WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
CF Motorsport were celebrating last night after Kyle Ryde put the Pacedayz European Trackdays Yamaha on the podium in yesterday’s World Supersport race at Donington Park, an incredible achievement for everyone concerned with the privately entered and funded team.
Running at the front all weekend, Kyle showed no sign of being nervous ahead of his World Supersport debut, qualifying on the front row of the grid before taking the fight to World Championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu and factory MV Agusta rider and multiple WSS race winner Jules Cluzel.
Despite losing touch with the leading two riders in the closing stages of the 20 lap race, Kyle showed real British bulldog spirit to fend off hard charging Italian Lorenzo Zanetti grabbing the final place on the podium in 3rd, much to the delight of the fans that were on their feet cheering throughout.
For Craig Fitzpatrick (Team Owner) there was a great sense of pride as 17 year old Ryde who was in superb form all weekend showed the true potential of Craig’s self tuned Yamaha R6, that was every bit a match for the factory World Supersport machines that they were up against.
Craig Fitzpatrick: “What a weekend! From start to finish Kyle rode superb, putting CF Motorsport on the front of a World championship grid at our first attempt and then taking a podium on our debut, after fighting for the lead in the early stages. I’m delighted with what the whole team have achieved and very proud that we were able to give Kyle the package to deliver. The result justifies us making the decision to come here and it can only be good for us as we continue to fight for the British Championship title. In Superstock both Ben and Ross also did a great job. Ben took another podium and Ross showed he has the speed to mix it at the front too, he was unlucky to crash out of 5th. Both will be strong for the rest of the year.”
Kyle Ryde – 3rd position: “What an awesome weekend at Donny. The bike was great from the start and I set my personal best lap of the track in FP1. Come to the buisness end of Saturday and running with the world supersport ‘zero’ tyre was unreal, and transformed the bike into a really smooth calm bike with loads of grip which suited my style a lot. As you can imagine I was very very happy to be 2nd on the grid next to 3 time world champ Kenan Sofuoglu! I made a good start in the race as I had hoped and managed to start the 2nd lap in 3rd place right behind the two quick lads which was perfect, but unfortunately I dropped back after the pace was getting to hot for me. I knew someone was close so I dug deep and managed to fight off Lorenzo Zanetti for my debut podium! I can’t thank Kez ,Robbie , Jayne and Craig for making the weekend possible and for CF Motorsport for giving me such an incredible bike! Roll onto Snetterton where we get back to fighting for the British championship title.”
NATIONAL SUPERSTOCK 600cc CHAMPIONSHIP
In addition to contesting the 6th round of the World Supersport championship, the Pacedayz European Trackdays team were also in action in the National Superstock 600cc championship with Ben Currie and Ross Twyman in action.
Both riders qualified well and were running strongly until Ross unfortunately crashed out of 5th, thankfully unhurt.
Ben on the other hand converted his second row of the grid start into another podium with a fighting ride to 2nd place, just over a second behind the winner. With 62 points, Ben is now a comfortable second in the overall championship standings. The next round of the National Superstock 600cc series is at Snetterton on June 21st.
Ben Currie – 2nd position: “It was another solid weekend for us and I managed another 2nd place. I had the pace early in the race but I missed a gear onto the back straight and Mason got away. Nevertheless we were a comfortable 2nd and it’s good for the championship. Thanks to CF Motorsport and congratulations to Kyle on his ride in World Supersport, it shows how good Craig’s bikes are.”
Ross Twyman – DNF: “Qualifying was ok and after the session we ended up 11th, I knew I had a fair bit of work to do to get to the front. I managed to get a golden start in the race and was up to 7th at the first corner and at the end of the first lap I was in 5th. I felt comfortable running there and was enjoying it, but on lap 8 unfortunately I got slightly unsighted going into the Foggy Esses and clipped the inside kerb and lost the front. I want to say sorry to all the CF Motorsport team, they worked so hard for me as they always do! Id like to say a big thank you to them, also my personal sponsors. Hopefully we can have a better weekend at Snetterton for round 5.”
photos courtesy of Ian at bikesportpics
