Kyle Ryde was flying the flag solo for the OMG GRILLA Yamaha team today after Ryan Vickers was ruled out of action with illness. The Nottinghamshire rider brought his R1 home in two wet races, finishing in 14th and 15th place respectively.
After a stunning fourth-place finish in the drying conditions on Saturday, Kyle Ryde faced two sodden races at Knockhill on Sunday, as he lined up as the sole OMG GRILLA Yamaha rider.
Posting the sixth fastest time in Race 1, Ryde started the 20-lap sprint race from fifth – having gained a grid spot given Vickers’ illness – and looked to settle into the race. Still sore from his Qualifying spill, which resulted in a twisted left knee, Youth continued to push on in the difficult conditions, and ultimately brought his R1 home in 14th, bagging two valuable points for his title affair.
With conditions remaining wet for Sunday’s final 30-lap race, a 19th place grid start left him with some work to do. Improving the feeling of his R1 having missed some valuable track time on Friday, Ryde felt good, but vision issues in the misty conditions held him back. Working his way up to 17th by the midway stage, ‘Youth’ inherited 16th from Andrew Irwin, before a red flag incident for a rider ahead eventually promoted him to 15th.
For team-mate Ryan Vickers, it wasn’t quite the welcome return to action he had hoped for, after crashing out of Saturday’s race and coming down with an illness overnight. Despite the best efforts of Ryan, the team and the medics, Vickers was unable to line up on the grid.
The team will return to base before preparation begins for Round 5 at Snetterton on 5-7th July.
“I’m happy that we got a good result yesterday and limited the damage a little bit given today’s results weren’t anything to shout about. However, with that said, after waking up this morning I knew it was going to be difficult. It wasn’t the fastest, or smoothest day, but we’re leaving with a couple of points which, you never know, might prove useful come Brands Hatch in October. Thanks to the team, the fans for braving the conditions, the BSB medics and Becky from BTST Osteopathy for helping me get through it.”
Kyle Ryde was flying the flag solo for the OMG GRILLA Yamaha team today after Ryan Vickers was ruled out of action with illness. The Nottinghamshire rider brought his R1 home in two wet races,
Official Kyle Ryde website of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Champion