Kyle Ryde was in Jerez continuing his pre-season testing after having previously been in Valencia. He kindly took some time out to speak to us about his move to the British Supersport class and the 2015 season ahead.
What have you been doing over the winter after your successful year in 2014?
Mainly training, not every day. I do a lot of mountain biking, mainly because obviously in England it’s very cold and in the summer I’ll go out on my road bike with my mechanic Kez but in the winter I do mountain biking. A bit of gym now and again but I’m not flat-out with it and these last couple of weeks I’ve not really done anything I’ve just wanted to ride my bike. Soon as you ride your bike it clicks into gear that you need to start training again.
You’ve continued this year again with PaceDayz with who you had a fantastic year with last year
Yeah, last year was good but for this year I think it was a no-brainer to go with Craig [Fitzpatrick] again. I had options to go to other places but with him living near me, the bikes amazing all the time, it’s always a good bike, nothing ever wrong with it. It’s just a good relationship as well and it would have been sad to have just left. So it was a no-brainer to stay.
You’ve moved up a level to British Supersport with PaceDayz.com is the bike a lot different?
It is a lot different. If you said speed wise there is only a bit of difference and tyre wise a bit of difference but as a big package together there’s a lot of difference if you know what I mean. Everything on it is just a little bit better and you can have electronics just so it makes it a little bit easier get to your problems better and stuff like that. I’m really looking forward to Donington and see how it goes.
Who will you be racing against this year?
There’s a few out the Superstock class, for example, Andy Reid and Joe Collier they finished second and third behind me, they’ve moved up but there is still some really fast riders in there from last year like Luke Stapleford and Glen Irwin and there was Graeme Gowland but unfortunately he broke his leg in testing which is very unfortunate because I was looking forward to learning from him.
Why do we have Supersport and Superstock if the bikes are similar?
I’m not sure, I mean they say on the telly that Superstock 600 class is more like dad and lad racing but there are a few teams like Craig’s that put a really good Superstock 600 bike out there. In Supersport the tyre bill is a lot, you’re using a new set of tyres every time, there’s better riders in it, you get more track time, you get two races, and last year I think it was the best racing. I think it was better than the Superbike racing on average.
You’ve already won two championships what are your goals in Supersport this year?
Well, if I can get on the front two rows at every race, I’ll be over the moon, just so I can run with those lads that have been in it a couple of years and I think in the first couple of rounds I’ve got the pace to stay with them but I haven’t got the experience to finish right at the end of the race with them because they are aggressive and they have been in it for a while. So I think a couple of rounds in I can get used to the aggressiveness and where I should be able to pass some people and on what laps and everything.
Many young riders are desperate to get into the Red Bull Rookies Cup but your experience of that route was a little bit different from what most youngsters are looking for.
When I was younger, twelve or thirteen I did want to do the Red Bull Rookies Cup. It looked amazing. I used to follow Danny Kent when he was in it, every race and he was really good. I went to the try-outs and got in and I was over the moon. In the first year it was sound, I mean top ten finishes and I was happy, the bike was happy, and they said they want me to come back [and compete the next year]. So I went to the first test at Estoril and I was fastest by about 0.5 and I thought right this is my chance to do really well and hopefully progress into Moto3 and then World Championships but think I did a 51.1 at Estoril in the test. Then for the first round I went back to Estoril and I was about two seconds slower. The bike was not the same as what it was and then all they say was I was moaning all the time but your going to moan if you’re doing that lap time in the test and then you coming to the race and your 17th of the grid.
It was weird that my bike was pretty down all year and suddenly I got to Silverstone at my own race and all the suspension guys were really helping me and it seemed like they wanted me to do well and I finished third. Then I went back to the next round abroad and I was 17th again. It was really weird. It just seemed they had their favourites and that was that.
In the past you’ve had sponsorship from The Racing Steps Foundation does that continue or is there a limit to what sort of support they can give?
I was in the Racing Steps Foundation team for a year. It was a really good experience but I do think the bikes could have been a little bit better. I mean I was riding my socks off at every round. Some places I was sixth, seventh and I was really chuffed, but sometimes you know that you can go faster if the bike would let you. It was just a bit frustrating. But it was really good experience, I learnt a lot and I did forward it on to the 600 bike and I won, so, I do think without that year in Spain I wouldn’t have won that championship [Superstock 600 – 2014].
How difficult is it to get sponsorship?
It is hard, but I mean say when you’ve got a dad and lad the dad always does the sponsorship work but it is a lot better if, for example, if I go with my Dad or do phone calls and stuff as well because it’s me personally wanting sponsorship. I’m lucky because I’ve had a sponsor since I was about six and he’s always helped me every year and he’s put a lot of money in this year to help me and obviously I can’t thank him enough. I’ve said it every year. He doesn’t want big publicity that he’s putting loads of money in he just wants to help me.
How did you get into motorcycling?
My Dad raced side-cars and he did a couple of British Championship races and came second. Think I was five and he bought me a little pocket bike. Just for when he goes side-car racing he could take me round the paddock on it to learn how to ride it and come seven he took me to Benidorm in Spain and on a little, think it’s Finestrat Go-Karting track. Went there every year until I was about eleven just practising. Since then me and Brad [Ray] have been doing exactly the same thing went on 50s, 70s, 80s in Spain, Moto3 and we’re here now.
Have you got any advice for youngsters looking to get started in motorcycle racing?
For getting started I’d say its pretty simple. There are Go-kart tracks all across England or Spain and for example, in England I’ve got a little pit-bike just to mess around on in the winter and Monday to Friday they’ve got Go-karts booked in. On a Saturday and Sunday they only have a few booked in for some reason and we always take the pit-bikes down. If a dad wanted his lad to get into it any little bike that has not too much power and that he’s confident in riding, you can start anywhere.
Here we are in Jerez and you’ve completed two days testing so far. How’s it going?
Well we did Monday and Tuesday in Valencia which was very good. It was more a bit of a shake down. Not rode a bike for 5 months but the pace was pretty good, no new tyres or anything and I was really happy. Come away there, no crashes or anything, just really smooth and consistent and it was good. And then come here [Jerez] and this has been even better than Valencia I’d say. The pace is really good, the bike’s been mint from first practice. It’s like that with Craig you get to first practice and the bike mega there’s only a little tweak to change and all you have to concentrate on is going fast. You don’t have to concentrate on doing this and doing that.
Kyle Ryde test Jerez March 2015 concluded on Sunday after which he had to get back to Alicante airport to fly back home to the U.K. He and the team were really positive about the tests they had just completed in Spain which bodes well for the 2015 British Supersport season. Our thanks go to him and Craig Fitzpatrick the owner of PaceDayz.com racing team for giving us their time and we wish Kyle Ryde and the team every success for the coming season.