The OMG GRILLA Yamaha team are prepared for action as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship returns to British soil for the Bank Holiday May round at Oulton Park.

After a week in Spain, the OMG GRILLA Yamaha team is determined to pick up where they left off in Navarra, an opening round which saw the Cannock-based outfit claim two victories and two further podium finishes with riders Ryan Vickers and Kyle Ryde.

Once again, the Cheshire round takes place across the May Bank Holiday but, as tradition, will host the usual two-day test on May 1st and 2nd, giving both sides of the garage the chance to adapt their R1 machines to the unique circuit in the Northwest.

Coming to Oulton Park, Vickers leads the charge, sitting six points clear in an all-Yamaha top three following his sublime double in Northern Spain. Despite missing the first Oulton Park round last year, the Norfolk-based rider is hopeful of a strong performance, using the pre-event test to fine tune his R1 for the challenges of Oulton Park and sets his sights on more silverware when racing begins this weekend.

On the other side of the garage, Kyle Ryde will be looking to secure his first victory of the season after front tyre woes held the Nottinghamshire rider back in Spain. Nonetheless, the confidence is high on the number 77’s side of the garage following his strong start to the season and aims to add to his two rostrum visits at Oulton Park last year.

The OMG GRILLA Yamaha team face an all-out week, with the R&G Official Test opening proceedings on May 1st and 2nd before round two of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship begins on Saturday. This weekend will also see the series revert to three races per weekend, with the first 18-lap race coming on Sunday at 16.30. The weekend concludes with two further action-packed races on Bank Holiday Monday at 13.15 and 16.15.

Ryan Vickers
OMG GRILLA Yamaha Championship: 1^st  (36 points)
“I missed the test and the first race last year at Oulton Park so it’s going to be great to get there and get to work. We’ve got the test beforehand which will be important to progress our bike a bit further and make sure we have a great race bike for the weekend. I made progress in the third race there back in September last year, so my goal is to build on that. I know we’ve got a great bike; the team have improved the setup massively this year so the goal this weekend is to continue the form I’m in and fight for the podium, secure more points and hopefully some more trophies.”

Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Yamaha Championship: 3^rd (30 points)
“I’m looking forward to Oulton Park. We’ve got a test before which will be important for us to understand why we struggled on Sunday in Navarra. Still, we came away with 30 points and we’re joint second in the Championship. With the forecast looking as it is, we’re going to work on everything over the two days, long runs, old tyres, low fuel, etc, to understand everything and head into the weekend as strong as we can be. I’ve struggled at Oulton a bit in the past, but by the end of last year, we found our way there with a few podium finishes. As always, we’re going to work hard over the test, chill out with a few rounds of Golf on Friday, and hopefully win some races and bag some more points over the weekend!”

Alan Gardner
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Owner

“Navarra was a dream start with two wins for Ryan and two exceptional podium finishes for Kyle who didn’t have the feeling from the front tyre as he expected. The results in Spain only sets us up for a strong season at the circuits BSB fans love, and that starts this weekend at Oulton Park. Both riders have shown their speed this year and I know they will both be able to grab three strong results this Bank Holiday weekend.”

Paul Curran
OMG GRILLA Yamaha, Team Principal

“We’re excited to get to Oulton Park, not only because it starts the British calendar at the traditional UK circuits but also because it brings a new challenge. Oulton is quite the opposite to Donington Park and Navarra where we’ve ridden so far this year, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we get on. Both riders have a bike under them that works well and will use the test prior to fine tune that setting even more and come out the traps as ready and as fast as we can be come Saturday practice.”