Kyle Ryde has become the first rider since 2017 to successfully defend the Bennetts British Superbike Championship title at Brands Hatch after claiming a second successive crown with the Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha team.
After a steady start, after initially racking up seven podium finishes, Ryde didn’t claim his first victory of the campaign until Brands Hatch in the summer. But he built momentum impressively through the second half of the season, adding to his victory tally at Thruxton and Cadwell Park before seizing a career-first treble during his home event at Donington Park.
Ryde made just one visit to the podium during the opening Showdown round at TT Circuit Assen before another top-three result in the penultimate round of the season at Oulton Park as part of a weekend of top-five finishes.
Ray’s advantage over Ryde stood at 52 points after the Knockhill round, but the reigning champion continually closed the gap to his Raceways Yamaha rival after that. It wasn’t until the seventh round at Cadwell Park where Ryde finally moved ahead, by a slender two points.
Ryde arrived at the final round 30 points clear of Ray, with both targeting title number two. And Ray duly made early inroads at his home circuit by finishing ahead of Ray in Saturday’s opening race. The duo swapped positions with Ryde taking second from Ray in third in the penultimate race of the year.
This set up a final race decider with Ray needing to overcome a 30-point deficit. Ray gave himself a chance by finishing second, but Ryde produced a composed performance to cross the line sixth in the wet, and enough to wrap the title up by 20 points.