TAG Racing delivered a determined performance at Oulton Park as the 2026 ZYN British Superbike Championship reached round six, with the team securing valuable championship points across a demanding weekend on the Cheshire circuit.
Difficult qualifying sessions left the superbike pair of Charlie Nesbitt and Fraser Rogers with work to do in the opening 18-lap feature race on Saturday. Nesbitt qualified 20th on the grid after struggling to maximise the performance of his Fireblade around the undulating circuit, while Rogers was 18th, unable to improve on his best lap set in free practice.
Nesbitt opened the weekend with a solid recovery ride in race one on Saturday, gaining positions throughout to finish 16th. The young rider then produced a determined charge in Sunday’s sprint race, climbing from 19th on the grid to 14th, showing strong pace in the closing stages. He would then starting 17th for the final race of the weekend, with ‘Spud’ again moving forward through the pack to secure another 14th-place finish, completing a consistent points-scoring weekend for him, and his team.
Rogers’ weekend began in frustrating fashion when a technical issue forced him to retire early on from race one, despite showing encouraging pace. The experienced TAG Racing rider responded strongly on Sunday, taking 15th place in the 12-lap sprint race after starting 18th on the grid.
He then delivered the team’s best result of the weekend in the final race, charging from 16th to 12th with a series of decisive overtakes around the demanding Oulton Park International circuit.
Matt Truelove continued his strong form in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship securing 10th place on the grid in qualifying, and putting himself in contention for solid championship points across the weekend’s two races.
In race one on Saturday, the TAG Racing rider made a confident start and remained in the fight for the leading group throughout the contest, although he would be forced to settle for seventh position with just two laps remaining of the race, after a red flag was produced due to track contamination.
Race two proved to be a more dramatic affair for the Lincolnshire-man. Truelove ran off track on the opening lap, dropping back to 11th place, but responded with a determined recovery ride. Working his way back through the field, he became embroiled in a close battle with team-mate Van Sikkelerus before ultimately securing eighth place, after working his way through the field, and another valuable points haul.
Van Sikkelerus qualified 18th after a challenging session on Saturday, but immediately showed that his race pace was significantly stronger than his grid position suggested.
The Dutch rider fought forward to finish 14th in race one and, importantly, set his fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:36.885.
Starting from 13th in race two on Sunday, Van Sikkelerus produced another aggressive charge through the field, and racing hard to take 12th at the chequered flag and complete a positive weekend of progress for the riders and team.
Charlie Nesbitt: “Ultimately my results this weekend haven’t been good enough, but it isn’t for the lack of trying. I feel like I’m riding as hard as I ever have, and we’re just not getting the rewards, and that is disappointing really. In the final race, we did make the bike better, I had a lot more confidence but I wasn’t able to fight my way through, however we were able to collect a solid points scoring finish. We head to Thruxton next, it’s my home round and a place that I’ve had a lot of success at so hopefully we can achieve some great results there.”
Fraser Rogers: “We’ve ended this weekend on a positive note really, even though it’s been a tough weekend, we have improved the bike a lot and made a good step forward, but ultimately the results aren’t good enough for all of us. Credit to the team they are working around the clock to give me a package I can fight with, we’re not far away. Hopefully we change our fortunes at Thruxton, my home round.”
Matt Truelove: “Overall I’m disappointed with this weekend, however looking on the bright side we have come away with solid points towards the Championship. Although it’s not where I, or the team expected to be, we still fought hard and did the best we could. We’re heading to tracks now that I really enjoy, and I’ve had a fair bit of success in the past, so that fills me with confidence. We’re still in the Championship fight, but if we want to be in true contention results need to improve and I know that, so I’ll be doing all I can to turn it around at Thruxton.”
Jaimie Van Sikkelerus: “We made a step this weekend, which gave me a lot of trust and confidence as well. We know where we are struggling, but now after the operation is done on my knee we can work on the progress to make it better, on and off the bike. So it gives me a lot of confidence and I’m looking forward to the next couple of races.
“I will work very hard in the background at the gym to get all the strength. The positions are still not where we want to be. We need to be fighting in the top 10 for sure, but I think we will get to that point before the end of season, because I feel much more comfortable and this is now where our season begins I feel.”
Team manager Gary Winfield: “Again it’s been another challenging weekend for us, but in truth, we’ve left with points on the board in all classes, and that something positive for us to reflect upon in the break between races. In the final superbike race we did make some good progress with both Charlie and Fraser, we have something to build upon heading to Thruxton and I feel that will give us a good reference point to hopefully kick start the rest of the year.
“Matt has struggled this weekend, but in all honesty, he’s ridden well, he just hasn’t had much luck, and sometimes these weekends happen, but it’s about how we bounce back, and I’m sure he’ll be back in the fight. Even though Jaimie came into this round following another surgery on his leg, he’s ridden incredibly well and taken points in both races, it’s certainly a starting point and again, hopefully something he can now kick on from.
“All in all, the final finishing places aren’t where we expect to be, however, with both packages we have made progress with and it gives us as a whole team confidence heading to Thruxton.”
Fraser Rogers now 17th in the ZYN BSB standings on 24 points, with Nesbitt 19th on 12. Matt Truelove sits fifth on 122 in the Pirelli National Superstock standings, with Jaimie 20th on 10. The team now have a ten-day turnaround before heading south to Thruxton for round seven of the series on August 14 to 16.
