Fleetwood motor-race ace thunders to glory in first round at Donington Park

The 29-year-old Myerscough College motorsport lecturer couldn’t wait to get back on track in a delayed season.

After winning the British Blackbird Corporate Steelsport title last year, Ryan has moved up in class to the Blackbird Corporate Golden Era Supersport class.

Having spent four months building two excellent Yamaha R6’s, testing went well and after some suspension adjustments they were ready for qualifying. Having become the first person to win a Supersport race on a less powerful Steelsport machine last year, Ryan was hopeful.

He qualified on pole position but the first race took place in the rain. Having not ridden the bike in the wet, Ryan took it easy to get some solid points and was happy to finish third.

Ryan was then dominant in races two and three and won both, despite a rival running into the back of him in the opening lap of the third race and forcing a restart.

He found race four to be great fun, with a lot of passing and battling as rivals strove to prevent Ryan hitting the front. But try as they might, he took the lead with just over a lap to go and put the hammer down to take the victory and the lap record.

Despite his hugely impressive results, Ryan will still work to improve the bike for round two at Mallory Park, Leicestershire, at the end of the month.

Ryan said: “I was super-excited to get back out on track, burning some rubber and melting some knee sliders!

“I honestly didn’t think I would have such a strong weekend for my first time on a newly-built bike in such a competitive class. I’m thoroughly thrilled.

“The bike was mega, my sponsors and supporters are superheroes and the Dunlop tyres stuck like glue all weekend. Thanks to these excellent results, I’ve won a new set of tyres for the next round!”