Christian Iddon will return to Ducati’s Panigale V4R in next year’s Bennetts British Superbike series after signing for the Oxford Racing team as Tommy Bridewell’s replacement.

Iddon joins the team having previously celebrated his best results in 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 has also extended its title partnership with Oxford Products, which enters its fifth consecutive season of association with Moto Rapido Ducati in 2023.

“Ducati is the manufacturer that I have had the most success with when I had two fantastic years on the bike previously,” said Iddon.

“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 Moore, 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 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.”

The team - based at its Moto Rapido Ducati dealership in Winchester - has become a firm title contender since its debut Superbike season in 2011, scoring its best championship finish with the runner-up position in 2021 and a third place in the 2019 and 2022 campaigns.