Christian Iddon continues to make progress with two seventh-place finishes at Oulton Park

Christian Iddon continued his huge improvement on his opening British Superbike round at Oulton Park this weekend. After finishing Sunday’s Sprint Race in eighth, he went one better today on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati to finish both races in seventh place, looking much more comfortable on the Panigale V4 R.

Christian Iddon
Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21 – Race 2, 7th – Race 3, 7th
“I think we have made massive steps forward this weekend, especially today. Made big strides with the bike, and we’re much more racy. Definitely making progress, and I’m feeling much comfier on the bike, even between the races today.

Step by step we’re getting there but need to hurry up and get there a bit quicker! Because as still as much can now start to see the front, we need to be at the front and stay there. We keep working, keep moving forward. 

The whole weekend in general has been pretty good. We were fast in tricky conditions which is good. It’s definitely a huge improvement on the first round, like night and day! I think if all the stars had aligned today, we would have had a chance to fight for a podium. But we’re just missing that last little bit, so we’ll be searching for it between now and next round.”

Iain Hopcroft, Team Manager
“After the recent test at Mallory we came to Oulton with a bit of a base setting for Christian, mainly engine brake control and throttle translation stuff, which I think helped us initially. I don’t think we found him the perfect setting for the weekend in the end, but it wasn’t bad. We had a very positive weekend I think, and we hope to improve the next time we come back to Oulton.

Christian has shown some very good pace, we’ve done some very good laps times on Monday. And he’s obviously extremely good in the wet, and tricky conditions too. It’s always hard to set up a bike for that, but he seems to ride in those conditions very well.

Very happy with Christian and we have lots to improve on and learn and head to Donington Park which should be a great circuit to continue with that progress, and it’s one that Christian has good history with.”

Eighth for Christian Iddon in the Sprint Race at Oulton as he continues to make progress with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team

Christian Iddon qualified in eleventh for today’s BikeSocial Sprint race at Oulton Park, which didn’t really do justice to his pace on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati. But a good start in the afternoon’s race saw him in the mix with several other riders, and he climbed up as high as seventh by Lap 7.

However, the race was red-flagged in the dying laps as the leaders put their hands up due to slippery track conditions, with Christian finishing eighth, his best result to date this season. He will start the first of tomorrow’s races from third row in ninth.

Christian Iddon
Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21 – 8th

“Free Practice 1 was a funny one, we had a few little things going on and we made some progress in Free Practice 2, then made a big run out in the damp / wet this morning, which was pretty good actually. We were quite competitive.

In qualifying we took a bit of a gamble. Although I don't believe it really was a gamble. I took what I believe was the right tyre choice and I made a mistake on the one lap that mattered, which sort of hindered us a little bit for the grid slot.

In the race, I'm just not clicking with the bike yet. We're not missing loads, but it's enough to just make life hard work for me. Once we get there, we’ll be mint. We’re super strong in certain places. Now we just need to try and improve those weak points, and if we're going to retain the places that we’re strong, then that's great, and even become on par with some of the others in the other places. And there's no reason why we can't be fighting up the front, that’s where we should be, I think.

The race itself I got reasonable start. We've been struggling with starts lately, but we've changed some of the settings in the bike and now it's getting off the line like a bike normally would, because there were some little things weren’t right with it, how the power comes in, but they've been rectified which is really good. But actually, I think it's not scared me, but I've learnt to set off in a bad way. Now I need to remember it works. So yeah, hopefully we got some good starts tomorrow because that's normally one of my strong points.

But I got off the line alright. Turn 1 was always going to be a little bit difficult. It was a little bit damp so I think everyone went in a little bit gingerly, but thankfully everyone got through. And then I just wasn’t positive enough in my passes on the group that was in front. I think I probably could have gone with Andrew Irwin who was the next rider ahead. I just wasn’t positive enough early on and didn’t use the strengths of the bike early on enough, so if we can make a bit better on that tomorrow we should be good.”

A third consecutive sixth place finish sees Ben Currie third in the British Supersport championship

Ben Currie’s afternoon got off to a brilliant start after he stuck his Oxford Products Racing Ducati Panigale V2 on the front row of the grid for the opening race at Oulton Park after qualifying earlier in the day in second place.

Ben got the holeshot to lead the race and opening laps and was looking strong on the Panigale V2. But he ran on at Lodge Corner whilst leading and was lucky to keep the bike upright, although by the time he re-joined the track he was down to eighth. He fought back to regain a couple of positions in the short eight lap race to pass the chequered flag in sixth.

Ben now sits third in the championship and will start tomorrow’s race from fifth on the grid.

Ben Currie
Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61 – 6th

“It's been a hell of a weekend so far to be honest. Starting off in the first free practice we topped the time sheets. Everyone was in great spirits. Rain affected the second session and it was neither here or there with the wet and dry so no one really went out on that one. We qualified with a sort of a guess setting because we didn't do the test, and have had minimal laps here with the Panigale V2. Went into qualifying, felt brilliant in the wet, and put it on the front row. Exactly what we went out there to do, second in the middle of front row, very happy, and ready to fight for that Sprint race. 

