Ryde Sweeps British Superbike Opener
R
eigning champion Kyle Ryde
kicked off his title defense in
the ZYN British Superbike Cham
-
pionship at the Oulton Park sea-
son opener, held May 2-3, with
an excellent start, taking three
victories. Riding for Nitrous Coin
Nitrous Competitions Racing,
the Ducati rider held off Leon
Haslam (Moto Rapido Racing) in
Sunday's third and final race to
complete the hat trick.
Ryde's title defense got off to a
strong start, taking the checkers
well clear of Leon Haslam (Duca
-
ti), who was just a tick ahead of
Bradley Ray (McAMS Yamaha), all
three former BSB Champions.
Storm Stacey (Ducati) and
Scott Redding (Ducati) rounded
out the top five.
Ryde won race two, but it was
a little closer, with just two sec
-
onds separating him and Haslam,
compared to five seconds in race
one. Ray was third again and,
again, right behind Haslam.
Redding and Stacey swapped
positions this time, with Redding
taking fourth and Stacey fifth.
Ryde's third victory was the
toughest for him. He battled
Haslam, Ray and Redding wire to
wire, holding on to take the win
ahead of Haslam by just 1.162
seconds, with Ray and Redding
right there in third and fourth,
respectively.
Glenn Irwin, Ryde's teammate,
cracked the top five, finishing
seven seconds behind Redding.
"It's obviously been a great
weekend and very unexpected;
I've just done my best," said
Ryde. "In the last race, I could
see within the first few laps that
Brad was trying to stay at the
front and do a good pace, which
made it very hard to pass.
"These weekends don't come
very often, so I'm just going to
cherish the moment and get
ready for Donington Park."
Ryde leaves round one of 10
with the championship lead, 54
points to Haslam's 48. Ray is third
with 42 points, followed by Red
-
ding on 35 and Stacey on 30.
CN
BSB SBK Race 1 (Top 5)
1. Kyle Ryde (Duc) 28:14:206
2. Leon Haslam (Duc) +5.180
3. Bradley Ray (Yam) +5.316
4. Storm Stacey (Duc) +5.531
5. Scott Redding (Duc) +6.903
BSB SBK Race 2 (Top 5)
1. Kyle Ryde (Duc) 18:44:565
2. Leon Haslam (Duc) +2.052
3. Bradley Ray (Yam) +2.148
4. Scott Redding (Duc) +4.408
5. Storm Stacey (Duc) +7.223
BSB SBK Race 3 (Top 5)
1. Kyle Ryde (Duc) 28:11:101
2. Leon Haslam (Duc) +1.162
3. Bradley Ray (Yam) +1.364
4. Scott Redding (Duc) +1.457
5. Glenn Irwin (Duc) +6.962
WIND
IN THE
P46
Kyle Ryde (1) won
all three races at the
opening round of the
British Superbike
Championship at
Oulton Park.
