by at least one current BSB rider as youth racers and that tells you all you need to know about the level of our championship, the most competitive domestic superbike series in the world.
Indeed Danny Kent, the 2015 Moto3 world champion, has beaten most of the current top MotoGP and WorldSBK riders yet doesn’t even feature in the top 10 of this year’s BSB standings.
So, ahead of this weekend’s races, we’ve taken a bit of a different angle to look at the title contenders and the world class credentials they bring to the series. Here’s a bit of gen on this year’s magnificent seven…
Rory Skinner – Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha – seventh – 191 points
With 255 points on offer if a rider wins all nine of the remaining races, Scottish rider Skinner is a real outsider for the title. He’s 201 points adrift of series leader Kyle Ryde, but found some real speed last time out at Cadwell Park – winning his first race of the season on Sunday before crashing out of podium places in the two Bank Holiday Monday races.
He’s got a good record at Assen and plenty of experience there from his youth career. He’s been on the podium at Assen in the Moriwaki Junior Cup and Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, and also won there on his way to the 2018 British Talent Cup.
He scored an impressive pair of fourths on a private Kawasaki supersport bike in 2019, and came from 18th on the grid to finish second during last year’s wet BSB weekend, so expect him to show well again this time around.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who followed the now 24-year-old from a young age. In addition to being the youngest British supersport champion, aged 19 when he won in 2020, he’s won multiple Mini Moto titles and the Aprilia Superteen Challenge. He’s also won in the highly prestigious Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he raced against and regularly beat current MotoGP riders Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez, among others.
Highlighting the challenges facing British riders in getting on the world stage, he has spent most of his senior career in the British championships – although he did get a season in the Moto2 world championship in 2023, when he scored a best finish of 12th place at the Australian Grand Prix.
Max Cook – AJN Steelstock bimota – sixth – 198 points
-chases-pedro-acosta-at-sachsenring-2019.jpg?sfvrsn=5a8bd116_1 "Max Cook (30) chases Pedro Acosta at Sachsenring 2019")
In many ways, Max Cook’s career has followed a similar path to that of Rory Skinner’s.
A year younger, at 23, he succeeded the Scot as Aprilia Superteen champion in 2015 and went on to be picked up for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he raced against wunderkind Pedro Acosta and many of the current Moto2 contenders – scoring a podium in Germany. He battled Skinner and Thomas Strudwick for the first British Talent Cup, Skinner winning the title but third placed Cook winning the prize of a supported ride in the 2019 FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship – the series that breeds new talent for the MotoGP classes.
After two years in the Junior World Championships, Cook, like Skinner, had to come back to the UK and start afresh with a home run effort. A tough 2021 National Junior Superstock campaign was followed by a dominant title win the following year. From there he was fast tracked to BSB by his long-term backers FS3 Racing, where he has been ever since.
With three years premier class experience behind him, and the potent new FS3-run bimota at his disposal, Max has really stepped things up this year. He’s been in contention for podiums everywhere and goes to Assen with two seconds and five third place finishes to his name, although a big crash at Thruxton has affected his mid-season.
That first win remains elusive, but the fast and flowing Assen layout should suit both the bimota and Cook’s strengths – so don’t bet against him finally standing on the top step.
Ryan Vickers – Honda Racing – fifth – 235 points
Ryan Vickers is the man in form heading into the Showdown, and although he’s unlikely to claw back the 157-point deficit to series leader Kyle Ryde, he’s almost certain to feature strongly in the final three race weekends.
Unlike the other six riders in title contention, Vickers learned his craft in the UK before trying his luck on the international scene. Starting out in youth motocross, he was a relative latecomer to circuit racing. After a short spell on CB500s in club racing, he moved up to the National Superstock 600 series and was an immediate success. His 2018 title win was utterly dominant, winning every race he finished and leading to a direct promotion to the BSB class.
It was a tough inauguration, often hampered by less than competitive machinery, but Vickers did enough to secure a top ride on an OMG Racing run Yamaha R1. He finally graduated from the school of hard knocks and proved himself a regular race winner on the R1 in 2023.
