The opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Circuito de Navarra was a weekend of momentous firsts as Ryan Vickers claimed a debut double victory to stamp his authority on the first visit to the circuit in Northern Spain.
In the opening race of the day, the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider had been embroiled in an early five-way freight train including his teammate Kyle Ryde, Danny Kent on the McAMS Racing Yamaha, Hager PBM Ducati’s Glenn Irwin and Rory Skinner for the Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad team.
Vickers made a brave move on his teammate Ryde at turn one, the fastest corner on the calendar, with three laps to go and then pulled the pin to break away with a margin of 1.364s at the chequered flag to take the first ever Bennetts BSB victory at the Spanish circuit. Ryde held off Kent for second with Irwin and Skinner maintaining their positions inside the top five.
Vickers had his sights firmly set on a repeat performance in race two and he managed to deliver a first double win after overcoming a huge last lap moment at the final corner, crossing the line 0.277s ahead of Kent and Ryde.
At the start of race two, Ryde had launched to the front from Kent and Vickers, but by the fifth lap, the McAMS Racing Yamaha rider had made a decisive move into turn one to take the lead.
Kent was able to hold off his rivals until lap nine when Vickers stormed back ahead and despite Kent and Ryde pushing him hard, the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider was determined and maintained his advantage to lead the standings ahead of Oulton Park.
His Yamaha rivals Kent and Ryde completed the podium line-up, the first time that Kent has scored a double podium finish.
Reigning champion Tommy Bridewell scored a seventh place in the opening race as he got his title defence underway with Honda Racing UK, but it was disappointment in race two when he was forced to retire from the podium fight on the ninth lap.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
1.Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Racing Yamaha) 36
2.Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 30
3.Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Racing Yamaha) 30
4.Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 21
5.Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 20
6.Leon Haslam (ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad) 17
7.Max Cook (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 17
8.Jason O’Halloran (Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki) 16
9.Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) 14
10.Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad) 11
