Editorial Note: Americans Julian Correa, Joshua Raymond, Jr., and Eli Banish finished third, ninth, and 17th, respectively, in British Talent Cup Race One Saturday at Thruxton.
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing (MSVR):
Ryde wins opening Thruxton thriller after seven-strong last lap dogfight
Kyle Ryde delivered an incredible hard-fought victory in a thrilling Thruxton dogfight in the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race of the weekend, which went down to the wire with seven riders involved in the high-speed duel for supremacy.
The lead changed seven times on the final lap with Tommy Bridewell holding the edge as the last lap got underway but the Honda Racing UK rider was instantly under attack and both Ryde and Danny Kent moved ahead.
A defiant Bridewell fought back in determined style with a move on both of his Yamaha rivals to move from third to second with a decisive move around the outside.
Bridewell led the freight train out of Goodwood but as they approached Church, Ryde struck back with a big move to push to the front, before Billy McConnell swooped into the lead, before Vickers then led the pack.
Into the Club Chicane for the final time, Ryde won the battle on the brakes as he launched back ahead as Andrew Irwin dramatically crashed out of seventh place as the Honda Racing UK Fireblade cartwheeled out of contention.
Ryde held the edge to the line as Vickers dived into second to make it an OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing one-two with O’Halloran able to carve into third, which pushed Bridewell into fourth place.
McConnell celebrated his best result of the season in fifth place for the C&L Fairburn Properties/Look Forward Racing Honda ahead of Leon Haslam, who was the top BMW rider in sixth place for the ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad team.
Kent had been embroiled in the battle to the finish, but he was forced wide on the final lap and subsequently he ended the race with a mechanical issue, which forced him out at the last corner.
Lee Jackson held seventh ahead of Max Cook, with Christian Iddon in the battle for the podium before dropping to ninth in the closing stages on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati with Peter Hickman completing the top ten.
The opening race has moved Ryde into second ahead of Glenn Irwin in the standings, with the Hager PBM Ducati rider finishing 14th.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, Race 1 result:
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing)
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) +0.168s
- Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +0.502s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.650s
- Billy McConnell (C&L Fairburn Properties/Look Forward Racing Honda) +1.044s
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) +1.358s
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) +1.784s
- Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) +2.057s
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +2.585s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW Motorrad) +2.722s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 229
- Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 203
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 200
- Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 200
- Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 162
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 148
- Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 142
- Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) 132
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) 105
- Lee Jackson (MasterMac Honda) 105
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Racing Yamaha
“As I said on Friday, the two practice sessions were really good which I think helped us achieve at least a podium today.
“I worked really hard to win the race and the overtakes at the last corner during the race certainly helped me win it at the end!
“We have our hands full tomorrow starting from 13th in the shorter race, but we’ll dig in and take the most from it as we possibly can.
“That was definitely a tough race but one you want to be in!”
