British Superbikes certainly made their mark in the world of motorsport last year following the thrilling finale at Brands Hatch in October, which Top Gear labelled as the ‘two most epic laps of 2024.’
Ahead of pre-season testing, which starts at the Circuito de Navarra in Spain between the 6th and 7th April, let’s look at a few of the key changes within British Superbikes heading into the 2025 season.
OMG Make It Three
OMG-Racing-Yamaha joined the British Superbike paddock in 2018, making it one of the youngest teams on the grid. But despite being one of the newbies in the series, their achievements have been nothing shy of impressive. During their seven seasons, they have triumphed in both the team and riders’ championships, taking home a shared total of four titles.
Whilst we expect the team to retain their striking blue and neon yellow livery, the Warwickshire-based outfit welcomes Bradley Ray back to the team, as well as introducing Joe Talbot to British Superbikes.
Bradley Ray gave OMG-Yamaha their first riders’ championship back in 2022. Known at the time as Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha, Ray won a total of nine races with the team and stood on the podium 23 times over the course of the 33-race season.
Following his success in British Superbikes, Bradley Ray transitioned to World Superbikes in 2023, racing for Yamaha Motoxracing Racing Team for two seasons. Despite the success he had on home turf, Ray could not translate this to the world stage, where his best finish was P6 at Imola in 2023. When asked about his return to OMG and British Superbikes, Brad Ray said, “I’m really pleased and excited to be returning to the OMG Racing UK team and to the Bennetts British Superbike Championship in 2025. I have lots of happy memories there and I’m more than ready to make some more next season.”
It was announced in September 2024 that Pirelli National Superstock Championship title contender Joe Talbot would make the step-up to British Superbikes with OMG Yamaha for the 2025 season. Talbot made his debut on tarmac in 2018 at 15 years old, placing P6 in his rookie season in the Thundersport GB3 Superteen championship. He then transitioned to BSB Superstock 600 in 2020 where his success continued, notably finishing P2 in the 2021 season. He continued to race in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship up until 2024, going up against the likes of Davey Todd and Scott Swann. In his fifth season in the series, Talbot claimed two race wins and nine podiums and replicated the success he had in 2021 by finishing P2 in the standings.
Speaking of the call-up to British Superbikes in 2025, Joe Talbot said, “I’m over the moon to be joining the OMG Racing team. It has been a dream of mine since the start, there are a lot of great people behind me that has made this possible. I can’t wait to get going and make my mark in the championship.”
The team will also continue to run a bike for reigning British Superbike Champion Kyle Ryde, which is a continuation of the partnership they formed in 2020.
Hickman & Todd Shift Gears
Despite being announced as the rider pairing for FHO in November 2024, Peter Hickman and Davey Todd have split from the team and instead formed their own with the support of BMW Motorrad UK – 8Ten Racing.
The separation brings an end to the long-standing partnership between Hickman and the FHO team, of which the 13-time TT winner has been a part of since it made its debut in British Superbikes in 2012.
Whilst it is not entirely known why the pair decided to split from the outfit, it is understood that Faye Ho – the team owner – has more of a focus on other motorsport series. Speaking about only running one bike in British Superbikes for the 2025 season, Ho said, “With my long-term goals looking to push motorsports activities in Asia, as well as to keep supporting young women with opportunities in racing, I’ve come to realise I cannot fully commit to the previous levels of time that I have given to BSB and Road Racing since becoming team owner in 2021.”
Both Hickman and Todd, who are co-owners as well as riders for the team, will run the BMW M 1000 RR in British Superbikes this season, as well as entering the bike in the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT races.
Goodbye Eurosport, Hello TNT
Eurosport has televised British Superbikes since 2008 and has broadcasted iconic moments in the sports history such as Tommy Hill vs John Hopkins in 2011, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne’s 6th championship win in 2017 and the finale between Tommy Bridewell vs Glenn Irwin in 2023.
But after a 17-year partnership, British Superbikes has a new home: TNT Sport. The channel, owned by Warner Bros Discovery, includes coverage for every round of MotoGP, World Superbikes Championship, Bennetts British Superbike Championship, FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship, FIM Speedway GP and British Premiership Speedway.
Whilst you can watch it on TV, viewers will continue to be able to stream live in full via TNT Sports’ streaming platform discovery+ – as it has for the past two seasons.
The change in ownership has had mixed reviews, with fans supporting the decision saying, ‘to enable us to watch our favourite sports it’s good value for money, certainly better than going to race tracks with all the cost that entails’, and ‘it’s 30 quid a month – for that you get hours and hours of Moto GP and BSB. Eurosport was shocking, always prioritising tennis or cycling over the bikes.’ However others were less than impressed, commenting that they ‘don’t want yet another extortionate subscription fee’ and that they can ‘see the fan base plummeting based on this money driven decision.’
The cost to add TNT Sport to an existing Sky package stands at £25/month when purchased with a 24-month broadband package, which includes all 4 TNT Sports channels and discovery+ Premium at no extra cost. This additional fee on top of existing prices from broadband providers is quite the difference to Eurosport, which is included in Sky TV and Virgin Media packages at no extra cost.
It will be interesting to see the extent of British Superbike coverage over the course of this season on TNT, especially when rounds clash with MotoGP or the World series.
Rider Shifts and Reintroductions
As with most racing series, there is often a rejig of the grid with movement between teams, whether that being popular British Superbike riders swapping to other established teams already in the sport, or welcoming new faces from the World or support series.
Some of the notable changes across the grid for this season are:
Storm Stacey to Bathams Racing.
Josh Brookes to DAO Racing
Christian Iddon to AJN Steelstock Kawazaki
Leon Haslam to Moto Rapido Racing
Scott Swann steps up from the Pirelli National Superstock Championship to British Superbikes with Send My Bag Honda by IWR
John McPhee is welcomed from World Supersport to MasterMac Honda.
As well as rider changes, TT Circuit Assen has been reintroduced to the British Superbike calendar after a six-year hiatus from the series. British Superbikes featured rounds at the Dutch circuit from 2012 to 2019, with it making a welcomed return to the calendar in 2025.
With so many changes to British Superbikes this year, from television rights to rider shifts, we are sure that this series will deliver yet another dynamite season for fans.
You can catch the British Superbike and support series across the year, with its first round commencing between the 3rd and 5th of May at Oulton Park in Cheshire.