Fifth overall in the 2024 standings led to an opportunity to move to the Superbike World Championship last season. The year had some highlights, but he couldn’t retain his ride for sponsorship reasons. WorldSBK’s loss is BSB’s gain, and after a tough start to the year, Vickers and his Honda Racing squad have been able to find a setting to make the Fireblade super competitive. He won twice at both Thruxton and Cadwell Park, two very different circuits in terms of layout and set-up, and top three in the overall championship is very much within his grasp.
As Honda’s lead rider in the UK, Ryan’s also been called up as a replacement rider in the works WorldSBK squad where he has acquitted himself well. He’ll be hoping that can lead to more opportunities on the world stage in the future.
Leon Haslam – Moto Rapido Racing Ducati – fourth – 260 points
The word veteran is often overused, but no-one can deny 43-year-old Leon Haslam is a real stalwart of the sport.
Son of legendary ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s Grand Prix racer Ron Haslam, Leon started riding bikes at a young age and made his first British championship appearances in the late 1990s, in the 125cc class.
He made his Grand Prix debut as a 14-year-old wildcard in the 1998 British 125cc Grand Prix, and the teenage Haslam went on to compete full-time in the 125, 250 and 500cc classes, before switching to four-strokes.
He’s raced against all the greats of the era and has spent the past two decades switching between the British and world superbike championships.
His finest season arguably came in 2010, when he finished second to Max Biaggi in the Superbike World Championship. In a super competitive year which saw Haslam, Biaggi, Carlos Checa, Jonathan Rea, Cal Crutchlow and Noriyuki Haga all win races, Leon led the early part of the season on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 and won three races in total.
After finishing runner up three times, he finally won the BSB title in 2018 – a success which earned him a return to WorldSBK with a factory Kawasaki ride the following year.
After a further two years as a factory Honda rider in the world series, Leon returned to the UK in 2022. A few seasons running his own team on BMWs yielded some podiums, but a switch to the Moto Rapido Ducati squad last year saw him win again as he finished third in the championship.
The wily veteran has remained super consistent in 2026, using all his experience to develop the latest Ducati and demonstrating his famed grit to deliver good results in tough conditions. With five wins and eight podiums at Assen in BSB alone, no-one has enjoyed more success at the Dutch circuit than Haslam. He’s the only title contender who isn’t a twenty-something, but a good weekend here could put this veteran on track for another top three championship finish – a stunning result for a rider who just doesn’t know how to give up.
Bradley Ray – McAMS Yamaha – third – 289 points
-shares-podium-with-jorge-martin-and-toprak-razgatlioglu.jpg?sfvrsn=9a5964d5_1 "Bradley Ray (left) shares podium with Jorge Martin and Toprak Razgatlioglu")
Like so many of his rivals, Bradley Ray, the 2022 BSB champ, is an alumni of both the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and FAB-Racing mini bike series.
He was picked up for the prestigious Rookies Cup, which sees riders from around the world go through X Factor style auditions in the hope of getting a spot in the MotoGP youth support championship, and the now 29-year-old spent three years (2012-2015) honing his skills against some of the best young talent of the time.
His final season in the Rookies saw him finish fourth overall in a championship won by future MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin. As if to confirm the level of the series, 2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir and last year’s world supersport champion Stefano Manzi were the only other riders to finish ahead of Ray in the standings – with future three-time superbike world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and current MotoGP front runner Fabio di Giannantonio also in the top 10.
Despite proving himself against these future superstars, Bradley never really got a chance to move into the world championships. In 2017 he came to BSB and was an instant success. His title win in 2022 gave him a shot at WorldSBK, but the privateer MotoXRacing squad couldn’t provide him with the tools to showcase his talent and, after two seasons, he was back in BSB with the Raceways Yamaha team.
Last year he looked like running away with the title, only to fade midseason and be overhauled by Kyle Ryde, and this season he’s been the best of the rest as the chasing pack works out how to deal with the speed of the latest Ducati Panigale V4 R.
