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.”