Bathams AJN Race team's 2026 season racing underway

After what seems an eternity, and very busy winter switching manufacturers, the 2026 race season finally got underway for the Bathams AJN Race team and Storm Stacey with Round 1 of the BSB season leading straight into the Northwest 200 road race. 

At Oulton Park, Storm finished every practice and qualifying session inside the top 5 and was in contention for podium positions in each race, finishing just 0.2sec away from the podium in race 1 and 2sec in race two. Unfortunately, due to an electrical issue in race 3, Storm dropped out of contention for the podium but managed to bring the bike home in 9th place. 

The outcome is that Storm left Oulton Park in 5th position overall in the British Superbike championship before making his road race debut at the Northwest 200 alongside Northwest 200 legend and team owner Michael Rutter who was competing on a superbike for the first time since his accident at the Isle of Man TT last year. 

Stacey took to the famous “Triangle” course, and after his initial familiarisation laps, moved his way up the leaderboard, qualifying the Bathams AJN Ducati in 6th position, just 1 second away from a front row start. During Race 1, Storm was with the leading pack of riders once again in contention for a podium position until an issue with his gearshift at the halfway point meant he dropped to 7th position at the chequered flag.  

Meanwhile, Rutter completed practice, qualifying and race 2 on the Bathams AJN superbike gathering valuable data and feedback for the development of the bike, specifically on electronic settings, air intake modifications, riding positions, gearshift set ups, brake set ups and clutch set ups which will help with the teams BSB goals. 

Storm Stacey
“What a week that was! It kind of feels like my feet have barely touched the ground since we set up at Oulton Park. The weekend at Oulton felt like we were finally on top of all the issues we had throughout winter testing and were able to really get our teeth into releasing some of the Ducati’s potential which I feel we did. There’s a lot more to come from it, but at Oulton it was great to be at the sharp end in every session and looking for tenths instead of seconds.

As for the Northwest 200, I think that’s going to take a long time to sink in, but after my visit last year as a spectator, it really did more than live up to my expectations. The course is brilliant, the fans are so passionate and of course, how many people can say they’ve ridden at 200mph on a public road… alongside their boss!”

Michael Rutter
“Most of all it’s just great to finally be racing. The winter feels like it’s gone on forever, and while we knew that the path that we chose to switch manufacturers and also build our own bike would be a big project, getting to that first race has been a long time coming. Being so competitive at Oulton Park was just the boost that we needed, and we know there’s more to come.

As for myself? Being back on a superbike for the first time since my crash was a massive shock to the system, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t any fun, because it really was, plus being able to try some things on my bike that we otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to with Storm was extremely valuable.”