OMG down but definitely not out
It was a mixed weekend for the OMG Grilla Racing Yamaha duo of Ryan Vickers and Kyle Ryde who both celebrated podiums and suffered significant setbacks.
Vickers’ weekend was bookended with podiums, but he struggled in race two, coming home in ninth due to a problem with his bike which he believes was as a result of an off he had during FP2.
“We started really well, the test and first day went brilliantly,” Vickers told MCN. “I had a small crash in FP2 and I really believe that’s damaged the bike because even on Sunday we struggled, even though we were on the front row. The tyre was going off a bit and a few settings on the bike just didn’t work like they did during the test, which was very strange.
“We were able to capitalise in that final race and changed a few things on the bike and it fixed the problem pretty much. The bike wasn’t perfect, we could have then made it better but we lost that time due to messing around trying to compensate for an issue that we didn’t realise was on the component side of things. When a bike crashes it can be anything, it didn’t even tumble, it was a tiny crash, I rode it back and only bent the handlebar, but it went over a kerb and that might have tweaked something and it created some strange behaviour.”
Ryde’s weekend started strongly with pole position and a podium in race one, before he recovered from a slow getaway in race two to take fifth. Ryde’s final race was then cut short due to a problem with his R1.
“I had a technical issue which hindered any sort of steering on my bike,” Ryde explained. “It was lucky I stayed on the bike and I’m happy it hasn’t injured me, or caused the team any crash damage and money. It is what it is. I had a pole, it’s the fastest I’ve ever been around Oulton Park... We go to my territory [Donington Park] next time out!”