Kyle Ryde arrives at Snetterton for the Title Fighter deciding round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship next weekend (9/10/11 September) holding the much sought after eighth place, but the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha rider won’t be relinquishing it without a battle.
Ryde claimed a victory and a further three podiums earlier in the season, but has had a tough run of results in recent rounds, meaning his buffer over ninth placed Danny Buchan is now just 14-points ahead of the three crucial races at Snetterton.
Ryde said: “My head has been really thinking about Thruxton to be honest, I have always been fast there and I was this year, I just had a few issues. I was gutted to not get a trophy there. We had fixed it for the last race and I felt comfortable, but I crashed and that was a handful of points I missed out on.
“I knew Cadwell was going to be hard but I didn’t expect it to be that hard! As I broke my heel there last year, I hadn’t done a race there so I wasn’t expecting major things, but it is what it is. Danny got 70 points out the weekend and that has now made the Showdown spot close with 14 points between us.
“I know that I need to go to Snetterton and ride how I know I can ride, bring a trophy home or something, then I should be there or thereabouts. I was determined to do it at Thruxton and it just didn’t happen, I didn’t think too much about Cadwell as the pace was ridiculous and under the lap record and it was my first year there on the Superbike. That is just BSB for you though!
“I was on the opposite end of the stick at Oulton Park where we had the lap record pace when nobody thought we would do that, riders always do it every weekend, it is just not nice when you are on the other end of that stick, but that is racing!
“Snetterton is one of my favourite tracks so I am looking forward to that, the test went well there earlier in the year and I know the Yamaha is a good bike there, so I just have to make the most of it and hopefully that secures my place in the Showdown.
“I rode the BMW there last year and it wasn’t one of its favourite tracks, so I suppose that is something in my head that I am a little bit happy about. Everyone has their bad luck, so I am just glad it is Snetterton that we are going to where we sort it out.”