It was another front running performance for the Pacedayz.com Trackdays team at Oulton Park as Kyle Ryde bagged another two impressive podiums, finishing 3rd on Saturday and 2nd yesterday in the two British Supersport races, while Ross Twyman and Ben Currie both secured points finishes in 9th and 14th positions respectively in the National Superstock 600 championship race.
British Supersport Championship
After once again showing race craft and maturity beyond his 17 years, Kyle Ryde closed to within one point of the British Supersport championship lead after another two impressive races aboard the Pacedayz.com Trackdays Yamaha, narrowly missing out on his second win of 2015 in yesterday’s feature race.
Starting from row 2 of the grid Saturday’s ‘sprint’ race saw the youngster secure his 4th podium finish in 5 races, after running strongly at the front from the start, narrowly avoiding a 3 rider crash that happened right in front of him. Despite finishing 3rd, Ryde would start Sunday’s longer feature race from row three after posting the 7th fastest race lap during the ‘sprint’ encounter.
The Supersport ‘feature’ race has a tendency to be action packed from the start and it was no exception at Oulton Park. A problem with the circuit lights meant an additional warm up lap and more tension for everyone concerned, but at the second time of asking Kyle was in determined mood, moving into contention almost immediately as he slotted into 4th at the end of lap one, before elevating himself to 3rd a lap later with a perfectly executed move.
With the front running group locked together, passing at almost every part of the undulating 2.7 mike circuit, it was the intervention of the safety car with Ryde now leading that allowed things to settle for a short time.
Racing resumed with 4 laps to go, and with more than half a dozen changes of podium positions the final lap was a classic.
At the flag Ryde missed out on his second win of the year by a mere 0.109s, closing to within a single point of the overall championship lead, ensuring that as the championship heads to Snetterton in Norfolk in six weeks the Pacedayz.com Trackdays squad are genuine title contenders.
Kyle Ryde: ‘It was good to be on the podium again in the sprint race, we learned a lot after struggling a bit with set-up early in the weekend but Craig found something in the warm up session that made a huge difference so in the main race I was lapping over a second faster. Sunday’s race was great fun and we showed again that we can run at the front. When the safety car came out I found myself in the lead and I knew it was time for me to duff a few people up rather than wimping out. We came close to the win and are now only 1 point from the lead of the championship so huge thanks once again go to Craig, the whole Pacedayz.com team and all of my sponsors and supporters.”
National Superstock 600cc Championship
It was another solid weekend for the two Pacedayz.com Trackdays Superstock 600cc riders Ross Twyman and Ben Currie who secured a double points finish at the fast flowing Cheshire circuit.
For Twyman, who qualified 17th it was a case of remaining calm, staying focused and being consistent as he worked his way through the competitive field to claim 7 points with 9th place at the flag.
Australian team mate Ben Currie, who had been second in the first two championship races (Donington Park & Brands Hatch) qualified on the front row in 3rd but was left last on the road after a first corner tangle put him on the grass. Re-grouping, Currie, who was lucky to stay on two wheels showed true grit and a never give up attitude as lap after lap he moved forward, eventually salvaging what could be an important two points with 14th at the end of a thrilling 12 lap race.
Currie and Twyman have their next championship round supporting the prestigious Superbike World Championship series in three weeks, heading back to the Leicestershire track in 2nd and 9th in the overall standings after the opening three rounds of twelve.
Ross Twyman: “It was a good race considering I started from 17th. I made a good start and kept picking them off one by one. Keeping consistent lap times meant I knew I could keep progressing, and in the end we achieved another top ten. A big thanks to the Pacedayz.com team, especially Craig and also to all of my personal sponsors.”
Ben Currie: “A great qualifying but the race didn’t go to plan as I got swiped in the first turn after qualifying on the front row for the 3rd race in a row. After running off track and onto the grass I rejoined dead last (40th) 4 seconds behind the pack. I fought hard and after 12 laps I managed to get myself into the points in 14th. I’m happy because I still hold second in the overall championship but not so happy at losing a big chunk of points to the championship leader. Huge thanks to all my sponsors, Craig and everyone at Pacedayz.com Trackdays, I will be pushing again at Donington.”
Team Owner Craig Fitzpatrick received the KGN Team Award at Oulton Park, dedicating it to his hard working squad before announcing that the Pacedayz.com Trackdays team will make their World Supersport debut at the upcoming British round of the prestigious series on the weekend of 24th May, 2015. By competing, Ryde will become one of the youngest ever riders to race in World Supersport. Ben Currie and Ross Twyman will also be in action, racing in the next of round of the National Superstock 600cc series, that runs as a support race the World Championship.
photos courtesy of Ian at Bikesportpics
