Kyle Ryde heads into the final three rounds of the 2023 British Superbike Championship with his sights set firmly on using the revised scoring format to reel in his BeerMonster Ducati title rivals.
This weekend heralds Round 9 of the 2023 season at Oulton Park and a return to the familiar points’ format of recent years, with 25 points - rather than 18 - available for a victory both at this event and the following Donington Park round. The Brands Hatch finale then sees 35 points available for a victory.
It’s a change that Ryde believes keeps him in with a good shout of defending OMG Racing’s BSB title despite facing down a 51 point gap to Tommy Bridewell at the head of the standings.
However, Ryde - a three-time race winner this year - feels the final events suit both himself and the Yamaha R1 and says it is up to him to keep ‘digging in’ to get the points gap down.
“It’s been the best year so far for me, sitting in third at the minute,” he told the BSB website. “I’ve surprised myself at a few tracks I thought I’d struggle at, but they’ve been my best rounds, so I think it’s concrete evidence that I can be a title contender.
“Obviously, we have to make the most of this year, and we are still way within the shout of winning it, we have just got to keep digging in.
“The points change now, so I have just got to keep my head down, get as many points as possible; you never know what could happen.
“Going back to tracks now, I got a podium at Oulton Park at the start of the year in the last race, and at Donington Park I was strong, so these two should be good. I’m looking forward to getting back to those rounds now.
“I just hope that we can put on a good show for everyone. I’m very much looking forward to this weekend, I have been doing my work and research, watching the races back from the start of the year, and then we go into this weekend trying to get as many points as possible.”