Kyle Ryde triumphed in the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the season at Silverstone, claiming a hard-fought victory in the Bennetts BikeSocial Sprint Race for the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha team.
Ryde had initially launched to the front of the pack on the opening lap from his front row grid position, but Tommy Bridewell stormed into the lead as the pack reached Brooklands for the first time, with Josh Brookes, Jason O’Halloran and Glenn Irwin the leading contenders.
Bridewell was then pushing to hold onto the lead, but Ryde reclaimed the position two laps later with a move at Copse, but his BeerMonster Ducati rival fired back ahead on the same lap.
O’Halloran was on the move too and he had pushed up the order into second by the fourth lap behind Bridewell as Ryde was relegated to third in the early stages.
By lap six, O’Halloran had gained control of the lead as the McAMS Yamaha rider moved ahead of Bridewell, Ryde, Brookes and Glenn Irwin with reigning Quattro Group British Supersport Champion Jack Kennedy also joining the battle for the leading positions.
O’Halloran was leading the pack, but Brookes and Bridewell were dicing with Ryde for second place, before the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha rider moved back to the front of the group with a move on the Australian.
Ryde maintained the lead in the final dash to the chequered flag despite pressure from Bridewell in the closing stages to take the first victory of the season, but the battle for the podium wasn’t complete and Brookes snatched third place with a last lap move on O’Halloran.
Glenn Irwin completed the top five as he held off Leon Haslam on the ROKiT BMW Motorrad and Kennedy, who equalled his best result on his move back into Bennetts BSB with Mar-Train Yamaha.
Andrew Irwin was able to progress into eighth over the final laps for Honda Racing UK ahead of Danny Kent on the Lovell Kent Racing Honda and Danny Buchan completed the top ten for SYNETIQ BMW.
The battle for the rookies was led by Charlie Nesbitt in twelfth, with Tim Neave in 16th and Bradley Perie in 19th. Reigning Pirelli National Junior Superstock Champion Max Cook was 20th ahead of Davey Todd with Jack Scott in 23rd.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Silverstone, Bennetts BikeSocial Sprint Race:
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha)
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) +0.436s
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +1.664s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +1.867s
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) +2.541s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) +2.764s
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Yamaha) +3.224s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +8.919s
- Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Racing Honda) +9.187s
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +9.307s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Silverstone, Bennetts BikeSocial Sprint Race:
- Kyle Ryde (LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha) 18
- Tommy Bridewell (BeerMonster Ducati) 16
- Josh Brookes (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) 14
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 12
- Glenn Irwin (BeerMonster Ducati) 11
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) 10
- Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Yamaha) 9
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) 8
- Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Racing Honda Racing UK) 7
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) 6
Kyle Ryde
LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha
“That was a great race! It was definitely the hardest, but most enjoyable races I’ve had since I started in BSB.
“I was pushing because I just wanted to get to the front because I knew I had a little bit more pace than what the lap time was saying.
“It was very clean and good fun to ride – there was a lot of moves in turn one from me, I must’ve made about 15 moves but none of them stuck! I had to work, so for me it’s been a great weekend so far.
“We’ve had a great pace all weekend and been strong, the only thing that went wrong was to have a silly little crash in qualifying and that did hinder me a bit for the race. It took me ages to get going again to know where the braking marker was and Josh and Tommy kept passing me.
“I’m really happy to get the win; I think over the winter and everything we’ve done so far, I feel like we deserve it, so I’m very proud of myself.”
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