Yamaha armed for Cadwell ‘Party in the Park’
Words and images courtesy Yamaha
The eighth round of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship is set to commence this weekend, with Lincolnshire’s Cadwell Park playing host to the final race weekend of the Championship’s Main Season before the highly anticipated season Showdown commences.
In 2024, the Lincolnshire circuit is celebrating it’s 90th anniversary. The significant milestone will be commemorated with the Monster Energy ‘Cadwell 90’ feature race on Monday.
Over the years, the Cadwell Park race meeting has provided Yamaha with a vast degree of admirable memories in the Bennetts BSB class, with 2022 Champion and lap record holder, Bradley Ray securing three podiums, including one race win at the venue during his championship-winning year.
The prestigious Yamaha R1 was also rode to a total of four podium finishes at the venue last year, in the hands of Ryan Vickers, Kyle Ryde and former Yamaha rider, Jason O’Halloran.
The series’ eighth meeting of the year follows a faultless weekend at Thruxton two weeks ago, where Yamaha Motor UK extended their victory streak to 12 at the Southern venue in Andover, thanks to the OMG GRILLA Yamaha duo of Vickers and Ryde.
Heading towards the weekend, Ryde lies as the championship runner-up. Sat just 25 points behind the lead, the fight for the championship is on.
On the other side of the garage, his Yamaha teammate, Vickers, heads into the Cadwell Park weekend with momentum on his side, having won five out of the last six races this season.
Just 50 points away from the lead in fifth, Vickers continues to keep his championship hopes alive and feels hungry to maintain his spectacular form from the second half of the season so far.
After a further duo of podium finishes for McAMS Racing and Danny Kent at Thruxton, the family-run outfit are also locked in ahead of the weekend, with the focus on developing and expanding their limited experience around the circuit within the Bennetts BSB class.
In the Pirelli National Sportbike Championship, R7 bLU cRU leader and top three championship contender, Ash Barnes (Raceways GYTR Pro Shop Yamaha) is coming off the back of a debut victory last time out at Thruxton.
Heading towards his home round, the Lincolnshire rider has high expectations for the weekend ahead and feels hungry to mount another competitive campaign as just a single race awaits the series this weekend.
Runner-up in the R7 bLU cRU standings and fifth-place sitter in the overall championship, Harrison Dessoy (Rev2Race Yamaha) is also ready to mount another attack at the weekend.
The Yamaha R7 talent battled admirably at Thruxton two weeks ago, mixing things up at the front throughout both races and proving yet again to possess true race-winning potential.
Rossi Banham (RB-Racing Yamaha) rounds off the top three R7s in the championship as Cadwell Park drawers near, sat in 12th overall with 38 points, after clinching a single top 10 finish at Thruxton.
With the end of the season now in sight, the focus in Yamaha R7 territory remains on constant improvement, with the ambition of ending the year on a high, growing their tally of podium finishes in the class and mixing things up at the front.
While another three races await the R1 trio of Vickers, Ryde and Kent in the Bennetts BSB class, Yamaha’s R7 line-up have a narrower margin for error at the weekend, with Cadwell Park presenting just one opportunity to secure a healthy dose of points.
Ryan Vickers
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
“Cadwell Park is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar, given my motocross background I just love it and the fact you get to jump a superbike every lap is awesome! It’s a strong track for me and my Yamaha R1, I was really fast there last year, but luck wasn’t on our side in Race 2 and I injured myself. I’m hoping to have more luck this time around and fight at the front in all three races and keep clawing those points back because we know from Oulton Park the points get increased, so it’s important that we put ourselves in a strong position this weekend to capitalise on that when the time comes. The R1 works really well around Cadwell Park as we’ve seen in the past, so hopefully with that and the momentum we have at the minute we can keep pushing for those wins and take King of the Mountain.”
Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
“I’m excited to get going at Cadwell Park because it’s a round that I really enjoy. I was quick on my R1 last year, two podiums and a fourth and in general, felt really strong. We have a good rhythm now with a good run of podiums and a race win at recent rounds, and we’ll need to work hard to keep that momentum going this weekend. We’ve improved the package this year so it’ll be interesting to see how things go, but we’re confident that we can be near the front come Sunday’s first race and Monday’s races.”
Ash Barnes
Raceways GYTR Pro Shop Yamaha
“I have high expectations of Cadwell Park this weekend. It’s a local circuit for me and one that I’ve spent a lot of time riding around over the years. It’s a great circuit and one that I expect will suit the Yamaha R7 really well. Our form from the last round fills me with confidence as we head towards the end of the season. With four rounds left, there are still plenty of opportunities to fight at the front where we know we belong. For now, we’ll focus on what’s in front of us and work towards having a positive weekend in Lincolnshire.”