Ryde and Vickers 1-2 at Thruxton BSA race1
Words and images courtesy OMG Grilla
Kyle Ryde rode his heart out in the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend, securing a sensational race win with team-mate Ryan Vickers following in second.
OMG GRILLA Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde stormed to a remarkable race victory at Thruxton today, coming out on top of a BSB box office. Team-mate Ryan Vickers bided his time before making a late gasp for the front positions, crossing the line behind his team-mate for a seventh podium of the season.
Aiming to build on a strong start to the seventh round of the season, Ryde hit the track in the ten-minute Practice 3 session, ironing out the finer details with his R1 set-up. Passing directly through to Q2 on Friday, the Nottinghamshire rider set out on a quest for pole position, and that he did. Sitting in the top five in the early stages, the number 77 rider went for one last push in his opening run and looked to capitalise on his strong braking performance into the final chicane. Finding all his time in the final sector, Ryde crossed the line to take pole by just 0.011s over Jason O’Halloran.
Launching from Pole, Ryde didn’t get off to the best of starts, but a strong opening sector saw him slot into second. Chasing O’Halloran, a fierce battle ensued in the 15-bike group, which saw the Yamaha man changing positions every lap. With tyre life the key to Thruxton success, Ryde positioned himself perfectly for a late assault, pulling off some sensational outside manoeuvres into the chicane.
Ryde said: “As I said on Friday, the two practice sessions were really good which helped us get at least a podium today. I worked really hard to win the race and the overtakes at the last corner certainly helped me win the race. We have our hands full tomorrow starting from 13th in the shorter race, but we’ll dig in and take the most from it as we possibly can.”
Starting the final lap in fourth, a pass from Vickers on Danny Kent invited Ryde through, slotting into second on the run into the final chicane. A brave late move saw him sweep into the lead, crossing the line 0.168 seconds clear of his team-mate.
Having to go through Q1, Vickers made a strong statement in Saturday’s opening Qualifying session, setting a 1:14.788 on his first lap to see him safely through to Q2. Having to use the same rear tyre, the number 7 rider ventured out for Q2, securing a fourth-place start for the afternoon’s 20-lap race.
Like his team-mate, the Thetford rider didn’t make the best of starts, but that would soon play into his hands. Able to sit in the leading group and save his rear tyre, Vickers positioned himself for a late attack, working his way up to the podium positions with three laps remaining. A last-lap battle with Kent briefly put his top-three hopes in doubt, but a brave final chicane saw him work his way through to second, collecting 16 valuable points.
Vickers said: “Saturday at Thruxton has been an awesome day. We went through Q1 and made it to Q2, ending the session in P4. To start from the second row was a really positive result, considering we had to take the route through the first qualifying session. We settled into the race nicely and didn’t rush into getting up front. With 5 laps to go, I started picking off one rider at a time and eventually made my way into P2 across the line as we started the final lap of the race. We had a bit of a fight with Danny and Kyle and dropped back on the last lap, but fought till the end to take second. I felt like I rode a really smart race. We couldn’t have done much more, we had the best bike at the end and if the situation was a bit different, I believe we had the form to be able to get the win. We’ll aim to be aggressive towards the opening stages of the race tomorrow.”
Ryde’s race victory marked his 30th Bennetts British Superbike podium and moves him up to second in the BSB standings. Vickers heads into Sunday’s two races sitting fifth, 67 points behind Tommy Bridewell. The duo start tomorrow’s 12-lap sprint from 13th and 16th places respectively.