Surprise Name Gets BSB Call-Up With Oxford Products Ducati

Xavi Fores, who outside of a few good results early on in his first of two seasons in BSB, failed to live up to the billing in 2019, following his switch to the British championship from WorldSBK.

But the Spanish rider is back for an attempt to end Oxford Products Ducati’s 2024 season on a high following the injury suffered by Christian Iddon.

Fores was somewhat of a Superbike star before coming to British Superbike, as he enjoyed several visits to the podium with independent teams.

But as was also the case for another ex-world championship rider in Hector Barbera, it didn’t mean automatic success in BSB.

However, Fores is back and aiming to get good results for the team, saying: “I’m very happy to come back to the series with a strong team like Oxford Products Racing Ducati. It was an easy conversation between Wilf and myself to arrange the deal. I wanted to race after a crazy season and he was happy to have me on the team.

“I’m really looking forward to start the weekend and specially to enjoy the experience with them. We are going to have a lot of work to do in order to understand everything in a very short time, but my target is to have good fun and enjoy my comeback to BSB.”

Fores’ first season in BSB took place with Honda where he enjoyed steady success, but his 2021 season with BMW was far from successful. Although he didn’t compete in every race, Fores was a top-ten finisher just twice in 17 races.

Team Owner of Oxford Products Ducati, Steve Moore, added: “It is obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for Christian to miss the final round of the season, but the priority is for him [to] recover from his surgery and start working towards his recovery.

“We have had some real highlights this season; a victory and a further seven podium finishes and remained in the fight for the title until the closing stages.

“To have a rider of Xavi’s calibre to join us this weekend is a great opportunity. He has plenty of experience across a multitude of classes, disciplines and manufacturers and so I am looking forward to him being a part of the team this weekend.

“We have no pressure or expectations on him, but we will are aiming to work with his feedback and keep moving forward throughout the weekend.”

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