Rory Skinner has shrugged off the firm move that potentially denied him a shot at victory in the first race for Round 4 of the 2025 British Superbike Championship [BSB] at Knockhill, describing it as ‘rubbing is racing’.

Skinner was in strong contention for victory around his local venue during the first race of the Knockhill weekend after working his way past both Kyle Ryde and Ray with expertly executed passes into the Taylor’s hairpin.

However, while it was a lead he’d maintain into the second-half of the race, Skinner was levered out of the position by Ray with a forceful but clean pass into McIntyre’s on lap 19 of 30.

The pass forced Skinner to sit-up his Cheshire Mouldings TAS Ducati and run out wide, leading him to cede second to Ryde as well. Easing up in the closing stages, Skinner settled for his third podium of the season.

Despite the aggressive overtake, Skinner was philosophical about missing out on victory, insisting he is getting pleasure from proving competitive on his first visit to Knockhill aboard the Ducati Panigale V4 R.

“It was a good race, I’m happy to start my home race with a podium, I was on the front row and the podium this afternoon is pretty good, so happy with that,” he said in his post-race interview. 

“Nice to lead a race, it’s been a while. Brad put a fair move on me, rubbing is racing, I’m not one to complain about that but I just lost my rhythm. I lost a bit of grip so I tried to hang on both Kyle and Brad and manage the gap behind me. 

“It’s nice to be consistently up in the mix. I feel comfortable right now, I don’t feel I need to exert myself and be on the edge constantly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pushing, but it’s nice to be consistently at the front week-in, week-out. I don’t want to be complacent but it’s nice.”