Eazi Grip

A strong start for Ryde and Vickers at Donington Park BSB Test

OMG GRILLA Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde and Ryan Vickers enjoyed a strong and productive couple of days of testing, as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship officially got underway at Donington Park.

The OMG GRILLA Yamaha team made a positive return to BSB action this weekend, with Kyle Ryde and Ryan Vickers ending the two days of wind-affected action first and third on the overall timesheets.

Having ridden his R6 in Spain throughout winter, Kyle Ryde focussed his attention on getting used to the R1 Superbike again before beginning to work through his program across the two bikes available to him. The Nottinghamshire rider got dialled in quickly aboard the 2023 bike and made progress with the new tank and a revised handlebar position, finishing top of the timesheets in five of the six sessions across the weekend. The 26-year-old fired in the fastest time of the weekend on his final lap of the rain-affected session six, ending the test fastest.

Ryan Vickers worked through several programs on his side of the garage. The Norfolk rider started his work on last year’s R1 before switching to a 2024-spec bike on Saturday afternoon. Having made his mind up quickly, the team got to work with fine-tuning the set-up of the 2024-spec R1 which gave him the feeling good enough to post the third fastest time.

The team are set to check in to Navarra for a final two days of test action before racing commences in Northern Spain on April 20-21.

Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
Position: 1st | Time: 1:27.650

“It’s been a great couple of days at Donington Park to start 2024. To be honest it took ages to get used to riding the R1 again having ridden my R6 in Spain over winter. We found some speed on Saturday afternoon despite not feeling too comfortable so on Sunday we worked on fine-tuning everything to get me both comfortable and fast and in the final two sessions the bike felt as good as it’s ever been so props to the guys on my side for that. I’m looking forward to getting to Navarra with the confidence that I’m in.”

Ryan Vickers
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
Position: 3rd | Time: 1:28.356

“Awesome two days at Donington Park for the first official test of the year. We had a lot of new stuff to try and few changes that we needed to evaluate on the electronics and got through more than we thought we would have. The bike feels great on both longer runs and one lap, even if we didn’t complete many time attacks. We found a package that I’m comfortable on and I’m looking forward to getting to Navarra now and continue the momentum.”

Alan Gardner
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Owner

“It was great to see both Kyle and Ryan back on their R1 and the first time we’ve had our 2024 colours on track. Testing is exactly what it says on the tin, so we know it isn’t quite the full story, but both our guys have shown they have the speed, finishing first and second in half of the sessions and first and third overall shows that we have a competitive bike under Kyle and Ryan. The team have worked incredibly hard on both sides of the garage and the spirits are certainly high heading to Navarra for the final test ahead of the opening round.”

Paul Curran
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Principal

“We’ve had a busy two days at Donington Park with a fair bit to get through, but we worked through everything we needed to and that’s a credit to everyone in the garage. Both Kyle and Ryan had two bikes at their disposal, a 2023 and 2024-spec bike with various differences including seat unit, tank and a lower seating position. We had a few other things to try too which some was positive and others we’ll revisit, but overall, it’s been a strong two days for us. Both Kyle and Ryan are comfortable on the R1 and we’re ready to get going again in Spain!”

Posted on Monday, April 8th, 2024 in News

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