Ryan Vickers was “in so much pain” as he battled to BSB Donington Park podium

Ryan Vickers put in a strong performance in keeping up with eventual race winner Kyle Ryde, all while dealing with back pain, which had seen him unable to mount his BSB Honda Racing UK bike on the grid.

Vickers, speaking to British Superbikes in their Podium Reactions interviews after the race explained just how bad the pain was before the race started:

“When I went from the box out to the grid, I genuinely didn’t think I’d make any more than five laps. Like, that was my thought. I was in so much pain, even on acceleration out of pit lane. I was, like, wincing.

I couldn’t sit on the bike on the grid, like - it felt bad, you know.

I felt almost ill in one way because I was in so much pain. Luckily, when I got going, sort of after about five or six laps, it just started easing off - probably a bit of painkillers kicking in as well”.

The number seven bike, all while fighting the pain barrier was challenging for the lead in the front pack on track, catching Ray who had once again gotten a strong start at lights out. The pressure soon came from behind, with eventual race winner Kyle Ryde soon back in contention for the win, as Vickers explained:

"I was behind Brad and I thought I had a bit more pace than him and managed to get past - before I got passed - I thought that was quite crucial. Then just set a decent pace and as soon as I see ‘1’ on the pit board I thought, right, yeah, I knew he got a bit of a bad start, so I didn’t know kind of where he’d gone back to. I knew he was going to be definitely having more pace and I kind of knew where he was going to pass me".

Ryde was pulling out unorthodox passes rather than waiting for preferred corners, as Vickers soon found out, while anticipating the move for the lead:

“I didn’t quite expect him to come around the outside at Craner’s , but that’s our weakest point. You know, look at any of the sectors, last three sectors have been nearly the quickest all weekend first tow have been very slow, or losing a lot of time.

We managed to race really well. Kyle came past, was setting an amazing pace and I thought, right he’s gone, really dug in and managed to hold onto him and actually catch him at one point. But then, I think he’s seen plus zero on his board and put down some real hot laps at the end that I just couldn’t match”.

As Ryde pulled away Vickers stayed in close contact for lap after lap, only losing touch in the closing stages, which the Honda rider acknowledged that helped ensure he was safely away from third placed Ray behind:

“I see the gap going up against Brad, so I just tried to keep that room as long as possible and hang on to Kyle and I knew that’d drag me away.

Honestly, really happy, thanks to the team and great to be on the podium when we were P11 at the start of the year”.