Yamaha Ready for Scottish Charge
The Bennetts British Superbike Championship returns for round four of the season this weekend, with the domestic series heading north of the border to the 1.2mile, Knockhill circuit in Scotland.
For Yamaha, the weekend ahead is set to be an exciting one, with OMG GRILLA Yamaha riders, Kyle Ryde and Ryan Vickers returning in anger for another three days of on-track action.
Ryde and Vickers currently sit third and eighth in the championship standings respectively after making a positive start to their 2024 campaigns.
For Vickers, Knockhill will mark his return to racing after an incident in race two at Donington Park led to a collarbone fracture. Thankfully, after a short recovery period, he’s feeling both fit and ready to mount another race weekend campaign at Knockhill, where a trio of races await in the premier class.
Ryde made a leap up the championship standings last time out at the Leicestershire-based venue, with thanks to a dominant race win in the opening race of the weekend, as well as a two further top five finishes aboard the Yamaha R1 superbike.
Ryde said: “I’m confident that Knockhill will be a positive weekend for myself and the team. The closer lap times will make it difficult to be in the mix towards the front, but we have all the tools required to make a successful job of it. Our results from last year’s trip to Knockhill were positive, we finished the weekend with a race win and a second place finish. History shows that I’ve been strong there aboard the Yamaha R1, so I’m excited to see what we can do with the extra support from Yamaha Motor UK this year.”
With the OMG GRILLA Yamaha teammates firmly within the top 10, McAMS Racing and Danny Kent leads the charge as the Knockhill weekend approaches, sitting second in the championship standings just 13 points behind the series leader Glenn Irwin.
Kent said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back aboard the Yamaha R1 at Knockhill this weekend. The team and I enjoyed some testing there a couple weeks ago and made some positive steps forward. Knockhill is a very short circuit, the lap times are closer than ever and small mistakes can cost you. The test helped a lot with circuit familiarisation, so I feel like we’ll be starting from a good place on Friday. We’re heading towards Knockhill as runners up in the championship standings, which feels great. There’s a long way to go yet, but our consistency so far this year fills us with confidence in our ability to be in the mix this weekend.”
This weekend will also see the Pirelli National Sportbike championship return to action, for the third round of their shorter, 10-event season.
After securing a second podium of the year last time out at Donington Park, Ash Barnes (Raceways GYTR Pro Shop Yamaha) retained his spot as the lead Yamaha R7 rider and sits third in the overall championship standings.
After a bittersweet weekend at Donington Park having narrowly missed out on his first podium in the class, Rev2Race rider, Harrison Dessoy follows closely behind. He sits in second within the R7 bLU cRU standings and fifth in the championship overall.
This weekend is set mark a return to action for Rev2Race rider, Jacob Stephenson. The youngster suffered a shoulder injury during the season opener at Oulton Park and has since undergone rehabilitation treatment to get back on two wheels.
The Scottish venue is the shortest circuit on the 2024 calendar and typically produces some of the closest lap-times of the year. There will be no time to waste come Free Practice 1 for the boys in blue within both classes this weekend.
Two Pirelli National Sportbike races await the five R7 riders who will be lining up on the grid this weekend, while a trio of races in the Bennetts BSB championship provide three opportunities to deliver results.
Words and photos courtesy Yamaha Racing UK