Ryan Vickers “got to be happy” despite missing Snetterton BSB podium

Ryan Vickers may have missed the podium at his home BSB round at Snetterton, but the Thetford rider believes he has “got to be happy” with his performance there.

Vickers’ start to life with Honda in BSB was tricky, with no top-six finishes in the opening two rounds, but rounds three and four have shown more reasons for optimism for the Honda Racing UK man, taking two fourths at Knockhill and two more top-fives in the long races at Snetterton.

The former WorldSBK rider was in the mix for the podium in Race 3 at Snetterton but ultimately ended up fourth. 

Despite the lack of a podium at Snetterton, Vickers believes the performance there was something to be pleased about as it backed up the Knockhill results and therefore evidenced the progress that he and Honda have made since the beginning of the season.

“I’ve got to be happy,” Ryan Vickers told media, including Crash.net, after Race 3 at Snetterton.

“The way it’s been at the start of this season compared to where we are now is absolutely night-and-day. 

“I’m sure the Ducatis at the front and all the other guys [have been] progressing to this point as well, so for us to close the gap it shows how much work we’ve been doing.”

Vickers held that final podium position for several laps in the final race, but even in the moment he knew it would be tough to keep hold of the position against the likes of Bradley Ray and Max Cook, who had been among the fastest riders since the opening practice on Friday.

“It was nice to be in P3 and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to pull away from Max [Cook] or Brad [Ray] because I know how strong they are here, and Brad’s been strong all weekend.

“To hold them off that long, I knew I had to be really strong on the brakes and be savvy with where I was riding and position on track and stuff like that. 

“I knew he [Ray] was close every lap at the hairpin and I was braking as late as possible.”

Vickers eventually lost second with a mistake at turn two, running in wide and allowing Ray to take command of the inside of the corner.

“Braked at the same point, but just as I lost the tyre I just couldn’t quite stop that lap and he pipped up the inside of me. 

“I dug in and tried to stay on the back of him as long as possible, but his pace was really good at the end, we were even coming back to Scott [Redding] at the end. 

“We stayed pushing to the end, unfortunately just missing out on the podium again, just by a little bit, but only a few second off the win again.

“On a long circuit like this at Snetterton is a massive improvement compared to Knockhill as well. So, really happy.”