Round Eleven. All done. Brands Hatch, Kent.

All set for the final races of the season on the wonderful Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. Cool and cloudy weather and all eyes on Kyle Ryde and Bradley Ray as they prepared for their end of season showdown.

We were looking forward to a safe and competitive run to round off our season with Christian and Max. Christian still in with a mathematical chance of beating Haslam and Bridewell for third spot in the overall standings. The performance of their trusty AJN Steelstock Kawasaki ZX-10RR Ninjas has certainly surprised a few people this year. And next year you know we’ll be running a pair of bimota KB988 Rimini models with power supplied by the ZX-10RR engine.

Free practice testing

Second round using the new format where the traditional FP1/2 schedule has been replaced with a one-hour test session in the morning and a further half an hour in the afternoon. It’s an opportunity to try out engine and chassis set ups and with no restrictions on tyres meaning most of the time we were reusing tyres from the previous round. Saves money, is better for the environment and has no obvious impact on the running order. We did put on new tyres for the last 15 minutes or so of the second session and Max and Christian really appreciated the extra grip. Max recorded a particularly strong lap time for P3 with Christian P7 just a quarter of a second further back. Good momentum going into the competitive sessions.

Pre-qualifying

25 minutes to sort out the 12 fastest times to send the riders straight through to the second phase of qualifying. The remaining runners compete in Q1 for the top three times which earn places in Q2. Max went straight out – new tyres – and set another good time to sit P2. Christian out five minutes later and bettered Max’s time. By the end they had both improved their times - P4 and P5 with Christian 0.077 the faster…. All set for qualifying on Saturday morning.

Qualifying

Morning warm up confirmed that both boys were happy with their bikes. They started qualifying with a two-lap run on old tyres and then in for a shiny new pair. Christian dug deep and produced his best qualifying performance of the year finishing up third fastest for a front row start, 0.5 slower than the championship rivals, Ryde and Ray, but certainly the best of the rest in a tightly packed field. A front row grid position is so important to get into the race as overtaking really isn’t that easy at Brands.

Max qualified a disappointed P10. His initial run on worn tyres was fine but when the wheels with new tyres were fitted, he immediately felt a vibration which was traced to minor damage of a brake disc. Disconcerted by the ‘feel’ Max still managed to match his best time of the weekend so far but with everyone pushing to gain the last tenth of a second, he was pushed back to head the fourth row of the grid. Fault easily rectified but a compromised start from P10 was not what he deserved and would make for a challenging race.

Race one

Quick warm up session in the morning to check out the bikes and track conditions. Then it was time for the first feature race of the weekend – 20 laps. Hard work in cool dry conditions. There were a few moments worry on the pit wall as it appeared Christian may just have jumped the start. He thought so too, despite checking up and compromising his launch. Relief when the ‘no jump starts’ message came up on the timing screens. He settled into P3, hard on the heels of Ryde and Ray. On the grid, it was clear that Max wanted to make up for his difficult qualifying. He did, holding position and then starting to make up ground. P9 at the end of lap one.

The circuit layout means that different bikes work better than others at different points of the circuit. Our AJN Steelstock Kawasakis are strong through the dips and fast corners, the powerful Ducatis love the long straights. That was the story of the early laps for Christian. First Skinner and then Redding powered past on the long back straight, P5. And then on lap 14 the TV cut to a shot of Christian and his bike on their sides in the Druids Hill hairpin gravel trap. Pushing hard, the front tyre let go at maximum lean. Minimal damage but a disappointing way to end his race and lose out on big points in his quest to finish in the top three in the championship.

Max was battling hard. Gifted places when Bridewell and Christian slipped off, Max was racing with Kent’s Yamaha - P8.  Max passed Kent but a big slide coming on to the finishing straight let him back through. Kent then passed Haslam and with Max, setting the fastest lap of the race so far on lap eight, he also caught and got past Haslam. On lap 12 Max had the mother and father of moments in the Dingle Dell dip when his rear tyre touched the grass and sent him into a huge sideways moment at 140mph, followed by a ‘save’ as he crested Sheene Curve, unable to change down a gear. (Checkout the onboard footage). After that, Max decided to concentrate on seeing the flag which allowed Kent to pull away and Haslam close back in. The final five laps were a cat and mouse battle with Haslam, never more than 0.6 behind. Max fast in the turns, Haslam’s Ducati fast on the straights. Max crossed the line 0.3 ahead for a hard won P6 finish.

