Closing that gap in Most!

The Motocorsa Ducati Team headed to Most, Czech Republic, for round five of the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship. The circuit where Ryan had made his WorldSBK debut in 2022.  

Overnight rain left the track wet but drying for Friday's sessions. FP1 and FP2 were very positive for Ryan, who came close to the top ten and finished both sessions in twelfth position. The team was closing in on that top ten position they know they deserve. 

In FP3, the team took a step forward with pace and was looking forward to qualifying. 

In qualifying they didn't quite achieve exactly the maximum we thought was available, as they had some problems with tyre pressure, resulting in a lack of grip, which was added to by the yellow flags and other issues. The team made improvements towards the end of the session, but not as many as all the other riders managed. 

Ryan felt frustrated, as his starting grid position did not reflect his pace, leaving him with work to do. Starting in P18, Ryan finished in P16, chasing Redding and Sofuoglu while keeping Rabat behind. 

On Sunday during the Superpole race, the team made significant progress in pace and bike performance. Ryan was very pleased in race two because he completed the race 10 seconds faster over the entire distance than the previous day. He managed every lap in 1:32 seconds, representing a substantial improvement, and "it's clear we're getting faster".

Overall, round five was positive. The primary goal remains to close the gap to the frontrunners in Superbike. Therefore, next week's upcoming tests at Misano will be crucial for further progress ahead of round six of the 2025 World Championship.

Ryan Vickers 

Leaving Most with mixed feelings. We made a big step forward, although it doesn't look like it on the results. Our race pace was 10 seconds faster today than yesterday, and I did every single lap in the 32s, which is a big step forward. The bike felt better, but we've still not figured out how to improve its turning, which is the biggest issue for me. So we go away happy. We have improved, but we are also a bit frustrated that we are struggling to unlock this last part. 

We have a test this weekend at Misano, which is a great time of year for us to have it, so we can go and try a lot with the bike. We are in a position now where we have not really changed the bike chassis-wise for the last two rounds, and had similar issues, we have tired suspension and not been able to fix with a simple fix, so maybe it's more to do with chassis and we have to do something more drastic and we cant change too much over a race weekend. 

Overall, I am happy. We aren't where we want to be, but I feel I am learning. I've improved my riding so much and my understanding of everything more now. We just need to find a little something more from the bike, and then I believe we will be in an excellent position, so it's not far away. We just have to trust the process.  

Thanks for all your support!