Oxford Products Racing Ducati have announced the signing of Christian Iddon for the 2023 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, as the multiple race-winner joins the team in their bid for the title next season.
The team based at their Moto Rapido Ducati dealership in Winchester have become firm title contenders since their debut Superbike season in 2011, scoring their best championship finish with the runner-up position in 2021 and a third place in their 2019 and 2022 campaigns.
Iddon joins the team having previously celebrated his best results in Bennetts BSB with Ducati, finishing third and fourth in the title battle in the 2020 and 2021 seasons respectively; with his first race win in the series also coming with the Italian manufacturer.
The team also extend their title partnership with Oxford Products, who enter their fifth consecutive season of association with Moto Rapido Ducati in 2023.
Iddon said: “Ducati is the manufacturer that I have had the most success with when I had two fantastic years on the bike previously. My 2021 season was much better than my 2020 season but the end result didn’t reflect it, it was circumstance that did. I felt I was getting stronger all the time on it so it feels great to be heading back to Ducati and to a new team for me with Oxford Products Racing Ducati.
Moto Rapido is a team that I have kept an eye on for a while, I have always been pals with the Team Owner Steve, so hopefully that stays! It is a team that has always had success, but in the last couple of years, they have had even more. They have really stepped up with the combined effort of rider with Tommy [Bridewell] and the team in recent years.
“Certainly last year they were the Ducati team who had everything required to take the fight for the championship and that is the important part for me. They are a team who are constantly developing and very technically minded which I believe will suit me. I am really looking forward to the challenge and what it may bring.
“I am coming off the back of what I think has been my hardest ever year in the championship. I have had worst seasons with injuries, but I have never had one where the effort and the possibility was so contrasting to the actual result that we actually got because I believe we had the potential. That is the nature of the beast and that is racing and sport.
“I am really looking forward now to trying to right those wrongs and get back to where I believe I should be and setting my sights back on my goal, which is to be British Champion.”
Team Owner Steve Moore commented: ”Firstly, thank you to Oxford Products for their continued support. We have gone from strength to strength with their help and we look forward to continuing to reward them with another fantastic season in 2023. They are a company with racing in their heart and they have become an integral part of our racing. Thanks to the boss Andrew Hammond for the continued and increased support even in these uncertain times. I know BSB fans will be sure to pick something from the Oxford shelves in their local dealerships too.
“I’m also very pleased to welcome Christian to the team; he was the number one choice for me. His experience of Ducati and the great form he had on the V4R before is confidence inspiring. The bike has developed substantially since he last rode it, so I can’t wait to get him on our bike and begin making it work for him with the 2023 updates.
“I am sure he will thrive with the focus of being in a one rider team. I’ve already had many technical conversations with him and we seem to be on the same page - he’s as nerdy as me with the technical details so we do get along really well and that’s key to the racing family ethic in our team. He even seems to have a sense of humour too, which he’ll need!”