BSB Race 2 & 3 Silverstone Results: Rookie Kyle Ryde stuns with double

Kyle Ryde has emerged as a surprise title contender for the 2020 British Superbike Championship after notching up a stunning double victory at Silverstone in only his third event in the series.
 
One of only a handful of newcomers to the BSB class this year, Ryde has been a revelation from the get-go having shown top five pace on his debut at Donington Park. 
 
However at Silverstone he was almost unstoppable after coming up just 0.1s short of scoring a win in the first encounter of the weekend, before romping to victory in Sunday’s second and third races  around the Northamptonshire circuit aboard the Hawk Racing-run Buildbase Suzuki GSX-R1000R.

 
Indeed, having finished just behind Tarran Mackenzie in race one, Ryde made no mistake in race two as he stalked long-time leader Josh Brookes before pouncing on his more experienced rival for the win with three laps to go. 
 
However, in race three he led from the front, turning his pole position into the lead at Turn 1 and managing the pace initially before breaking clear in the closing stages to win by almost three seconds.
 
His victories are the first for Suzuki in BSB since OMG Racing’s Josh Elliott’s surprise success at the same venue at the start of 2019, while it is the first for Hawk Racing since Bradley Ray’s double race winning start to the 2018 season.
 
Despite being mugged by Ryde, Brookes held on for second place in race two, ahead of Jason O’Halloran, both riders benefiting from Mackenzie suffering technical problems on the McAMS Yamaha.

The Scotsman fought back in race three though, finishing in second place after just holding off team-mate O’Halloran, the Australian completing a brace of podiums.
 
Though there was to be no podium celebration for a Honda rider all weekend, a trio of fourth place finishes for Glenn Irwin sees him extend his lead in the overall standings. 
 
He is now 35 points clear of both Tommy Bridewell - who suffered a troubled weekend hampered by starting last in race one - and Brookes, the pre-season favourite notching up solid points without making a significant impression on proceedings.
 
Ryde, meanwhile, is up to fourth overall, 43 points off the lead, followed by O’Halloran, Christian Iddon and Mackenzie. In all, there have been six different race winners in eight races thus far.

BSB Silverstone - Race Results