Christian Iddon: BSB columnist

Having ended his 2025 British Superbike campaign with a bang, Iddon reflects on his season and tells us what’s next…

(Pics – Malcom Shorter / Tim Keeton)

I left you at the last column having just won a race and I then went and stuck the Kawasaki back on the box at the very next round. It was all the culmination of a second part of the season where we have pretty much been building on confidence and feeling round after round. As such, I arrived at the final round of the series in joint 5th in the standings but, with a good weekend I could potentially finish as high as 3rd in the series. I’d had an ace race earlier in the year at Brands I was already feeling confident my bike would be epic and that we could challenge at the front again.

That hope held true as the weekend got underway as I took my best qualifying of the season and put the ZX10-RR on the front row for the last ever time it will be raced under the FS-3 banner and, as far as I know, that bike might not even be on the grid at all next season.

Unfortunately, I had a tiny tip off in the first race which put my hopes of a proper championship position to bed. However, I’d gone into the weekend with the mindset of just pushing as hard as I could each and every race, and what will be will be. Therefore, as much as it was very annoying to crash, I was pushing on as was the plan and I was chasing down the leading group of riders. I had pace and was doing what I set out to do so I was still content with my performance.

The final day of the 2025 championship was already upon us and after going down the previous day and now with no championship to worry about, I had nothing to lose. The plan was the same, to push on hard and to give the bike and the team the sendoff they deserve. I wanted to go out with a bang. I’d woke that morning feeling good about how the day was going go. Podiums and maybe even a win was the achievable target and I was excited to get going. That bang I wanted to go out with happened. It just wasn’t the type of bang I was aiming for.

Rounding just the second lap of the race I lost the rear around clearways. It’s a fast turn and speed is your friend in those instances as it usually brings the bike back in line but not this time. I kept her pinned convinced it would come straight but as I drifted through the turn, the slide that should have come back into line, had now drifted even further and to the point of no return.

Watching these things back is always surprising because on TV it all happens so fast but in the moment it feels like slow motion. Like, as I was ejected, upwards and forwards away from my bike, I remember feeling the reassuring thud as my Alpinestars airbag deployed as it should. It’s odd to say that’s a nice feeling but it sure is reassuring.

I remember, still mid-flight, thinking what was coming next? I knew I was going to be going up the track, and I knew it was only lap 2, I was near the front, and I had nearly an entire field of riders that would have to miss both myself and my bike. I even remember after I landed, my bike being behind me and thinking that was actually a good thing as it would protect me from the other bikes.

Thankfully, all those guys behind did an amazing job to miss me (and my bike) and I more or less walked away as unscathed as I could have hoped. I did give my head a good wobble in the incident. I didn’t bang it at all, but I must have had some kind of concussion through whip lash as I felt totally out of it and the (wonderful) BSB medical team deemed my nonsensical ramblings worthy of a trip to the local hospital for a scan which basically is where I finished my 2025 campaign.

I got back to the track just as the last ticker tape fell from the sky as Kyle was crowned once more. The day was now dull and dreary. I felt groggy as hell, and I was hurting all over. Everyone was packing down already as the buzz of BSB would soon go into hibernation for the winter.

I was absolutely gutted as this was not how the season was supposed to end. I’ve had one of the most incredible seasons of my career under the AJN Steelstock banner, we’ve had good results, and I’ve loved working with each and every person within the team but despite all this, as I went into the weekend (and a few before), I already knew I was going to be leaving.

I hobbled back into the garage and sat with my guys. They all knew already I was going, and we all felt the same pain that we didn’t get the fairytale ending. It was pretty emotional (as emotional as a load of ‘masculine’ motorbikers get) as I said my thank yous and I walked out that garage for the last time.

I don’t think anyone really saw me leaving my former team and for a long while, neither did I. When the Sencat by Swan racing team first got in touch and we began chatting, I was happy in my environment and I was reasonably content with the performance of the machinery, so why would I ever want to move?

Well, that reason is the chance to race the bike that has literally just won the British Championship. The team acquired all the kit from the Nitrous Competitions team and as a racer there is no greater opportunity than to jump aboard the best bike in the paddock.

Maybe I could have stayed and been ‘happy’ as I have been this year, collected a pay check and just been content, but that isn’t why I race. It took a few long sleepless nights for me to realise the fact that if I didn’t embrace this opportunity entirely than I wasn’t actually being fair to myself. All the years of effort, pain and sacrifice just not from myself but from those around me would be wasted if all I wanted from racing is simply to be happy. No, I came with a purpose and a goal, and I need to give myself the best opportunity to achieve that.

For sure, jumping on the bike that has won the championship comes with a lot of pressure but I’m totally cool with that. I feel fortunate to have that pressure because it means I have a great opportunity. It’s sink or swim for me. Either I’m good enough or I’m not, but either way, I’ll know I had every opportunity to achieve as I throw down my last roll of the dice.

As we speak, I’m resting up after a small surgical procedure to fix an old injury that got aggravated in the crash, but the team is already working hard in the background getting the right personnel we need to be competitive and they have already taken delivery of the bikes. Just as soon as I’m fixed up, we will be off to Spain to spin our first laps together before the year is out. There’s no time to be sentimental. 2026 is right around the corner.