This weekend saw the first of two visits this season to Brands Hatch for the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB). It was a weekend of both positivity & sadness for the team at Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing, as they bid farewell to Founder Alan Gardner, stalwart of the squad since inception in 2018.
Saturday saw the public announcement that Nitrous Competitions, headed up by David Williams & Matthew Phillips, were taking over the double championship winners, with Alan moving on to concentrate on his passion, developing young talent through the Kove brand, thankfully still within the BSB paddock.
Brands Hatch is a circuit that has brought fantastic results to the team at Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing, with Ryan Vickers bagging the triple here last season, followed, of course, by Kyle Ryde’s sensational championship victory here at last year’s season finale.
Friday
In his own typical style, Kyle left it to the last lap of FP1 to set a lap of 1m:25.480s, as the defending champion marked his return to Brands Hatch, snatching the advantage from Bradley Ray by 0.148s. FP2 would see Ray and Skinner ahead of him on the timing sheets as he headed towards the close of the session. His fastest lap would end with a crash at Stirling’s, but his position in Q2 on Saturday would be more than safe. Following a quick check over by the BSB Medical Team, he was declared fit to race, much to the relief of the team.
Saturday
The format of the weekend saw a slightly earlier slot for the Bandero Café Shoot Out than we’re used to, with the Top 12 riders from Friday’s FP sessions joining the fastest 3 from Q1 to decide the first 5 rows of the grid for Race 1.
During the 15-minute session, Kyle and Ray would swap top spot over a few laps, with Redding trying to close up behind. A red flag with only a few minutes left of the session left everyone a one last lap dash to secure their best time. The pit lane opened and everyone headed out. Kyle timed it to perfection and secured a front-row start, with a time of 1:24.862, his fastest lap of the session in the closing seconds.
Race One– 20 Laps
Kyle would bog down on the line, immediately dropping back to P4 behind Skinner. It wouldn’t take the reigning champ long to regain his composure though, and take third place from Skinner into Druids, making it stick with a great block pass.
With Christian Iddon and Bradley Ray ahead of him, Kyle would made good use of his consistent pace, and by Lap 6, he had taken P2 into Hawthorns. Redding closed in on the battle ahead and narrowed the gap, leaving Iddon behind, leaving Kyle & Brad to dice for a few laps, using every trick in the book in order to attack & defend. Redding made his move on Kyle at Surtees with a dive down the inside, taking P2.
Kyle would hold P3 to the close, adding to his points tally for Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing, and securing his first podium of the weekend.
Sunday
Overnight, the team reviewed the data from Race One and made a number of setup changes, ready for the day ahead. With morning warm-up complete, Kyle was upbeat about how the bike was performing, feeling very much capable of a win.
Race Two – 12 Laps Sprint Race
A frustrating start again for our champion, but his focus was once more on point, and he set about regaining the lost places.
Ray and Redding formed a break away pack with the Yamaha R1 of Danny Kent from the off. Following a crash by Charlie Nesbitt on Lap 5, the Safety Car was deployed, meaning a regrouping & chance for Kyle to close the gap. Following the restart, Ray crashed out at Westfield, with Redding leading the way, followed closely by Kyle, who put in a fantastic performance to cross the line second on the Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha.
Race Three – 20 laps
At the start of the race, championship leader Bradley Ray had launched into the lead from Redding, but Ryde was instantly attacking and took P2 from Ray at Druids, with Danny Kent’s presence known behind.
On Lap 4, the Safety Car was once again deployed after Lee Jackson’s crash, and the pack backed up again.
When the race resumed, Kent instantly made a move on Ray into Paddock Hill Bend to lead the race, and then the Raceways Yamaha rider lost another position as Ryde made a move back into P2.
Kent maintained the lead until Lap 12, when Ryde attempted a risky pass at Hawthorns. However, a lap later, the McAMS Racing Yamaha rider regained his position at Paddock Hill Bend, only for the lead to change again at Druids. This final manoeuvre allowed Ryde to gain the advantage, and ultimately secure his first win of the season over Kent by 0.339 seconds.
A 3-2-1 finish by Kyle sees Nitrous Competitions Racing leave Brands Hatch Second overall in the Teams’ & Riders’ standings, having closed the gap to Bradley Ray & Raceways Yamaha by 22 points. Having been in a worse position at the same point last season & winning the Teams’, Riders’ & Manufacturers’ Titles, the team are feeling confident as we head to the mid-point of the season at Thruxton on 9th & 10th August.
Kyle Ryde – Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing #1 – “We’ve finished off the weekend in the best possible way – with everyone finishing the race and me bagging the win. We’ve worked hard all season and got a bit unlucky in a few races where we have finished second, but secured as many points as possible. This weekend we have capitalised on a great bike, and it’s a good feeling.
“In the sprint race earlier, I was the fastest on track in the last two laps and it gave me a lot of confidence to bring that into the long race, so I tried my best and made some great moves, especially in the last six laps, when I just got to the front and went as fast as I could. I didn’t quite manage to shake Danny [Kent] off, but defended when I needed and very happy to take my first win of the year.”
This weekend saw the first of two visits this season to Brands Hatch for the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB). It was a weekend of both positivity & sadness for the team at Nitrous Competitions
Official Kyle Ryde website of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Champion