Kam Dixon Battles Through Difficult Donington Weekend

Round 2 of the 2026 Bennetts British Superbike Championship brought the Superstock field back to Donington Park, just weeks after pre-season testing at the Leicestershire circuit.

After a bruising opening round at Oulton Park, the focus this weekend was firmly on rebuilding momentum and turning the encouraging pace shown during testing into a stronger race weekend result.

Donington’s Grand Prix layout remains one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar. Fast through Craner Curves, technical through the final sector and always rewarding commitment, it’s a track that quickly exposes confidence, rhythm and stability.

Kam also arrived at the weekend still feeling the effects of his heavy Oulton Park crash, with ongoing discomfort in his back continuing to make things physically difficult across the opening stages of the meeting.

Friday’s opening session provided an encouraging start for Kam and the team.

Running in bright, dry conditions, Kam completed 12 laps in FP1, steadily building pace as the session developed. His best effort of 1:31.538 came on lap 10 and placed him 11th overall in a hugely competitive Superstock field.  

The margins throughout the session were predictably tight. Kam finished just 0.449 seconds away from the top ten and 1.157 seconds adrift of the session-leading time set by TAG Racing Honda rider Matt Truelove.  

Perhaps more encouragingly, the pace looked consistent throughout the session, with Kam running comfortably inside the midfield battle that remains separated by only fractions of a second around the flowing Donington GP circuit.

After the setbacks of Oulton Park, it marked a far more settled and positive start to the weekend, giving Kam and the team a solid foundation to continue building from heading into the afternoon.

FP2 proved far more difficult.

Although conditions remained dry and stable, with air temperatures around 12 degrees, track temperatures just below 21 degrees and only light winds across the circuit, the session never quite came together for Kam.

As the session entered its closing stages, Kam suffered a technical issue at Redgate with just over three minutes remaining, bringing his run to an early end.

Up to that point, progress had been limited, with a best lap of 1:31.922 leaving him 25th in the session standings.  

After the promise shown earlier in the day, it was a frustrating way to end Friday’s running, particularly with the midfield pack once again separated by incredibly small margins.

Saturday’s schedule saw a slight late adjustment, with an additional Free Practice 3 session added earlier in the afternoon before qualifying later in the day.

Without it, the Superstock field would have faced a long wait before returning to the circuit, so the extra session provided a valuable opportunity to reset following Friday’s frustrations.

Importantly, Kam responded well.

In cool but dry conditions, he completed four laps and immediately looked far more comfortable on the bike, setting a 1:32.113 to finish third overall in the session, just 0.679 seconds away from the quickest time.  

After the technical issues and physical discomfort that had hampered Friday afternoon’s running, it marked a much-needed step back in the right direction and suggested the underlying pace from FP1 was still very much there.

However, the picture changed dramatically as the afternoon progressed.

Dark clouds rolled across Donington before heavy rain arrived ahead of qualifying, leaving the Grand Prix circuit damp and treacherous by the time the Superstock field headed out for their sole qualifying session.

Grip levels deteriorated quickly, confidence became critical, and with conditions evolving lap by lap, the session turned into a battle simply to find a rhythm.

Unfortunately for Kam, qualifying never came together.

Still managing discomfort following the heavy Oulton Park crash the previous weekend, Kam struggled to find confidence in the conditions and completed just six laps, recording a best time of 1:48.366.

That left him 36th on the grid for Sunday’s race, a frustrating outcome after the progress shown earlier in the day.  

Sunday began in cool, overcast conditions, with the traditional warm-up session offering one final opportunity to make adjustments ahead of the opening race.

Kam completed four laps during the short session and looked far more competitive once again, setting a best time of 1:34.322 to finish ninth overall.  

After Saturday’s difficult qualifying session, it represented a far more encouraging start to race day and offered a timely confidence boost heading into the afternoon’s race.

Sunday’s race took place in cool but dry conditions, with air temperatures around 13 degrees and track temperatures climbing towards 23 degrees by the time the Superstock field lined up on the grid.

Starting from 36th after Saturday’s difficult qualifying session, Kam immediately produced one of the standout opening laps in the field.

Making up 11 places on the first lap alone, he charged through to 25th by the end of lap one, slicing his way through the pack and immediately showing the kind of pace that had looked possible earlier in the weekend before the weather disrupted qualifying.

The progress continued during the early stages as the midfield battle intensified, but the complexion of the race changed dramatically on lap three.

Ahead of Kam, Max Symonds suffered a huge highside exiting the Melbourne Loop, crashing heavily directly in front of the pursuing group. With the stricken Honda Fireblade sliding across the circuit, Kam was forced to take immediate avoiding action, almost coming to a complete stop to avoid the incident unfolding ahead of him.

Although he successfully avoided contact, the evasive action dropped him back to 28th, and the safety car was almost instantly deployed as marshals dealt with fluid spillage and cleared the circuit following the crash.

Conditions then took another turn, as light rain began falling across parts of the circuit, particularly around Craner Curves and the Old Hairpin. The race was red-flagged whilst under the safety car conditions, creating immediate confusion throughout the pit lane. 

Kam entered the pits earlier than much of the field as uncertainty spread regarding the restart procedure, tyre choices and the rapidly changing weather conditions.

What followed was a chaotic build-up to the restart.

A shortened seven-lap race was declared wet despite much of the circuit remaining largely dry, leaving teams and riders facing an extremely difficult tyre decision. Most of the field initially remained on dry tyres, but worsening conditions just before the restart saw several riders raise concerns on the grid.

As the additional warm-up laps unfolded, numerous riders peeled into pit lane to swap onto wet tyres, leaving a partially empty grid and splitting the field between those committing to slicks and those gambling on wets from the pit lane.

Ultimately, Kam did not rejoin the restarted race, bringing a frustrating and deeply disrupted weekend to an early conclusion. The race itself was eventually won by the SMS / Nicholl Oil BMW of David Allingham.

Reflecting on the weekend, Kam said:

“Tough weekend.

It’s going about as badly as it can at the moment, and there’s not much to say really.

I’ll give my head a good wobble and see you at Knockhill. Huge thank you to all my team and family for sticking with me during this tough spot. I’ve got some great people around me, and we’ll turn this around and make it all worthwhile.”

With Donington Park now complete, the Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads into a short break before returning after the Isle of Man TT period.

Attention will then turn to Knockhill Racing Circuit for Round 3 on 19th–21st June, where Kam and the team will look to put a difficult Donington weekend behind them and get their 2026 campaign back on track.