BSB: Oxford Products Racing Ducati expand into Supersport with Ben Currie

The Oxford Products Racing Ducati team will expand their presence within the Bennetts British Superbike Championship paddock in 2023 by entering the Supersport class.

The Moto Rapido squad becomes the official factory team for Ducati – supported by Ducati UK and Ducati Corse – and will run a Panigale V2 machine in the Quattro Group British Supersport Championship.

Ben Currie has signed for the team following his campaign in the World Championship this season. The Australian is a race winner in the British series and finished runner-up to Jack Kennedy in 2021. Currie won one race and recorded 11 podiums in total during his campaign.

“It is a dream come true to join the Moto Rapido team to ride a Ducati in the British Championship,” Currie said. “I honestly cannot wait to ride the V2, I have been racing against it all year in the World Championship and it looks super strong.

“With a year under its belt racing at that level, combined with the experience of the team, I’m confident that we can challenge for the title. For now, the key is to prepare for next year.”

The bike will be built at the Moto Rapido superbike workshop in Winchester to the same specification as the World Championship machines, working together with the team’s technical partners, Termignoni and K-tech.

Changes to the Supersport regulations allowed Ducati to enter their V2 in the World Championship this year, whilst MV Augusta and Triumph also returned to the series.

Nicolo Bulega secured the bike’s first podium in the second race of the year at Aragon, and went on to secure a further seven podiums on his way to fourth in the championship. Federico Caricasulo also finished on the rostrum on four occasions, ending 2022 sixth overall.

“This is certainly a new challenge for us to make our class debut, but with the information about the Panigale V2 we have from helping several champions in the TriOptions Cup it is the natural next step for our team,” Team Boss, Steve Moore said.

“We are very happy to have secured Ben as our rider and welcome him to the team. Having been a front-runner in British Supersport, we will use his expertise of the class, along with our technical team from the Superbike side of the garage to help him and we expect development progress to be swift.

“It’s fantastic to see Ducati UK and Ducati Corse so excited about this challenge. They are keen to showcase the Panigale V2 in the UK and have been fantastic with the technical guidance we have already received.”

Christian Iddon will race for their 2022 Superbike campaign.