The tenth round of the world Supersport championship got underway last weekend at the Magny Cours circuit with Kyle and the team looking to take points in France

Kyle Continues to Improve at Magny Cours

This is the second round in which Kyle and the team are using the Kawasaki ZX 6R, the first being two weeks ago at the Lausitzring. Since then the technicians and Kyle have been working hard to overcome technical issues and to build confidence with their new bike, as a result, performances have continued to improve.

The first timed practice took place on a dry track, but was interrupted after roughly 30 minutes due to an oil spill, after another rider suffered an engine failure. After a long break, the session resumed and concluded with Kyle in twenty-third place, with a best time of 1’44”167. A good performance for Kyle who had never ridden at this track until today.

The second session took place in the afternoon under cloudy skies but on a dry track. Kyle
improved his best time by more than a second and moved up to eighteenth place in the standings but that is only good enough for a place in Superpole 1

Robert Balogh – Team Manager:

“The final session was very positive and I’m pleased with what we’ve done today. The bike has worked very well, it’s fast and competitive.

It’s the first time Kyle is riding at this track and so eighteenth place after just two sessions can be considered a good result. We hope to do even better tomorrow”.

Kyle Ryde:

“We had a good second session, I didn’t have a slipstream all day and then right at
the end I found one and moved up to 18th, just 1.5 from Sofuoglu. It’s my first time at this track and it’s tough, though easier than Laustizring.

Tomorrow, I think I can be faster but everyone else will be too.  if I can be within 1.5 seconds of Sofuoglu again tomorrow that’s a good result.

Thanks to my team for their great work today.”

Kyle improves in the rain in Superpole1

Saturday was a cold, wet day at the Magny Cours track in France for the second day of practice and qualifying.

Since the Lausitzring round, the Schmidt Racing Team has been using the Kawasaki ZX-6R and the technicians on Robert Balogh’s team have been continuing their work to develop the new bike for Kyle Ryde at the French track.

In the third and final practice session, which took place in the rain, Kyle, who had never ridden at the French track until yesterday, began to build confidence with these new track conditions, closing in twenty-fifth place with a time of 2’10”019.

The Magny-Cours track was still wet for Superpole1, and though he improved his lap time by five seconds (2’04”884), Kyle only achieved seventeenth place, putting him on the ninth row of the grid for the 19-lap race.

Robert Balogh – Team Manager:

“I wasn’t happy with today’s Superpole. Kyle rode well, but was a little too cautious, we could have perhaps achieved a better grid position.

In general though, it’s been a positive day, we’ve continued to develop our bike and haven’t had any crashes or technical issues. For tomorrow’s race I’m feeling confident, but am hoping for dry conditions.

Kyle Ryde:

“I like to ride in the wet, but with the Kawasaki I’ve only completed twenty laps in
the rain so I couldn’t expect to be immediately fast.

I’m improving my feeling with the bike in the wet though, and my times prove this, considering that I improved on my best time by over five seconds in Superpole 1.

For tomorrow’s race I’m sure we can do well, especially if it’s dry. I want to thank my team for the great work they’re doing here at Magny Cours”.

Kyle just outside the top ten at Magny Cours

Saturday’s wet and cloudy conditions gave way to sunshine on Sunday.

Kyle made a very quick start which saw him move up to fifteenth place in the space of just a few laps. Kyle was able to maintain a very fast pace and continue to gain places, moving into thirteenth and battling in a group of four riders who continued to exchange positions. In the final stages, Kyle gave it his all and was able to cross the line in eleventh position, earning the first points for the Schmidt Racing Team with the Kawasaki.

Robert Balogh – Team Manager:

“I’m really pleased with today’s race, which comes at the end of a difficult weekend. The bike worked really well, the team did a great job and our rider is doing really well too.

We’ve earned some points and this is the important thing, which proves we did the right thing moving to Kawasaki. Now we can look to the future with confidence, starting from the very next race at Jerez”.

Kyle Ryde:

“It was a good race. I was having a good first lap but then Zaccone crashed in front of
me causing me to run off track and lose position. If it weren’t for that, I think I could have been up there with Kyle Smith but Zanetti passed me and I couldn’t pass back.

The important thing is that we scored some points. The bike was the best it’s been all weekend but I chose a tyre that was too soft. Anyway, I’m pleased I tried the new setting today – it was a gamble but I feel we’ve taken a big step in the right direction, and now the bike should be better for Jerez, a track that I really love.”

The next round of the Supersport world championship is scheduled to take place over the
weekend of 14-16 October at the Jerez racetrack in Spain.

Sponsorship

We try to take a pragmatic approach to rider funding so, we are always looking for new and innovative ways of keeping Kyle on track. To this end we have started trialling paid referrals for our site visitors and fans. Here’s how it works.

If one of you guys clicks the Quote Zone link at the top of the website or the one shown below and go on to buy your car, home bike or other insurance with Quote Zone, Kyle receives a small commission on the sale.

Quote Zone are an insurance comparison site like Go Compare etc and you can help Kyle by doing nothing more than updating your insurance! Quote Zone provide very competitive quotes for a range of insurance and will hopefully be able to save you some money in the process.