After a blistering weekend at Snetterton, the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing team headed north to Scotland for Round 4. Knockhill was a tough round in the previous season, Kyle only managing a small points haul after arriving with food poisoning for a weekend he would want to forget, but those points were key in clinching the championship come that memorable final race at Brands Hatch.
Nestled in the hills above Dunfermline, Knockhill is known for its short lap times and extremely technical layout. The narrow width and dramatic changes in gradient test bike control and rider commitment. Because of how much it rises and falls, it’s often compared to a rollercoaster.
The weather closed in on the Wednesday leading up to the event, and the rain brought with it blustery showers and harsh conditions.
Friday:
Friday morning was no better. Kyle made a few changes midway through the first Free Practice (FP1), managing a 52.759 on lap 25 of 32, +0.960 off P1. The conditions would unfortunately worsen during FP2, but Kyle pushed on and achieved a 52.397 on the last lap of the session, putting him +0.436 in P8.
The combined times over the two sessions relegated Kyle to P15 overall, missing out on entry to Q2 by +0.025, with 0.5 covering the top 15 riders.
The team worked well into the evening on some changes, ensuring the best possible performance for Saturday.
Saturday:
With only a 10-minute Warm Up session to test the changes made by the team overnight, Kyle headed out and left it until the last lap to set another fastest lap, with a 47.458, seeing him close the session P2, behind former teammate Brad Ray.
With the weather improving & the track finally drying out, albeit windy, Kyle headed out for Q1. Straight from the off, and coming as no surprise to anyone, the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing rider meant business, going straight out and smashing in a 47.644 to put him on top, and straight into Q2.
With the sun making a welcome appearance, Q2 would kick off a few minutes later, with Kyle posting a 47.558 on just his second lap of the session. With ten minutes left to run, a technical issue would force Kyle to return to the garage to watch the rest of the action. He would be beaten to P1 by 0.165, securing P2 behind the sister Yamaha R1 of Ray for Race 1 that afternoon.
Race One – 30 laps
A storming start saw Kyle take the hole shot ahead of Ray & local boy Rory Skinner & lead the pack into Turn 1, the fearsome Duffus Dip, to a cacophony of applause from the garage. Over the next few laps a battle would take place between the two Yamaha riders, swapping places continuously, much to the delight of the crowd. This would allow Skinner to start his charge for the lead.
By the end of lap 6, the Ducati rider made a decisive move up the inside at the Hairpin to move into second, before snatching the lead on Lap 11. Two laps later and Ray made his move on Skinner, which eased the Ducati rider wide, allowing Ryde back through too into second place. Come on Youth!
The trio were then inseparable for several laps, with Ray edging ahead in the closing stages with Ryde and Skinner completing the podium.
Sunday:
The Sunday morning warm-up was more than a little damp after a shower passed over the circuit a few moments before. It was a steady session, the team checking some overnight changes for Kyle in preparation for the 20 lap race at lunch time.
Race 2 -20 laps
Starting P3, Kyle made a positive start, but it was Ray who led the way, followed by Skinner and Stacey.
After a few laps, Kyle dropped back and lost ground to Bridewell.
Ray was still in the lead from Stacey, with Skinner in P3 and Bridewell ahead of Ryde in P5.
Kyle was obviously not comfortable with his bike as the fuel level dropped, as he started to lose ground and Bridewell pulled away from him.
By Lap 12, Kyle was caught by Danny Kent, dropping him Back to P6 only to lose out to Frazer Rogers in the closing stages, so a P7 finish for Youth.
Race 3 30-laps
It was obvious throughout the day that this would be declared a wet race, and following a few laps, the decision was made by Race Control to stop the race due to climatic conditions in Turns 1 – 4, due to lots of standing water and a reduced lack of vision due to spray.
A few minutes later, thanks to the hard work of the Knockhill team to clear standing water from the track surface, it was time for the restart, this time for a 25 laps race, with original grid positions.
A less than perfect start would see Kyle drop back into P10, in front of Nesbitt and Leon Haslam. A faller at the hairpin causing debris on the track necessitated another Red Flag, and with the torrential rain, race control once again stopped the race.
On the third restart, the Nitrous OMG team had a technical issue which caused a delay in releasing Kyle from the garage, which meant he was then late exiting pitlane for the sighting laps, so was relegated to the back of the grid in P24. Not ideal, but safety is paramount.
Professional as ever, Kyle remained focused, and by Lap 3 of 16 and had moved up to P18. He was on a charge. Every lap another rider to catch and pass, with Bridewell and Brookes amongst them.
Still pushing, Kyle was averaging a 52.00 lap, where the riders around him were at 52.8s, each lap giving him someone else to chase and pass.
Come Lap 14 of 16 Kyle over took Danny Kent into the hairpin and moved up to take P11, where he would finish, bagging five important points in the championship.
OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing leave Knockhill P2 in the Teams’ Standings, with Kyle Ryde P2 in the Riders’ Standings.
After a blistering weekend at Snetterton, the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing team headed north to Scotland for Round 4. Knockhill was a tough round in the previous season, Kyle only managing a small points haul
Official Kyle Ryde website of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Champion