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.
