On Friday, during the opening day of the Thruxton UK Superbike Round, Danny Kent dominated both practice sessions, becoming the sole rider to break below the 1 minute 15 seconds mark on the Hampshire track during FP2. Building on his strong performance at Brand Hatch, where he secured a second-place podium in Race 3, Kent led FP1 and improved his lap times in FP2, clocking an impressive 1:14.907.
Kent was the fastest rider on the track, setting a sub-15-second lap and finishing at the top of the timesheets. Close behind him, Storm Stacey used a late burst of speed in the final five minutes to secure second place, just 0.256 seconds off Kent’s pace on the Batamus AJN BMW. Honda UK’s Tommy Bridewell maintained a position within the automatic qualifying slots early in the session.
Kyle Ryde briefly led the times before settling in fourth for the OMG Yamaha team, with teammate Glenn Irwin making noticeable gains despite this being his first time riding a Yamaha Superbike, finishing 14th. Rory Skinner showed significant improvement, climbing from 16th in FP1 to 5th by the end of FP2 after completing 52 laps.
Josh Brooks responded well to being outside the top 12 in the early stages, jumping to sixth, while local rider Charlie Nesbitt finished seventh, ahead of championship leader Bradley Ray in eighth. The AJN Steelstock Kawasaki riders, Max Cook and Christian Iddon, rounded out the top 10, with Scott Swann making notable gains to claim 11th and lead the rookie class.
Scott Redding, riding for Hager PBM Ducati, secured the final automatic Q2 qualifying spot despite some track limit issues that slowed his laps. Leon Haslam narrowly missed automatic qualification, ending 13th after being pushed out of contention by Swann. Andrew Irwin faced technical problems, limiting his performance to 16th overall.
The day’s sessions highlighted strong performances and tight competition among riders pushing for front-row qualifying positions, setting the stage for an exciting UK Superbike Round at Thruxton.
Fan Take: Racing fans should be thrilled by the intense competition and breakthrough performances at Thruxton, especially from riders like Danny Kent and Glenn Irwin. This mix of emerging talent and seasoned racers battling it out promises electrifying races that could reshape the championship landscape.
