Rookie Ryde powers to maiden BSB win at Silverstone

BSB Silverstone - Race Results (2)

Kyle Ryde has taken a superb maiden British Superbike Championship victory with a smart and well executed ride in the second BSB race of the weekend at Silverstone.

The 2019 GP2 Champion has been one of the standouts of the 2020 BSB season - his first in Superbikes - from the get go, with a regular showing inside the top five on the Buildbase Suzuki GSX-R1000R.

Having broken his podium duck by shadowing winner Tarran Mackenzie across the line in race one, Ryde would not be denied on this occasion as he bided his time behind long-time leader Josh Brookes before striking for the win with three laps remaining.

It marks a repeat success for Suzuki at Silverstone after the OMG Racing team scored a shock success at the start of the 2019 season with Josh Elliott, though it is the first time the Buildbase-branded Hawk Racing outfit has topped the podium since Bradley Ray back in 2018.

Given the gulf in experience between them, you might have excused Ryde for settling for second rather than go toe-to-toe with Brookes, but with a harder front tyre it was clear the Suzuki could match the VisionTrack Ducati in the crucial final stages. 

And so it proved, Ryde diving for the lead at Turn 1 before instantly putting in the fastest lap and cruising home to victory over the Australian.

Jason O’Halloran scored his second podium of the weekend, bringing some joy to the McAMS Yamaha team after its race one winner Mackenzie retired from second position on lap 13 of 30.

Glenn Irwin put a bad start behind him to work his way up to fourth and edge out his championship advantage over Tommy Bridewell, who could only manage sixth behind Ray on the Synetiq BMW.

Lee Jackson once again led the Kawasaki challenge in seventh, ahead of Andrew Irwin, who was made to pay for a mistake at Brooklands identical to that which befell him in race one. 

Danny Buchan and Hector Barbera completed the top ten, with Peter Hickman, Gino Rea, Christian Iddon, Joe Francis and Storm Stacey rounding out the points’ paying positions.