2025 British Superbike Champion Kyle Ryde excited to make the switch to Ducati in 2026 with Nitrous Competitions Racing

Earlier this month the Nitrous Competitions Racing Team announced they would contest the 2026 British Superbike Championship on Ducati machinery, with Kyle Ryde and Glenn Irwin lining up on the much-anticipated new Panigale V4R.

While Irwin is no stranger to a Panigale, having enjoyed multiple wins on short circuits and the North West 200, next season will be the first time that Ryde – who won his second consecutive BSB title last weekend - races with the V4R.

We caught up with Ryde’s rider coach and former BSB champion Tommy Hill during the series finale at Brands Hatch, where his rider successfully defending his title in the final race, to get his thoughts on the change coming next season.

Tommy Hill (Nitrous Competitions Racing - Kyle Ryde rider coach)
“Big change, but we’re used to it. This will be the fourth manufacturer now for the team, but we’re all excited for it. With the Yamaha R1 no longer being made there’s a general consensus that it’ll be a nice transition for the team to move to Ducati. 

Everyone’s excited. Yes, it’s a new project. And it might not be easy at the start. But I think the change is good. It keeps everyone on their toes and it’s what Kyle wanted as well, and he’s excited for it. He’s been in the team four years now and so a change in his fifth season will be good and he’s looking forward to it. 

We’ve heard good things about the Panigale V4R. It looks like a great machine and Ducati have made some big improvements. We’re yet to see if it works in BSB spec, which will be in the back of everyone’s mind. We’ll only be running one compound of tyre whereas the World Superbike championship run four compounds of rear tyre and full electronic systems, so that can change the bike a lot. I think for us we’ll make it work. In Kyle we have a rider at the top of his game, a good team around him and we’re excited to switch to an Italian brand. Fingers crossed we can hit the ground running in 2026.”