Honda Racing UK enjoyed its strongest weekend of the 2026 British Superbike Championship season at Thruxton, as Ryan Vickers secured the team’s first Superbike class podium of the year before delivering a sensational double victory.

Race One delivered an important milestone for the team as Vickers claimed third place, securing Honda Racing UK’s first podium finish of the 2026 season. Starting from the second row, Vickers raced confidently throughout the 16-lap encounter, fighting amongst the leading group and rewarding the team’s relentless efforts with a deserved trip to the podium. O’Halloran continued the positive momentum with a solid ride to 14th after battling throughout the race.

Those small but consistent setup improvements became increasingly evident as the weekend unfolded. Over recent rounds, Honda Racing UK’s engineers and riders have worked tirelessly to find improvements and at Thruxton the results were impossible to ignore. The Fireblade allowed both riders to attack races rather than laps, Vickers repeatedly demonstrated his ability to overtake under braking whilst still carrying lean angle — clear evidence that the direction of development is delivering exactly what the team has been working towards.

Race Two produced one of the standout performances of the season.

Vickers rode with absolute confidence throughout the 12-lap contest, refusing to concede positions when challenged and immediately responding whenever rivals found a way past. Rather than forcing moves, he calmly stalked the riders ahead, choosing precisely the right moments to attack before delivering a perfectly judged victory — Honda Racing UK’s first Bennetts British Superbike win of the season.

Behind him, O’Halloran also enjoyed one of his strongest rides of the year, charging through the field to ninth and further underlining the significant progress made with the Fireblade package.

The final race of the weekend provided yet more excitement.

Despite losing a knee slider on lap 13, Vickers continued to push at the front of the field, unfazed by the setback. Once again, he demonstrated exceptional race craft, refusing to surrender when overtaken and instead shadowing his rivals until the perfect opportunity presented itself. His decisive move for the lead came exactly when it mattered, allowing him to control the closing stages and secure a second consecutive victory in thrilling style.

O’Halloran was once again running comfortably inside the top eight as the race entered its closing stages, only for his race to end in disappointment after crashing on the approach to the final lap. Thankfully Jason was unhurt in the incident.

The Thruxton weekend represents a significant turning point for Honda Racing UK. A first podium quickly became a first victory before ending with an outstanding double win — the perfect reward for months of work behind the scenes by everyone in the team.

Ryan Vickers

I was fairly surprised with our performance in race one to be honest, I came here not completely convinced we had the pace to deliver. The boys put a solid bike under me and I was able to race it to the podium. It felt like a real reward for all of us, and it had a positive impact on today.

I woke up having slept on that podium performance and carried fresh confidence into race two. I had a plan, I knew where and when I wanted to make my moves and I executed that plan. The result was a win and I couldn’t be happier for everyone in the team to share that with.

The final race was absolutely incredible. I feel like I’ve been a sitting duck all year but today was the first time I felt able to get in a strong position and then race to defend it. I had to use a lot of race craft as well as knowledge of this place to deliver and thanks to the team putting a great bike under me, I was able to deliver the goods. I lost a slider along the way, but it didn’t hold me back. What’s better than heading into the last chicane in a four bike slipstream for the lead, and then being able to make moves for the win rather than watch from the back? I absolutely loved that.

#22 Jason O’Halloran

I’m disappointed to have ended the weekend on the floor. After race one, we had a long think about the bike and decided to make some fairly radical changes for race two. With those changes, I went to the top of the sheet in morning warm up and although I was pushed off the top, that gave me the confidence to know that when the bike is right, I can ride it fast. My result in race two was a step in the right direction, I advanced seven places to ninth and was ready for race three. I think at one point I was seventh and Ryan was just a few bike lengths in front. He pushed on for the lead and I had to defend my track position towards the end of the race. I went down into the chicane on the penultimate lap and that was the end of that. We’ll keep pushing, knowing that we’ve turned a corner in our season.

Team Manager Scot Hargreaves

What an incredible reward for Ryan and for the whole team. I’m so proud of how hard everyone has worked on finding a solution that allows our riders and our bikes to perform at a level we’re happy with. I was asked about issues at Oulton Park and I confidently said we were working towards a solution and today was evidence of exactly that. There’s still plenty of work to do and we’ll keep pushing, but it’s important to take a breath and reflect on how far we’ve come in the last few rounds. Jason is now racing in, rather than clinging onto the top ten and Ryan has pushed his way onto the podium and then onto the top step twice in one weekend. Moments like this make everything we’re working for worthwhile.