It was a weekend of contrasting fortunes for the TAG Racing Honda squad at the opening round of the 2026 ZYN British Superbike Championship over the May Bank Holiday weekend. However, the team walked away with a handful of BSB points and a sixth-place finish for Matt Truelove in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship.
The weekend got off to a positive start for the team, with all three riders making constructive progress during their free practice sessions. Nesbitt secured his place in Sunday’s second qualifying session, while Rogers narrowly missed out by just one tenth of a second, achieving his personal best lap time at the Cheshire circuit in the process.
Truelove sat comfortably inside the top five of the Superstock standings and felt that achieving a strong grid position in qualifying would be possible.
Following overnight rain, qualifying was run in tricky conditions, with the track surface drying but with some damp patches remaining. Fraser struggled to improve his time from earlier in the weekend and failed to join his teammate in Q2, qualifying 20th for the afternoon’s opening race. Nesbitt also struggled to improve due to the conditions; however, he lined up at the head of the fifth row in 13th after posting a 1:34.548.
Later during Sunday’s track action, Matt Truelove enjoyed an extremely positive qualifying session in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship. After posting his fastest lap of the weekend, a 1:36.39, he lined up in the middle of the second row in fifth for his sole race on Monday afternoon.
The opening ZYN British Superbike Championship race of 2026 on Sunday afternoon saw mixed fortunes for Charlie Nesbitt and Fraser Rogers. After a tough start, dropping back to 20th place on the opening lap, Nesbitt crashed out unhurt on lap four while attempting to make progress through the field in search of his first points of the season.
However, Rogers enjoyed a positive start and began working his way through the field, finding himself in the points-paying positions by the midpoint of the 18-lap race. After being passed by fellow Honda rider Josh Brookes, Rogers found his rhythm and continued his progress up the leaderboard. As the chequered flag fell, he crossed the line in 14th, collecting two championship points in the process.
By virtue of their lap times from the opening race, Rogers lined up 17th on the grid for Monday’s sprint race, with Nesbitt in 20th, but the duo were determined to achieve positive results.
The sprint race proved to be a tricky 12-lapper for Charlie Nesbitt. After a good start, he began to chase down the group battling for the top 12, which included his teammate Rogers. However, on lap four he was pushed wide onto the grass by another rider, forcing him to crash out of the race—thankfully unhurt.
Rogers, who was once again dicing with Josh Brookes and Danny Kent, rode a strong race and looked to get the better of Kent on the final lap. However, he lost out in the drag to the line, finishing 15th and collecting the final championship point.
Once again, their lap times from the sprint race determined their grid positions for the final race, with Fraser starting 14th and Charlie 16th.
The final 18-lap race of the weekend proved frustrating for the team. Nesbitt battled hard on every lap to progress through the field, but despite pushing consistently, he was unable to improve on his starting position and finished 16th.
Fraser fought with Jason O’Halloran and Josh Brookes, with the trio swapping positions until lap 15, when a fuel pump failure forced the 30-year-old to retire from 15th place.
Matt Truelove secured a solid sixth-place finish in the opening race of the 2026 Pirelli National Superstock Championship after starting from fifth on the grid. He made a strong start, running second for the opening three laps, but after losing a couple of positions in a titanic battle with the leading group, he forced to settle for sixth when a red flag signalled the end of the race, collecting 14 points.
Charlie Nesbitt:
“I’ll be honest, I’m frustrated with this weekend—for myself and for the team. It got off to a good start: we made Q2 and I qualified in a strong position, but I made an awful start to race one and crashed out while trying to recover the ground I’d lost. From that point, it wrecked our weekend.
“My grid position for the sprint race was poor because of that. I was pushed wide in that race and couldn’t keep it upright, which meant I couldn’t continue. I suppose everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. The big positive is that I feel really comfortable with the bike and the speed is there—I’ve just got to put the whole weekend together better and place myself in stronger positions. I want to say sorry to the team—they’re giving me everything and I can’t thank them enough.”
Fraser Rogers:
“It’s been a challenge, that’s for sure, but I was expecting it to be tougher heading into the weekend, if I’m honest. We knew the bike would be a handful around Oulton Park, but I’ve set my fastest lap time here and shown some good pace, which is pleasing.
“The first two races were relatively okay—I battled hard and brought home some solid points. In race three, we were unlucky. The technical issue we had can’t be helped, so we’ll look ahead to the next round. Donington is a circuit that suits our package better, and I’m hopeful for stronger results.”
Matt Truelove:
“Overall, it’s been a pleasing weekend. We’ve shown good pace throughout all the sessions and brought home solid championship points in the race. I felt like we had the pace for a podium, but a few things didn’t go our way. The important thing is we finished, collected good points, and it sets us up nicely heading into round two at Donington.”
Team Manager Gary Winfield:
“It’s been a challenging weekend; however, we’ll take the positives and focus on what we can improve for the next round. The weekend started well for all three riders, but from Sunday onwards, luck wasn’t on our side. Charlie had a couple of small crashes—one of which was unavoidable—and Fraser was unlucky in race three with the technical issue.
“Matt rode well, and it’s a positive, encouraging result for him—something we can build on heading into round two at Donington Park. I must thank the whole team for their efforts across the weekend; they’ve worked tirelessly. We now look forward to the next round—our home circuit—where we want to show what we can do as a team.”
The team will return to action for round two of the ZYN British Superbike Championship at Donington Park on May 15–17.
