The Rich Energy OMG squad have been peppering the podium all season long. Kyle Ryde heads to Knockhill off the back of some fine form this season which sees him enter the event occupying P4 in the overall standings with just Lee Jackson and Jason O’Halloran standing between Ryde and teammate Brad Ray at the head of the standings.
Two 2nd place podiums at the opening round of the season set the tone for the 24-year-old rider, followed by a third place finish at Oulton Park and with his first win of the season coming shortly afterwards during the last round at Donington Park.
Looking ahead to Knockhill, the team joined the two-day test at the beginning of June and Dunc had an opportunity to catch up with the Rich Energy OMG man:
“Expectedly, the benchmark has moved on again since last year – as it has at every other circuit we’ve been to so far. But, yeah, we rolled out on some old tyres and the pace seemed there from the start.”
It was merely a case of accumulating some data for the team, that both he and Ray can use when the action on track kicks off on Friday.
“You know, I’m not doing anything stupid, I’m just trying to get some laps on the bike, because Brad won’t have ridden a Yamaha around here either, so any information isn’t just going to benefit me, it will benefit Brad as well.
“The atmosphere is good in the team; we’ve had a couple of podiums together and we’ve given the team some success already and we just need to keep it going. Both of us have had a trophy at each meeting and now that we’ve done that, we’ll need to keep that run going when we get to Knockhill,” said Ryde.
Catch up with the full chat via the video above.
It’s looking like a very competitive weekend of racing coming up at Knockhill with several teams already quicker than the benchmark times from last year – and they were pretty-fast. We could be seeing lap records tumble this weekend, across the classes if the weather gods are kind to us. Even if they aren’t, it’s still a fabulous day out watching some of the best motorcycle racers in the country go toe-to-toe on the Knockhill track.
Tickets can be booked online, tickets will also be available at the gate throughout the weekend. Hope to see you here.