Saturday

Kyle Ryde returned to the Bennetts British Superbike rostrum today, securing third in a red-flagged, five-lap dash in sodden conditions. Team-mate Ryan Vickers was unfortunate to drop back at the start of the shortened restart but recovered to ninth at the checkered flag.

The OMG GRILLA Yamaha team faced another damp day of action at Snetterton today but ended a challenging Saturday with a podium finish.

Having qualified directly into Saturday’s Qualifying 2 session on Friday, Ryde and Vickers braved the conditions as heavy rain fell at the Norfolk venue. Successfully making their way through a damp Practice 3, the Yamaha pairing took to the track to set the grid.

Building his pace, Vickers held the top spot before briefly being pushed back to second. A late charge for the local rider saw him reclaim first place, taking pole position by 0.199 seconds. Meanwhile, team-mate Ryde was also building his confidence up in the wet 15-minute session, but an unfortunate highside at Brundles ended Youth’s session early – but managed to secure a second-row start for the 16-lap race.

With the rain holding off, drying track conditions presented the Cannock-based outfit with another challenge as the riders lined up on the grid. Opting to change to an intermediate rear tyre, Ryde made a strong start, slotting his R1 into third at the first corner. But, still building confidence with his rear tyre, ended lap one in seventh. However, as the track continued to dry, Ryde began his charge, consistently lapping quicker than the riders ahead of him. Catching, and passing Max Cook and Charlie Nesbitt, a red flag on Lap 9 for an incident at Coram brought the race to a brief stop.

With another deluge of rain during the stoppage, full wet conditions set the stage for a five-lap dash. Another strong launch, this time running the soft wet rear tyre, saw the Nottinghamshire-based rider slot into fifth place, and with mistakes from riders ahead, put himself on the cusp of the rostrum. A pass on O’Halloran allowed the Yamaha man to chase the riders ahead, but with just five laps at his disposal, was forced to settle for third, and his first rostrum since Oulton Park in May.

With the full wet tyres fitted to his R1, Vickers made a lightning start to the 16-lap race, concluding the opening lap 2.7s clear of O’Halloran in second. From there, the Norfolk rider continued to push on, but as the track dried, those on the Intermediates started closing the gap. But as the home hero slipped to third, the red flag brought the race to a brief halt.

Starting the restart from the front row, Vickers struck wheelspin as he went to shift to second gear and tumbled to 15^th by turn 1. With just five laps to charge forward, the Navarra double winner demonstrated his pace, pushing through to ninth at the flag to secure his first Championship points since Round 2.

The team will return to the track on Sunday for morning warm-up before two further races bring Round 5 to a close.

Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
Qualifying: 6^th | Race 1: 3^rd
“I’m a bit sore and a bit stiff after the crash today, but also really happy to get the result we did in the wet conditions. We made a big step with the wet setting compared to Knockhill and I think we’re all really pleased with that, although we’d all rather be riding around in the dry! I enjoyed the race today. The first part got red-flagged at the wrong time for me because I was really coming into the race with the intermediate tyre. The second 5 lap race was soaking wet but we managed to bring it home, take the podium and will start the Sprint Race tomorrow from third.”

Ryan Vickers
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
Qualifying: 1^st | Race 1: 9^th
“We had a bit of a struggle in the first session but after Knockhill, I didn’t really mind that as it gave me a chance to just get back into it. The second session was a lot better, we made some drastic changes and did things we’ve never done before and it helped for sure. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully, the weather plays ball and we can continue working on bringing some trophies home from this weekend.”

Alan Gardner
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Owner

“We’re over the moon with Kyle’s podium today in really tricky conditions. The stoppage and delayed starts aren’t easy to deal with as a rider, but Kyle kept his cool and rode a fine race to third. Ryan was unlucky in the first part with the drying track and then unfortunately had wheel spin off the line for the five-lap sprint. Still, he showed he has the speed, fighting back from 15th to ninth is a strong result.”

Paul Curran
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Principal

“Well, it’s been a long day! We had a while to wait before we got going with FP3 and then Qualifying. Qualifying was a session of two halves, Ryan flew to the pole but Kyle unfortunately tipped off. Still, he secured a second-row start in tricky conditions. The race was another tough one, with the track drying really quickly. Ryan chose the full wets and managed to break away at the start, but faded back towards the group behind before being overtaken not long before the red flag. Kyle, on the other hand, was just getting going on the Inter rear having just posted the fastest lap at the stoppage. The rain fell again during the red flag which left a five-lap dash in full wet conditions. It was easy to make a mistake, but Kyle kept his head and finished on the podium. Ryan unfortunately hit some wheel spin at the start and dropped through the pack, but rode superbly to secure ninth at the flag.”

Sunday

OMG GRILLA Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde delivered a pair of top-five finishes at Snetterton today, capping off a solid fifth round of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship. Team-mate Ryan Vickers didn’t quite achieve the results he had hoped for but takes away solid points at his home venue.

