Kyle Ryde has had the strongest start to a Bennetts British Superbike Championship campaign this season, winning at the season opener before following it up with a podium finish for the LAMI OMG Racing Yamaha team.
Now heading into his home round this weekend, Ryde is determined to maintain his position at the front of the pack and wants to close down the 18-point advantage to Glenn Irwin at the top of the standings.
Ryde said: “The opening two rounds have been very good, very positive and very solid which is exactly what I wanted to do to start the year. The last thing I wanted to do was to have a couple of good races and then a couple of bad races. My worst result has been seventh and that was with an issue so I think we are in a good place for the whole year, especially going from Silverstone to Oulton Park; I was fast at both and to get a podium at both tracks was a big step for me.
“I had a terrible qualifying at Oulton Park, which was my own fault as I just wasn’t brave enough on the right tyres. I dug deep all weekend, I didn’t really panic and then got faster as the weekend went on and the last race showed what we could have done at the start, it was just a shame about qualifying. That third place was definitely like a win – it actually felt better than the win at Silverstone!
“Donington Park was great for the Yamaha last year; Jason won one, I won one and it has always been good there. It is my favourite track, so it is a great place to go and try to claw some points back and show them what I am made of. I have been training well, the team and everything outside of racing is good, so I feel in a good place. I want to have a couple of strong races this weekend for my friend Lee [Johnston].”