The 170-mile overnight journey that turned Ryan Vickers’ Brands Hatch BSB around

After a tough Friday at the Brands Hatch BSB, some members of Ryan Vickers’ Honda Racing UK team drove up to Louth to try to turn the situation around.

Vickers just about squeezed himself into the top-12 in pre-qualifying on Friday at Brands Hatch, meaning he took the final direct Q2 place.

However, while this was just the right side of the line in terms of avoiding the uncertainty of Q1 on Saturday, the performance was below Vickers’ expectations.

In an attempt to improve things for the remainder of the weekend, some parts were fetched from Honda Racing UK’s workshop in Louth, around 170 miles away from Brands Hatch.

“It was a little bit of a difficult weekend really,” said Ryan Vickers.

“I headed there with a lot of high hopes because the last time I raced there in 2024, I had six podiums and three wins, so I was expecting to be right in the mix. It wasn't quite as easy as I'd hoped, in all honesty.

“The pace this weekend was extremely high. We finished Friday struggling a lot with grip and a few other issues, so a few of the lads drove back to the workshop on Friday night to collect a host of parts to see if they could help. 

“Luckily for us, they did. They improved things in certain areas, but we were still lacking in others.”

Saturday still started underwhelmingly for Vickers, qualifying only 13th, but he recovered in BSB Race 1 to sixth, which in turn set him up well for Sunday.

"Qualifying wasn't great, if I'm being honest,” he said.

“We struggled to make the most of a new tyre and I wasn't pleased with 13th on the grid. 

“But Race 1 was great for me. We finished sixth, made some really good progress and I was pleased with our efforts. The lap times were strong and that helped me secure a better grid position for [Race 2].

"[Race 2] race was equally as good. I posted the fastest-ever Honda lap around the GP circuit, and it was my fastest-ever lap around there, too. 

“We were able to grab fifth on the final lap with a nice pass on Leon Haslam.

“We made a few changes for the final race and, if I'm honest, I feel we went in the wrong direction. I couldn't quite match the pace I had in [Race 2]. 

“But overall I'm relatively happy. We have to take the small wins from each weekend, and I can be pleased in saying that we did the best we could. Fingers crossed we can build on this momentum now.”