Lucky Number 7!
After an amazing Brands Hatch weekend with the OMG GRILLA Yamaha team, Ryan was excited to carry on the momentum at Round 7 at Thruxton in Hampshire.
Ryan set the pace in the opening session on Friday and one of only two riders to test the SC0 tyre during the opening session. He set a good benchmark with a 1m:16.037s lap time. For the second session, he wanted to focus on Saturday and Sunday’s races, completing a race run. However, opting to carry out his qualifying run in the opening session, Ryan left himself having to go into Q1 in Saturdays Qualifiers.
On Saturday, Ryan made a strong start in the opening Qualifying session, setting a 1:14.788 on his first lap to see him safely through to Q2. Having to use the same rear tyre, Ryan went out for Q2, securing a fourth-place start for the afternoon’s 20-lap race.
Starting from the second row in Race One, Ryan didn’t make the best of starts, but he had a game plan. He sat back in the leading group and was able to save his rear tyre for the late attack. With three laps remaining, he worked his way onto the podium, a last lap battle with Kent put that in jeopardy, but his manoeuvre in the last chicane gave him a P2, +0.168s behind his teammate Kyle and 16 very valuable points.
In Sprint Race, Race Two, Ryan started from P16 and got away fairly well up into P10 , a second lap crash in the pack resulted in a Safety Car, meaning any form of tyre management would go out the window in the five-lap sprint. Ryan pulled the pin knowing he had to move forward the leading pack. setting purples in sectors 3 and 4, and made his assault. A triple overtake at Church was enough to have us leaping from our seats. The rest was a blur and with only Max ahead, a small mistake cost Cook the lead and Ryan took full advantage, Vickers crossed the line to claim victory by +0.531 seconds.
With a sensational 1:14.949 lap in the Sprint Race placed Ryan on Pole for Race Three. He had a race plan and stuck to it, meaning he fell back into the chasing pack, but he knew what he had to do. His pace was good, without losing the tyre early on, so he moved up and retook the lead after 5 laps and despite pressure from the chasing bunch, was able to stay focused and crossed the line +0.150s ahead of Kent and McConnell.
Ryan Vickers
Race 1: 2nd | Race 2: 1st | Race 3: 1st
Championship: 5th (198 points)
“It’s been a strong weekend for us and the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Team, taking two wins today.
It was always going to be difficult starting 15th in what was planned to be a ten-lap race, but it’s even harder to go from 15th to 1st in six laps! I’m really happy with how I rode in that race, I attacked in the right places at the right time and managed to pick up a handful of positions each lap and eventually took the lead when Max Cook had a moment ahead. The last lap I just pushed, hit my markers and brought it home. The final race of the weekend didn’t actually go to my plan because I hit the front early on. I could see Billy was quick but it maybe wasn’t coming quite as easy. I got by and just chipped the laps off. Had a bit of a moment on the final corner, but it’s all good and I’m delighted to take the lucky number seven R1 to a seventh win of 2024. I’m now looking forward to continuing this form on to Cadwell Park over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Thanks to everyone for their support as always, it means so much. ”
