Yamaha Motor UK Confident for Promising Donington Park
Words and images courtesy Yamaha Motor UK
The second round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship is set to get underway at Donington Park this weekend. This marks the first of two visits this season to the iconic Grand Prix circuit.
The event will be one of poignancy as the paddock comes together.
They will remember Owen Jenner and Shane Richardson following the tragic events of Oulton Park earlier this month.
The season opener on the May Bank Holiday weekend saw Raceways Yamaha’s Bradley Ray stand out from the rest. He demonstrated lap record pace from pole position and dominated Saturday’s opening race to claim victory. It was his return to the championship.
Ray’s strong form around the Cheshire rollercoaster was backed up by a third-place finish on Sunday. Heading into the upcoming weekend, he sits joint first in the standings with Leon Haslam. Glenn Irwin is alongside.
It was a trying weekend for the 2024 Bennetts BSB Champion, Kyle Ryde. The OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing rider pushed for a front-row start ahead of Race 1. He went on to finish fifth.
Fighting forward from eighth on the grid in Race 2, the reigning champion secured a weekend-best result of fourth.
He collected a total of 23 points for the standings. Kyle is sitting fourth as we approach his hopeful home round at Donington Park this weekend.
Further downfield, McAMS Racing and Danny Kent faced challenges. They brought home a best finish of sixth in Race 2. However, they struggled to match their proven potential at the Oulton Park venue.
A wave of hopefulness and optimism floods the air as all three teams head to Donington Park this weekend. Notably, it is a circuit proven to align with the strengths of the Yamaha R1 package.
The championship’s last visit to the venue in 2024 ended with a hard-fought Yamaha R1 podium lockout. Ryde claimed victory ahead of Kent. Former OMG Racing teammate, Ryan Vickers, was also on the podium.
In the Pirelli National Sportbike Championship, Raceways Yamaha’s Ash Barnes is keen to build on a challenging weekend at Oulton Park.
Despite facing difficulty in the season opener, Barnes holds the position as the highest-ranking R7 BLU CRU rider in the championship. He has 14 points on the board.
Meanwhile, RB-Racing and Rev2Race Yamaha satellite rider, Rossi Banham, experienced a bittersweet weekend aboard the Yamaha R7. He secured a career-best qualifying result of seventh ahead of Race 1. Unfortunately, a small crash hindered his chance to score points in the series opener.
The second round of the 2025 Bennetts BSB Championship kicks off with Free Practice 1 on Friday [16th]. There is a trio of races lying in store in the Premier Class.
A total of two 12-lap stints also lies in the pipeline for Yamaha’s total of eight R7 BLU CRU riders. These will be in the Pirelli National Sportbike Championship.
Bradley Ray
Raceways Yamaha – Bennetts British Superbike Championship
“I’m looking forward to the weekend. Donington Park is a track that I really enjoy. I’ve raced there consistently now, with it being on the WorldSBK calendar, and the test there was really strong too. As a team, we’ve made big progress since the test there, so I’m eager to see how the weekend will shape up and try to get as many points on the board as possible.”
Ash Barnes
Raceways Yamaha – Pirelli National Sportbike Championship
“We had a few issues at Oulton which hindered the opportunity to show our true potential, but despite that, we still managed to fight close to the front and finish as the top R7. We’re straight back to it this weekend with the chance to get back on the podium and back up the form we had at the Donington round this time last year and at the pre-season test in April.”
