Ahead of the 2025 British Superbike season, BikeSport News sat down with TNT Sports commentator Steve Day for a well-needed season preview.
The 2025 British Superbike season begins this weekend at Oulton Park. Twenty-six riders from twenty-three different teams will line up on the start grid for the season opener.
However, in the seven months between the conclusion of the 2024 season and the start of the 2025 season, it has not all been smooth sailing in the paddock.
We have seen teams depart, as well as new teams arrive in the Championship for the upcoming season.
The most significant development leading into the new season was the reorganisation of the reigning Champions, OMG Racing, now known as the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha team.
Ahead of the 2025 British Superbike Championship, BikeSport News sat down with TNT Sports Commentator, Steve Day, to discuss all the recent major events in the paddock.
“In general, the news that OMG were folding was a major bombshell. I had no idea whatsoever that it was coming,” Day said.
“As soon as I heard about it, I was on the phone to a number of people, and they all didn’t know about it either. You can see from the reactions of some of the riders that it was a real surprise.
“I am friends with Shakey [Shane Byrne] and I got in touch with him to ask what was happening, and he told me he was trying to find Brad [Ray] a ride, but this was a few weeks ago. It hit everyone by surprise, so that was a real shocker.
“Ultimately, we wanted to make sure that Kyle [Ryde] and Brad [Ray] found a ride and were able to stay on the grid.”
“We had to have our Champion…”
Initially, OMG Racing planned to have the 2024 BSB Champion Kyle Ryde, the 2022 BSB Champion Bradley Ray, and BSB rookie Joe Talbot compete for the team. However, following a restructuring, only Ryde will remain with OMG Racing.
“It would have been a disaster if we did not have the reigning Champion on the grid, an absolute disaster,” Day said.
“Kyle is still with OMG, albeit in a restructured version, but he is still on a Yamaha, and he knows how the bike works. But it is just good that he can go out with the number one on the bike, and he has not lost out hugely in terms of testing time.
“It is good that the team are still there, and that Kyle is still racing. We had to have our Champion, not having him would have been damaging for British Superbikes. It was at no fault of the organisers either, I felt sorry for Stuart [Higgs] and co when the announcement was made.
“It is good to see Kyle out there, and I don’t think it will impact his chances this season either. He is now a one-man band; all the focus is on him, and he knows the bike inside out already.”
“It is fantastic that we have another new team…”
As Steve Day previously mentioned, Bradley Ray will also remain on the British Superbike grid.
After two years in the World Superbike Championship, Ray will make his return with the returning Raceways Yamaha team.
Steve Rodgers is back in the paddock with a single Yamaha R1 and a team that will be built around Ray.
“When Steve Rodgers and the Raceways team left the paddock, I thought that was a real shame because that was one of the biggest teams in the paddock. I would have said that one of the biggest teams in the paddock leaving was a bit of a blow to the Championship.
“But to have Steve and Raceways come back is great for the Championship. I did not think it would be long until Steve got pulled back into the fold after a year out.
“But from what I understand, Steve was interested in acquiring the services of Brad Ray a year or two back. When you have got bikes ready, and a team that can be put together, and you have a rider like Brad, that is the perfect way to come back into the sport. It is fantastic that we have another new team coming back into BSB with a top rider as well.
“I don’t think it will take him too long to adjust…”
Despite the good news for Ryde and Ray, there has been some bad news for Joe Talbot. After finishing runner-up in the 2024 Superstock Championship, the young star was supposed to make his British Superbike debut in 2025.
However, Talbot will not be on the grid and instead will race in the British Supersport series with Binch Racing on a Ducati V2.
“I feel really sorry for Joe [Talbot], he deserved to get in, and that looked like a really nice ride for him. In a proper team, on a proper bike, with a team built around him and with Mark Woodage as his crew chief. It was all knitted together nicely. He is a young lad, and it had all been ‘Dad and Lad’ stuff really.
“They have paid their way up to here, and they have had to pay a lot of money. I don’t mean that they have a lot of funding behind them; it is a case of working as hard as possible at home and putting everything into racing. So, for him to lose to the ride, there was no way they were going to be able to afford a ride in a BSB team. Plus, it was so late in the build-up to the season that there were no rides available anyway.
“I am pleased that he is still in the paddock, I sent him a message not long after I had heard the news saying that I hope he is ok, and his main concern was that he did not feel he could afford to spend a year out of racing at this point in his career. So, whilst I am sure he would rather be lining up with the BSB lot, to have a Supersport ride is not a bad step for him.
“That is going to be a tough Championship, because last year some of the manufacturers started coming to the party. Honda looks good, the Ducatis are starting to pick up, it is a strong field, and I think it is going to be the strongest Supersport field that we have had for years, and years, and years.