Race came around, we got the holeshot into the first turn. Just thought right, head down now, and try and get this win. Managed to check out with two other riders, we had a massive gap to the rest of the field. Started dicing a little bit and I dropped back to second, sat in there for a couple of corners and thought I needed to get back into the lead and try and pull the pin, as I felt like I had a little bit more to go at the front.

But made a mistake, it was nearly curtains for me. Ran onto the gravel, had to save it, come back through onto the grass. I managed to salvage a sixth in the end, which is not. Ideal, but considering it could have been a quite easily zero points, I'll take the I'll take the sixth position. We move to third in the championship and it's a long way to go, so we’re happy with how we're doing so far.”

Unlucky start to the 2023 British Superbike season for Christian Iddon

The Bennetts British Superbike Championship’s opening round took place at Silverstone this weekend, but unfortunately it was one to forget for Oxford Products Racing Ducati and Christian Iddon.

The opening race on Saturday saw Iddon hit with technical issues, bringing his Panigale V4 R home at the back of the field, while the second race the following day ending in a DNF after Iddon was taken out unhurt on Lap 5 by Charlie Nesbitt at Luffield.

A lack of race laps resulted in a poor grid position for Sunday’s final race, with Iddon having his work cut out. But he was at least able to finish his race in a points-scoring position in 11th.

Iddon and the team now look ahead to Round Two at Oulton Park later this month, where we will have time to regroup and start our 2023 BSB campaign afresh.

Christian Iddon
Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21

“100% not the not the weekend we'd all hoped for. Expected actually, not necessarily hoped for, but what we expect. And it was a million miles from that. Free practice everything was actually going quite well.

Qualified so-so, but I just got really bad start for the first race and was involved in a little bit of a difficult first lap. That that made things difficult and then we suffered the technical issue, so I finished, but finished last in the first race which was annoying, and that gave me a really bad grid slot for the second race.

And then I got took out really early in the second race, which gave me a horrendous grid slot for Race 3. It's just a snowball effect.

The last race I did the best I could. I'll always do that, but it was only good enough for 11th at the flag which is really not acceptable. But we lost a lot of information from the full-length race, the race before, and then the bike started to do things and the last four-five laps that I sort of wasn't really ready for. We look to regroup, move onward and upward to the next round.”

Ben Currie leaves Silverstone fourth in the Supersport championship after a consecutive sixth place finish

Oxford Products Racing Ducati’s Ben Currie scored a consecutive sixth place finish in the second Quattro Group British Supersport race at Silverstone.

Starting from fifth on the grid on the Ducati Panigale V2, Currie slipped down a position on the opening lap but was back up to his start position after Tom Booth-Amos crashed out from third on Lap 4.

By Lap 10 Currie was up to fourth but as the laps mounted the leading trio of riders ahead were able to break away. Under pressure from Jaimie van Sikkelerus in the closing stages, Currie was eventually passed on the final lap. Currie closed sixth as top Ducati once again, five seconds clear of Blaze Baker in seventh on the Ready 4 Racing Vision Team Ducati.

Currie’s two sixth places see him leave Silverstone fourth in the championship, a solid start to his season with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati team.

Ben Currie (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61)
“Pretty happy with the overall weekend, times two sixth places. Obviously not what we set out to do, but I'll take it. It's good solid points. We’re fourth in the championship. Race went really well actually. We made a little improvement from race one. We managed to be able to sit in there with the lead guys and feel strong, but just as the race went on it just made it a little bit difficult for me to stay with them. Pace is really good. Credit to all those guys, they’re riding really well.  We've got a little bit of work to do. We need to find out what we need to make it a little bit easier for me in the back end of that race.

 It's a quirky little track here at Silverstone, so we don't read too much into it because it can be a little bit different to how the season is going to pan out. But nonetheless it's good data. I'm feeling happy, fit and strong, team are working fantastic so let's just keep working hard and head onto Oulton Park for Round Two and try again, and hopefully we get some podiums.”

Top 6 finish for Ben Currie in his first race with Oxford Products Racing Ducati

The Bennetts British Superbike Championship started its 2023 season at Silverstone this weekend, with the first Quattro Group British Supersport race taking place on Saturday afternoon.

Making his race debut with Oxford Products Racing Ducati, Ben Currie had qualified on the second row on the Panigale V2 in sixth place. He got a great start as was into third on his opening lap. But as the race progressed, he dropped down the order to sixth, ultimately taking the chequered flag in that same position.

Ben Currie (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61)

“It was a really tough race. Digging in out there as the pace was really hot, under the lap record every lap. But it was great to get that first race under our belt and get that data. We finished P6 in the end, obviously not what we want. We want to win every race. But we kept it sunny side up when we could have quite easily made a mistake out there pushing too hard. I feel like I got the maximum out of the package today but now we go to work tonight, and we try and find what we're missing in the last little part of the lap. Hopefully we can challenge tomorrow, but if not, we'll give everything our best and will hopefully come away with some solid points.”