Unpredictable weather, red flags, and hard-fought results at Knockhill for the Moto Rapido Racing Ducati team

Round 4 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship brought Moto Rapido Ducati to Knockhill for a weekend of unpredictable weather, red flags, and hard-fought results. Both Leon Haslam and Ben Currie faced a series of challenges, but the team came away with valuable points, a podium and fresh determination heading into the second half of the season.

Friday: Early Promise in Tricky Conditions

Friday’s free practice sessions saw both sides of the garage working through setup changes as the team looked to build momentum.

Leon Haslam had a tough start to FP1, finishing P11 and 0.8s off, but came back strong in FP2 after the crew made significant setup improvements. He ended the day P5 in FP2 and P10 overall, just half a second off provisional pole.

Ben Currie also overcame a disrupted day. He went P5 in FP1 and then found strong pace in FP2, finishing the session fastest overall by 0.039s and placing P4 combined heading into Saturday.

Saturday: Disruption, Decisions and Determination

The team arrived Saturday to clearer skies and high winds, a shift in conditions that meant most of Friday’s setup work had to be revised.

In Supersport qualifying, Ben was once again interrupted by a red flag and lengthy delay. He couldn’t find a clear lap in traffic and settled for P5 on the grid. The Sprint Race brought more disruption as rain arrived just before the start. The team made the decision to stay on slicks, which looked promising until the conditions worsened. Ben managed the changing grip impressively, finishing P9 and crucially setting a lap fast enough to secure P5 on the grid for Sunday’s Feature Race.

Leon endured a tough Superbike qualifying session and ended up P13. In the Sprint Race, he made a decent launch but was forced to take evasive action after a crash in front of him on lap one, which pushed him back to P19. A determined ride followed, and he recovered to P13, salvaging solid points and earning the same grid spot for Race 2.

Sunday: Podiums, Progress and Persistence

Race day brought heavy rain and tricky track conditions, but the team remained focused.

Leon was first out for the Superbike Sprint. After being shuffled back early on, he dug in and climbed back through the pack, eventually crossing the line in P8. That result secured him a spot on row four (P10) for Race 3.

In the Supersport Feature Race, Ben was determined to make Sunday count. Launching from P5, he immediately slotted into P3 at Turn 1 and looked strong in the opening laps. Unfortunately, as the leaders hit back markers, Ben lost ground in the spray and traffic. He brought it home in a solid P3 a valuable podium finish, particularly with championship rival Stapleford crashing out early. Ben left Knockhill 4th in the standings, just 23 points behind new leader Irwin, with everything still to play for.

Leon’s final race of the weekend followed immediately after Ben’s. Lining up from P10, he again lost a few spots early but began to find momentum only for the race to be red-flagged due to standing water. After a long delay, the race restarted, only to be stopped again due to a bike on track and possible contamination. On the third restart, Leon delivered his strongest ride of the weekend. He climbed as high as P6 and was chasing down the top five, but a late move from Stacey meant he crossed the line in P7. It marked clear progress and gave the team a positive note to end on, with the focus now shifting to Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time.

Ian ‘Hammy’ Darbyshire – Team Manager
"This weekend had just about everything… red flags, weather shifts, delays and close calls but the team stuck at it. I’m really happy with how we kept adapting and kept digging in. But obviously we left with a hunger for more! Ben showed real class in tough conditions and Leon made solid progress all weekend. Wilf didn’t stop from am to pm everyday, along with the rest of the staff, they gave everything. Superbike is ruthless and sometimes the search for that feeling can be tough to unlock. That said, we still managed to cultivate points across all races and we now look ahead to Brands Hatch in just over two weeks with focus and intent. We head there 4th in the Supersport Championship, just -23 points off the top, and joint 3rd in Superbike on 122 points, -70 from Brad. We all know how quickly racing can change, so the goal now is to keep applying pressure and stay right on the heels of the boys at the top."