Kyle Ryde heard Scott Redding “every lap” in close BSB race 3 at Oulton Park

Kyle Ryde lost pole but came back for a second BSB win as British Superbikes returned to Oulton Park, extending his championship lead under pressure from title rival Scott Redding.

Ryde, already the sprint winner earlier in the day, had started on pole, a change after an uncharacteristic fall on Friday. After a charge through from tenth in race one to the podium allowed an improved sixth to victory on the sprint, a poor start saw the reigning champion needing to power forward again in the final race at the Cheshire track.

Holding onto the top three, the Nitrous Coin, Nitrous Competitions Ducati rider had Scott Redding in his sights after dispatching Bradley Ray, with the duo going toe to toe for most of the duration, as Ryde explained to British Superbikes after the race:

“I think once I passed Brad, I tried to get on the back of Scott, but he was setting a really good pace and I don’t think I could have gone much faster at that point.

So I just tried to settle into some sort of rhythm where I wasn’t breaking too late and saving a tiny bit of tyre, if that’s possible doing 33.5’s, but just trying to be smooth and save a bit of energy.”

Redding had needed to run a perfect race to stay ahead of Ryde - there was only one error from the 2019 champion, on lap ten, which allowed the number one bike to pounce:

“Scott wasn’t making any mistakes, but he did go a little bit deep into the second chicane. He backed in a little bit, got the left quite slow, and I just parked it into the right and then I got my head down from there really.

I just thought as long as I do what I know I can do, if I win the race - bonus. if I don’t. at least I’ve done what I know I can do.”

With a race win at every round already in the bag after the sprint, Ryde locked in over the closing laps, using the screens at the track to work out his advantage, pulling away for a dominant second win and a double at Oulton Park:

“So yeah, I did nine solid laps, didn’t really make a mistake. Scott was still there - I heard him every lap into Lodge, into the last corner. So I knew I wasn’t pulling away.

I’ve not looked the TV once all weekend but I knew there was one into Cascades on the last lap. I looked and I had about a quarter of a second, so I just thought, if I was just clean, and brake late into the passing places, I should get this win, and yeah, it’s been a great day overall.”