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Month: April 2024

RYAN REIGNS IN SPAIN!

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After successful pre-season testing, Ryan felt prepared for Round One of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with the OMG Racing Yamaha team.

Showing his intentions on Saturday morning, Ryan took P1 with a 1:36.531 +0.001 from teammate Kyle in FP1, taking himself straight into Omologato Superpole later in the day.
A rather nerve-racking time, and not wanting to make any mistakes, Ryan set two fastest sectors but a mistake on turn 13 cost him time with a 1:36.648 lap time, putting him P2, 0.039 off pole, for Race One start on Sunday.

Race One 20 Laps 
A great start from Ryan, getting himself into P1 for turn one, with Ryde and Kent for company. Kyle took the lead on lap 4 and two laps later Ryan made a small mistake costing him P2 to Kent.
Ryan regrouped and closed the gap back to Kent and took back P2 a few laps later on lap 14, just his teammate ahead. Coming into lap 18, Ryan had the tow down the start-finish straight and timed his pass to perfection, overtaking Kyle with a big move into turn one and making it stick!
Ryan crossed the line P1 +1.364, with P2 for Kyle Ryde and P3 for Danny Kent.
His fastest lap of the race was on lap 19 1:37.092, putting him P6 for Race Two start.

Race Two 20 Laps 
Another strong start to get up to P3 from P6 and ahead of Irwin into turn one was exactly what Ryan needed. Coming into turn 2, he nearly caught the back of Danny Kent and had a moment, with Skinner having one too, but things settled down and on lap 3, Ryan had purple in all sectors, closing the gap to Danny and Kyle.
On lap 5 the leading three were starting to get away from the pursuing riders and on lap 7 Ryan moved up into P2, and then at the start of lap 8 took the lead into turn one from Kent. Kent came straight back at him and Ryan back to P2.
Finally, Ryan made his move into P1 at turn one, this time closing the door on Kent.
The following ten laps were consistent, keeping his head and the gap managed to Kent, +0.4, +0.5 and by lap 17 had taken it to +0.6. Again on lap 19, Ryan managed his fastest lap of the race, 1:37.002 and a gap of +0.7. Thank goodness he had, because on the last corner, he defended his line, taking it slightly tighter, dropped the front, only to save it ‘Marquez’ style, winning the race by a slender +0.277 to Danny Kent.

What a weekend for Ryan and the team, his first Double Win in BSB and the first of many we hope.

Ryan Vickers
OMG GRILLA Yamaha Position: Race One P1 | Race Two P1 

“Absolutely a ‘dream’ start to the 2024 season, couldn’t have asked for it to start in a better way, not only for me to take my first-ever dry victory but to do the double on a circuit that wasn’t great for me last year, was incredible.

The team have done a fantastic job with the setup up and I can’t thank them enough for everything. They have shown their 100% belief in me since the day I got on the bike for the first time. They have brought me on as a person and I am just so glad I have been able to reward them with the results that they deserve and to it in the way we did. 

So we leave Spain, taking the first double win and leading the British Superbike Championship and we will enjoy this moment and then set our sights on round two at Oulton Park.

Thanks to everyone for your support it’s been mega.”

Ryan.

NAVARRA OFFICIAL TEST

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Ryan Vickers arrived in Spain full of confidence after making a breakthrough with his 2024-spec package. Working closely with crew chief Dave and his team, the Norfolk rider tested several items and setups and completed back-to-back running to further boost the data gained to be ready for all scenarios ahead of this weekend’s season opener.

The team will enjoy a short break from track action, but there’s no rest for the wicked as it’s all systems go to prepare the bikes ready for free practice one on Saturday morning. This weekend will also feature the first ‘Superpole’ of the season before two action-packed races on Sunday.

 

 

Ryan Vickers
OMG GRILLA Yamaha Position: 3rd | Time: 1:36.697
“Navarra test has been amazing. We’ve had two bikes the whole time which has been mega so thanks to the team for working as hard as they have this winter. We found a direction at Donington, so our focus was to improve the set-up of the bike and we confirmed the last few parts which pretty much confirms our race bike. I feel fast on long runs and on one lap, which we haven’t done much of, but I feel good on the bike. I’ve changed the way I ride the bike, and managed to understand more about what the R1 needs from the rider to make the most of its strengths. We’ve done loads of laps over the last few days so the first session will be quite a fast one from the off. The weather is set to improve further over the next few days so we’ll need to understand how that changes the bike – but I’m confident regardless and ready to go racing!”

Alan Gardner
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Owner

“Our pre-season has been exceptional for both Kyle and Ryan, who both look like they’ll be strong contenders this season. Kyle was fast at Donington and quickly got up to speed here, topping most of the sessions and being inside the top four in all five, which bodes well going forward. Ryan found his feet with the upgraded parts quite quickly at Donington and further improved his feeling with the R1 here at Navarra. The main thing is for both sides of the garage, the confidence is high heading into the start of the season, which we’re all very excited about.”

Paul Curran
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Principal

“Navarra capped off a strong pre-season for the OMG GRILLA Yamaha team. Both riders feel comfortable on the bike and we as a team managed to collect a lot of data across various of the updated parts we had to test, which will help us throughout the season. The mood is good across the team and we’re all ready to go racing this weekend and aim to start the 2024 season on a high.”

 

POSITIVE START FOR VICKERS AT DONINGTON TEST

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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.  

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 continuing 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!”