Following challenging conditions on Saturday, the Yamaha duo took to a dry track for Sunday morning warm-up, as they looked to further nail down their dry setting of their R1 machines. Vickers demonstrated his dry pace by setting the fourth quickest time, whilst Ryde slotted into sixth.

With eyes on the skies, as the rain started to fall ahead of the 12-lap Sprint Race, Ryde launched from his front row grid slot and instantly jumped into second place at turn one before taking the lead a corner later. Dropping back to second at turn six, the Nottinghamshire rider pushed on, using Glenn Irwin as a perfect marker to break away from the chasing pack.

But, with a healthy gap in his pocket, an incident for NP Racing rider Louis Valleley resulted in a Safety Car, which then turned into a red flag as the rain began to fall once more – resulting in a second 5-lap dash of the weekend.

Another strong start for the number 77 rider saw him leap into the lead, but just as in the first part of the race, he dropped back behind the Ducati at Agonstini’s. Losing a further place to Bridewell, Ryde gave it his all to keep hold of a podium position but sadly lost out to Christian Iddon in the dying stages, finishing the race fourth.

Starting the second race from the head of the second row, another blistering start saw the Yamaha man leap to second, albeit briefly as his Yamaha counterpart Danny Kent muscled through at Montreal. Keeping his calm in the longer 16-lap race, the 26-year-old battled on in what was a six-bike group for the lead. Passing and being passed every lap, Ryde started lap 12 in third as more rain started to fall. With the rain quickly passing, it was a valiant few laps, re-catching and passing Danny Kent before a mistake at turn 2 dropped him back to sixth. A move on Andrew Irwin secured him fifth place at the chequered flag, earning him 11 hard-fought points for his title bid.

It wasn’t quite the homecoming the other side of the garage had hoped for, but it was three strong rides from Vickers to secure his first points haul since Oulton Park.

Starting the Sprint Race from sixth, the Thetford rider jumped up to third in the early stages but began to fade away from the leading two as the race went on. Changing to a new rear tyre when the red flag came out, Vickers was beaten up on the opening lap of the 5-lap dash, dropping to seventh by the halfway stage. Unable to work his way forward, the number seven rider crossed the line for a strong top-ten result.

Aiming to give his home fans something to cheer about, he launched one last attack and pushed his way through the pack. A small mistake saw him drop behind the Honda of Andrew Irwin before a lonely race for the local hero developed. Trying to hold off a late charge from Josh Brookes, Vickers had to relinquish seventh in the closing stages, crossing the line eighth.

Three top-five results sees Kyle Ryde head to Brands Hatch lying fourth in the standings, with Ryan Vickers eighth. The OMG GRILLA Yamaha team sit third in the CERATIZIT Teams Trophy, 23 points adrift of the top.

The OMG team return to action in a fortnight for Round Six of the Championship, a circuit where both riders achieved strong results last season.

Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
Race 1: 3^rd | Race 2: 4th | Race 3: 5th
Championship: 4th (147 points)
“I’m really happy with the three results at Snetterton this weekend. It’s always a bit of a struggle with the two long straights, but it was a strong weekend for me and my Yamaha. I’m a bit gutted to get fifth in the last race because I felt I had the speed for a podium but ran wide when trying to keep the Ducatis behind me. I tried hard to make it happen but it wasn’t quite to be today! Three top five results here isn’t a bad job at all and I’m looking forward to watching that last one on the tele later and get on to Brands where I was strong last year.”

Ryan Vickers
OMG GRILLA Yamaha
Race 1: 9^th | Race 2: 7th | Race 3: 8th
Championship: 8th (92 points)
“It’s been a tough weekend really for me at Snetterton. I had hoped for a little bit more but three top tens were all I could get this weekend. Race 1 I was unlucky with the red flag and then had the wheel spin off the line on the restart. Today I just struggled a bit too much when the tyre dropped off which is a bit frustrating. But, I gave it my all and left everything out there and we’ll come back stronger with the lessons learnt here this weekend at Brands Hatch in two week’s time.”

Alan Gardner
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Owner

“We’re pleased to leave Snetterton with three finishes for both riders and a podium for Kyle. Two strong results in yet more changing conditions is something he can be proud of and use to further build his confidence ahead of Brands Hatch, where he rode so well at in the final round last year. His results leaves him fourth in the standings, 30 points behind the top. On the other side, Ryan had a solid weekend with the pace he showed. He was fast in all sessions but struggled just a bit in the races. We know his side of the garage will get to the bottom of it and be back in the front group at Brands.”

Paul Curran
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Principal

“It’s been a largely positive weekend in Norfolk with both riders taking points across all three races and Kyle’s podium yesterday. He delivered two strong rides again today and looked comfortable on his R1 in the final race but just struggled to make a move stick. He can be happy with the effort he and his team has put in this weekend and it bodes well going to Brands Hatch where he was strong this year. I know Ryan is disappointed with the results at his home round, but there’s lots of positives to take away. He was quick on Friday, took a home pole on Saturday and scored three-point finishes across the races.”