Donington BSB: ‘A lot of head scratching’ for Ryde

Kyle Ryde became the first high-profile rider to announce his plans for the 2023 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season, re-signing for the Rich OMG Yamaha team, but he wasn’t able to celebrate with a win or podium at Donington Park at the weekend.

Hopes were high coming into his local round but although the Yamaha rider scored points in all three races, sixth in the final race of the weekend was his best result. He did, however, move up a place to sixth overall in the title standings, overhauling the stricken Tarran Mackenzie. “After signing my new deal with the team on Saturday I really wanted to repay them with a podium, but it wasn’t quite to be,” he said. “We had a lot of battles and close racing over the weekend which I really enjoyed but there was also a lot of head scratching too, but we never gave up.” After taking seventh on Saturday and then 11th in Sunday’s opener, he ended his weekend on a more positive note with the aforementioned sixth place, just six seconds adrift of race winner and team-mate Bradley Ray. “That last race was the best by far in terms of position, confidence and speed,” he admitted. “That matters a lot heading into Brands Hatch as well as getting some really good data for next year. Thanks as always to my awesome team and everyone local for showing up and supporting me.”