The Buildbase Suzuki team heads to Donington Park for the fifth and penultimate round of the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship this weekend, and after a difficult outing at Oulton Park last time out, the Mallory Park-based outfit is aiming for a return to form at the Leicestershire circuit.

In the main, Donington proved a happy hunting ground for Superbike rookie Kyle Ryde at the opening round of the season. Despite a hole in the radiator curtailing a race early, the youngster was able to place his GSX-R1000 on the front row of the grid in qualifying and led a race. After demonstrating his pace was no fluke with another front row at Snetterton and a double victory at Silverstone, the reigning GP2 Champion is confident of a return to podium contention this weekend after the disappointment of Oulton Park.

Kyle Ryde:

“Oulton was a bad weekend that I kind of knew had to happen at some point, racing is never just the high points, but I didn’t expect to struggle as much as we did. But on the other hand the team has worked so well because we sat down a few days later and talked it through, looked at everything, and sussed out the problem quite quickly. So I’m looking forward to getting back to Donington; we were fast and the bike worked well there last time, we obviously qualified well and led a race, and I’m confident we can have another good weekend there this time around.”


Keith Farmer will continue his return from injury this weekend at the scene of the crash that ruled him out of the opening half of the campaign. However, a return to racing at Oulton Park gave the twice National Superstock 1000 Champion his first taste of competitive action in over a year, and the Northern Irishman is looking to continue building his confidence and speed this weekend.

Keith Farmer:

It was good to be back racing again at Oulton Park. Obviously, I made it to qualifying at Donington in August but those races at Oulton were my first in 15 months, and even though I was riding a bit tight it was just nice to get them under my belt. We also identified the areas we need to improve so we can start working towards the top 10. I struggled a bit with a full fuel load and new tyres, but the pace towards the end of the races wasn’t bad, so hopefully we can work in that area this weekend and have three good races.”

The team will continue to field three GSX-R1000 Superbikes this weekend, with Gino Rea again in action alongside Ryde and Farmer. Making good progress with his adaptation to the Buildbase Suzuki and the setup of his GSX-R1000, Rea moves on from Oulton Park – a circuit at which he boasts relatively little experience – to Donington Park ready to continue that progress and improve his pace further.

Gino Rea:

“On paper the results didn’t show how much we progressed at Oulton, but I was really happy with the steps we made. I don’t have much experience at Oulton, so I was happy enough with P10 in race one, but the bike actually felt best in race three, where we were in the battle for eighth. Our pace was good and definitely better than the result sheet showed. Now I’m excited to get Donington and continue the work we’ve been putting in over the last few rounds, and hopefully we can have three strong races with some good results. Thanks again to the team for the opportunity to see out the season with them.”