“But Joe is a really good talent, and I will be fascinated to see how he gets on, I will be surprised if he is not knocking on the door of the podium. But it is not as easy as it seems to move from Superstock to Supersport. So, he has got to adapt his brain to that and also equally he has had minimal testing on a Supersport bike.
“I don’t think it will take him too long to adjust to the British Supersport Championship. Then hopefully, he catches the eye of one or two BSB teams and gets himself back where he belongs next year.”
“It is disappointing that the FHO team are no longer there…”
In between the 2024 and 2025 seasons, it was announced that Faye Ho’s FHO Racing Team would not participate in the upcoming year.
But in FHO’s place, the 8TEN Racing BMW team was formed, and the new MLav Racing Team have entered the series.
“I think it is a disappointment to lose any team, especially one like FHO,” Day said.
“They were such a professional outfit, and they tried really hard. When they came in, their goal was to dominate. Obviously, they did really well on the roads with [Peter] Hickman, but it just did not really work out in BSB.
“Whether that is down to the fact that they did not have the right bikes at the right time, it is hard to say. There are all sorts of rumours about what went on behind closed doors, but I will not go into that.
“I think it is a disappointment that Faye and the team have shut down, but it would have been more of a disappointment if there had not been a direct replacement. I think that would have been a little damaging. In a way, from losing one team, we have kind of gained two, with Hickman and [Davey] Todd running their own team and MLav coming in as well.
“I quite like that, I think that is cool, and it has kept BMW at the forefront in the Championship. They could do with a good year in the Championship because it has been a struggle for them.
“It is disappointing that the FHO team are no longer there, but I think we have gained two very good teams in its place.”
“To get someone like MLav involved is really good for the sport…”
The MLav Racing Team has been a major talking point as the team is owned by British Superbike race winner, Michael Laverty.
Laverty and Day work together for TNT Sports, but Day confirmed that he was not aware of his colleague’s team's arrival in British Superbikes until the day it was announced.
“You would think where I am a friend of his and a colleague of his, that I would have known that it was coming,” Day explained.
“But he kept it very quiet, and I did not find out it was happening. I had heard about the Faye Ho situation and that she was pulling out. Then it was only when I was covering the Qatar Grand Prix, and I was covering a session with Michael, that I suddenly found out that he was entering a BSB team.
“So, I did not know anything. I believe he has jumped in and taken some of Faye’s equipment, I don’t know if that is common knowledge or not. From what I gather, with Michael as well as running his academy and things like that, he has always had a desire to run a BSB team.
“He has such a fondness for the Championship himself, the British paddock in general loves Michael, I think it is something that has always been on his radar, but it had just never come around. I am guessing that because Faye’s team were closing their doors and there was stuff for sale, Michael jumped in and said that he would give it a go.
“The great thing about Michael is that he is a classy operator in general. I think this will be done on a fairly light budget to begin with, as he sees how it goes. But I think it is great to have his presence in the paddock at a time when we have been losing a team or two. To get someone like MLav involved is really good for the sport and the Championship.
“I am really pleased for Richard Kerr as well, because I don’t think Kerr or Dan Linfoot got the rides they deserved following on from their season in Superstock a couple of years ago. Richard has only had a couple of plays out in BSB, and he is a fast rider, and I know that Michael is fond of Richard as well.
“It is nice to have a new team and one that we know will immediately be a proper operation.”
“We are in a good place… and we are ready to go.”
Across the three pre-season tests for the British Superbike Championship, the main contenders appear to be from Yamaha and Ducati.
The four names that appeared at the sharp end at every test were: Glenn Irwin, Bradley Ray, Kyle Ryde and Danny Kent.
However, Day refuses to believe that the likes of Tommy Bridewell and Leon Haslam will not be in the hunt for their second British Superbike titles.
“I do not think that Tommy [Bridewell] tends to put too much pressure on himself during testing. I think the Honda is still a great bike and that he will be there,” Day explained when the idea of 2025 being a Yamaha vs Ducati season.
“Kyle and Brad will be there, Danny Kent will be there, Tommy Bridewell will be there. Glenn Irwin looked on it at Donington, and to quote James Whitham, he looks ‘buoyant’ ahead of 2025. I think that those guys will be there, across testing, a few names were popping up, of course, Leon [Haslam] has taken to the Moto Rapido team well, you can never rule out Leon.
“I thought some of the rookies looked good as well. John McPhee was good at Navarra, so I am really pleased to see that. Scott Swann was fast at Donington Park as well. So, across the board, Brookes and Jackson were not far away; all the names that you expect to see up there were up there.
“I did not look at the timesheets and have any worries for anyone. There was nothing that I looked at and then thought that they might struggle this year. I think they will all be there, but as ever with testing, you don’t really know until we get to the opening round and see.
“But I think we are in a good place, now that this has all been cleaned up. We have ended up with more teams than we were meant to have, and after the tests, it looks like everyone is fairly fit and healthy, and we are ready to go.”
