Kyle Ryde begins his Bennetts British Superbike Championship title defence this May Bank Holiday weekend at Oulton Park as he bids to secure consecutive titles with the new-look OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha team.
Ryde secured a debut title at last year’s final round Showdown against Tommy Bridewell, winning by a single point after ‘the race of the decade’ between the pair to decide the champion. Ryde and the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha team missed the opening R&G Official Test at Circuito de Navarra. However, they were quickly back on the pace at the Donington Park and Oulton Park pre-season tests ahead of this weekend’s curtain raiser.
Ryde said: “I think testing has been good; Donington Park was really good, but that’s because I always seem to go well there, my bike does too and it’s my favourite track. Donington was a positive test and it felt like I had a good chance of getting a trophy if we were to set off straight away.
“Oulton Park was a bit more difficult and the complete opposite of Donington. We got used to the track again and bedded in four sets of new discs, which took time, but it was ideal really. On the second day, we got going a bit faster. We need to find a bit more speed on one lap pace, but I’m just comparing myself to Bradley who did a 32.9 and we won’t be doing that speed in the race. I felt really good on used tyres, pace wise for the race, it is just the qualifying part we need to work on a little bit.
“But the be all and end all was I had not rode my bike since October last year when I won the championship before the Donington test, and I am just very lucky and very fortunate to be in this position.
“I need to obviously thank Alan, Paul, and the team at Nitrous Competitions. I wouldn’t be here defending my 2024 British Championship without them. I am looking forward to Oulton Park this weekend and I can’t wait to see the number one again when I get there. I want to enjoy having the number one plate and I will be doing my best to keep it until the end of 2026 for my team, friends, family and everyone who supports me.”