Race two

Sunday started bright and dry but with a very real threat of weather disruption later as a big rainstorm was rolling in and expected by midday. The ten minute warm up was uneventful.

Good news for the 12-lap sprint race was that their hard racing the day before had earned Max P5 and Christian P6 on the grid. Two good starts. Out of Druids, Christian managed to nip down the inside of Max and Skinner into Graham Hill Bend for P4 leaving Max P6 over the line to complete the opening lap. Christian didn’t complete the second. Exiting Clearways onto Clarke Curve, the rear of his Kawasaki came round in a lurid slide and flicked him off over the high side of the bike, landing hard on his back. His bike slid across the track at a shallow angle and Max, who’d seen it all unfold in front of him was very lucky not to be collected by Christian’s bike. (Christian had a precautionary scan as he was concussed. We were delighted he was quickly discharged and back in the garage for race three. His back and legs were sort of okay – minus the bruising).

The crash promoted Max to P5 and brought out the safety car for a lap while Christian was attended to and the barrier repositioned. Max raced on but seeing the crash – and Skinner going down in front of him in the same place – and feeling a lack of grip in places, he decided not to push too hard. Nesbitt caught and passed him mid-race but still he came home for another P6, less than four seconds behind eventual winner Redding. He’d start the final race of the year from P7, heading the third row.

Race three

And then it rained! Just what we wanted… After his big crash, Christian was on the side lines in conditions he would have loved.

Ryde leading the championship standings by 30 points from Ray with 35 points on offer for a win. Ray would have to risk all while Ryde could play it safe, up to a point.

Max made a steady start as he knew the wet weather heros would be going for it from the lights. Sure enough, he dropped back to P11 while he got a feel for the grip. Steadily making progress and benefiting from some heroic crashes, Max found himself behind Ryde on lap eight. While Ray was challenging at the front - knowing his only hope for the championship was to win - Ryde hadn’t been taking any risks defending in sketchy conditions. Max didn’t attempt a pass as he wasn’t confident he had the pace to make a clean move, and he wasn’t about to risk taking out his friend. It helped that Ryde picked up the pace mid-race, circulating in P7 with Max on his tail, P8.

As the race went on, Rogers and Skinner crashed while a recovering Redding passed Max and Ryde. That left Max to run the final three laps behind Ryde to cross the line for the last time in 2025 in seventh place.

Strong end to the season for Max in stark contrast to Christian’s poor fortune – but as he said ‘I was trying’!

Championship standings

Ray finished the race as runner up so with Ryde safely home in P6 the championship went to him by 20 points. A comfortable margin by recent standards. Well done Kyle👍

With extra points on offer and Christian not scoring, Max closed to within two points of his teammate’s points total, 272 plays 270. Somehow appropriate as their lap times have been so close all year. Christian really was on to finish third overall, but it just didn’t go his way on a few occasions. Max is just happy to have his third season on a superbike under his belt and with a load more experience gained.

The team? We finished in fifth place, just two points behind Honda. Not a bad showing for a small private team😊. While it’s always about the riders in public, our secret weapon is the crew behind them in the garage and our hospitality unit. A real band of brothers and sisters who love to go racing and do a professional job representing Kawasaki and, of course, all of our sponsors who help make it possible for us to be on the grid. Thank you all, you know who you are.

What next?

No rest for the wicked! We’ll be on the Kawasaki stand for Motorcycle Live at the NEC – rider appearances over the first weekend - 15 and 16 November - and featuring BSB-day on the Sunday. We announced at Oulton Park that for 2026 we’ll be entering two of the very special bimota KB998 Riminis - powered by the strong and trusty ZX-10RR engine. There will be a bimota area on the stand so come along to see the road bike again, alongside Alex Lowes’ world superbike.

And watch out for our rider announcement in the run up to the Show.

So, it’s going to be a busy winter in the workshop building the new bikes. We emerge again in the Spring ready to shakedown the bimotas at the first official test at Donington Park on 3 April.

Hope to see you at the Show.

Regards Nigel, Team Principle