Two wins and 12 other podiums mean Ray remains with an outside hope of the title, but he is a phenomenal talent with the team and resilience to take the fight right to the wire.
Scott Redding – Hager PBM Racing Team Ducati – second – 321 points
Not many riders can say they’ve gone wheel to wheel with Marc Marquez, but Scott Redding can. And he did it with much success in the junior and intermediate Grand Prix classes.
Another graduate of the FAB-Racing minibike series, he spent his early years training and competing in Spain. In 2007, he finished runner-up to Stefan Bradl in the prestigious Spanish 125cc championship where he raced against a host of future Grand Prix stars, including nine-time world champion Marquez.
The Brit made history the following year when, aged 15 years and 170 days, he became the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix when he won the British 125cc Grand Prix at Donington Park, a race also notable as Marquez’ first world championship podium (he finished third behind Redding and eventual champion Mike di Meglio).
Scott came close to winning the 2013 Moto2 title, missing out to Pol Espargaro due to a late season injury, but that secured a move to MotoGP. Five years in the premier class brought two podiums, but it was clear that his large stature held him back in the prototype class. He surprisingly moved to BSB for 2019, signing for the PBM Ducati team winning the title at his first attempt despite a lack of track and bike knowledge. That set up a move to Ducati’s factory world superbike team, where he won 12 times in two seasons – finishing top three in the championship both times.
After some challenging years with BMW, Scott moved to a private Ducati last year and saw an uplift in results. A mid-season return to PBM Ducati and BSB saw him back winning again, and he came into 2026 as many people’s title favourite.
While the Redding/PBM combo wasn’t able to hit the ground running as quickly as Ryde and his team, he’s remained the main challenger with four wins among his haul of 15 podium finishes. He’s also the form man at Assen, winning both races in his 2019 title year and taking two more trips to the top step of the podium last season (missing out only in the mixed conditions of race two).
A great weekend this time around will really allow him to put the pressure on Ryde for the remaining rounds.
Kyle Ryde – Nitrous Coin/Nitrous Competition Racing Ducati – first – 392 points
There were some doubts as to whether or not Kyle Ryde could make it three back-to-back BSB titles after his team switched from Yamaha to Ducati for this season. The bikes might have arrived late, but the campaign couldn’t have gone much better with the combination proving not only fast, but extremely consistent.
Ryde, 29, has scored points in every race. He’s won 13 of the 24 races so far and only been off the podium once – with a fourth place in race two at Thruxton. No other rider has come close to that level of performance and reliability, and Kyle’s ability to get results when things haven’t been perfect has been the reason why he goes into the Showdown with a 71-point advantage over second placed Scott Redding.
Of course, Ryde’s performances shouldn’t be a surprise. As a youth he clearly stood out in minibikes and in the British 125cc championship, which he won aged 15 in 2011. Like many of his contemporaries he earned a place in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and raced in the Spanish championships, where rivals included Fabio Quartararo, Remy Gardner and Luca Marini.
Despite having his moments, such as a podium in the Spanish series, like many young Brits he struggled to adapt to life abroad. By 2014 he was back home contesting (and winning) the National Superstock 600 series and the following year he showcased his talents by scoring a third place as a wildcard at the British world supersport race at Donington Park. That led to two years as a full-time rider in the series and, despite a strong start to the 2017 season, he would spend a number of years in the wilderness before rebuilding his career by winning the 2019 British GP2 series.
He won races in his first full BSB campaign, on a Suzuki in 2020, but it was a move to the OMG Racing Yamaha team that really saw him up his game. Question marks over his fitness and focus have been answered, with his natural talent being complemented with experience, race craft and a tight knit team around him.
Who knows what could have happened had Kyle stuck it out on the world stage but his decision to focus on BSB has helped make our championship one of the most competitive bike racing series in the world.
Words: Paul Taylor
Images: Red Bull Content Pool/Impact Images/Yamaha Racing UK
Impact Images.
Yamaha Racing (Kyle Ryde 2025 champion picture)
Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool (all others/Red Bull Rookies Cup images and Scott Redding photo)
