Vickers and Ryde secure Superpole places on sodden Saturday

Words and images courtesy OMG GRILLA

Ryan Vickers and Kyle Ryde ticked off their main objective of securing a Top 12 Superpole place today, as Round 8 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship officially got underway at Cadwell Park.

After a blustery, but dry test on Friday evening for the OMG GRILLA Yamaha team, that saw Vickers end the day fastest and as the only rider in the 1:25’ barrier, it was polar opposite conditions as the riders ventured out for the morning session, with heavy rain battering the Lincolnshire circuit.

With no improvement inbound, Vickers ventured out and immediately found his feet in the treacherous conditions, sitting inside the top three of the session before ultimately deciding enough was enough as the rain continued to fall. Parking his R1, the seven-time victor in 2024 concluded the opening running in 12th.

As conditions finally improved, false hope lingered at Cadwell Park before another deluge of rain soaked the track moments before the second session. Heading back out, the #7 rider instantly improved his time before a late surge saw him fly to the top spot. Sitting over 1.4 seconds clear, the Thetford rider concluded the day’s running fastest and passed direct into Sunday’s Superpole session.

Vickers said: “I’m feeling really good. We only did a few laps in the first session today as it was really wet and as we went to go for our second run it really started again so it was risk over reward and the rest of the weekend’s forecast is looking dry so we left it until FP2.

 “It was wet again this afternoon, unfortunately it started dry and then rained again but we did get a drying track and I was feeling really good and the bike was great. We made some set-up changes between the sessions and the bike felt great. We were top of the timesheets by some margin and finished 0.6 quicker in all conditions so I am happy. 

 “I got into the 25s last night in the test during the dry conditions and quicker than what I thought we would be at on the first night as last year I was only a tenth quicker last year on the SCX tyre, so I thought it would be a bit harder.

 “The bike is feeling great and we have improved it since last year and the team are working fantastic. We are seeing some great performance from both me and the bike so I am enjoying it and being here. The fans are out there no matter what the weather; whether it is 30 degrees or 10 degrees so fair play to them and I love seeing all their posts on social media from the Mountain!”

On the other side of the garage, it was a trickier morning for Kyle Ryde, who battled a lack of rear grip throughout the day. Finishing the opening session in 18th, the Nottinghamshire rider searched for improvement in the second outing. Like Vickers, Ryde instantly improved his time, taking tenths out of his personal best time each lap. Pitting for one final change, the #77 rider returned to the track at its driest point, posting a solid 1:38.231 time to put him seventh fastest, and inside the top 12.

Ryde said: “Unfortunately, it was a rather wet day here at Cadwell Park. It looked like we were going to get a dry session towards the end of the day, but sadly it rained just before the second practice. There’s not too much to look at as the bike wasn’t 100%, but we managed to get the time in at the end for seventh and pass directly to Superpole on Sunday.

Alan Gardner, OMG GRILLA Yamaha team owner commented: “It’s been a very tricky day in terms of the weather with both sessions being affected by rain, but both Ryan and Kyle got the job done. They’re inside the important top 12 for tomorrow’s Superpole. We had a really important test session on Friday evening, which showed that both are fast in the dry too. So we’re in a good place going into tomorrow’s Superpole and Race 1. We also would like to send our best wishes to Ryan’s tyre man Boggy, whose partner Shelly, is sadly unwell.”

Team Principal, Paul Curran added: “After a very wet day at Cadwell Park, it’s good to have both riders inside the top 12 and through to tomorrow’s Superpole. The conditions today were really tricky, especially the first session, but both riders ticked off that Superpole objective. The test on Friday night was positive for us also, so we’re confident that if the weather improves, as forecasted, we can be in a strong position for the races.”

The action continues on Sunday with Free Practice 3, ahead of the all-important Superpole and Race 1.