Kyle Wyman scores solid points in Season opener in Superbike and Baggers

TUCSON, Ariz. (May 5) -- The KWR/Panera Bread Ducati Team competed in the first round of the MotoAmerica Superbike series this past weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Kyle Wyman finished 5th and 6th in races one and two respectively while also finishing 2nd place in the King of the Baggers race on his Factory Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle Road Glide.


Friday's qualifying practice day was filled with hiccups for the Ducati team as they sorted through some electronics gremlins that kept them in pit lane for most of the day. Wyman was able to complete 11 solid laps at the end of QP2 that would place him 6th on the day. Saturday's final qualifying session saw Wyman put his Panera Bread Ducati 7th on the grid for race one later that afternoon, after being unable to utilize the Dunlop qualifying rear tire due to a clutch issue.


"Going into the Road Atlanta weekend we had less than ten laps on our new Ducati Superbike," Wyman said. "I was really looking forward to putting a solid day together on Friday to acquaint myself with the new package, but some small issues prevented us from really putting in the time needed to get that done."


"Truly it's hard to find anything on the new bike that hasn't been changed or improved over 2020," Wyman added. "'We've moved over to Accossato brakes which is a big deal, and the new factory fuel tank and tail unit seen on the current WSBK spec Ducati machines overseas. We've done everything possible this winter to align our motorcycle with the world championship bikes so that we can have a better comparison with our peers in Bologna. We've added Raceboltwith KATO Thread Inserts to every corner of the machine to ensure its reliability. We've moved to a vastly improved SC-Project Exhaustsystem that uses a double undertail outlet. This is by far the highest level spec we've been able to produce at KWR, and I know that the ceiling his high with this new machine."


In Saturday's King of the Baggers qualifying, Wyman was able to put his Harley-Davidson Road Glide in P2 on the grid, just .050 of a second behind series rival Tyler O'Hara on his Factory Indian Motorcycle. This qualifying would set the grid for Sunday's race, but Saturday afternoon would host the debut of the Panera Bread Ducati in Superbike Race One.


In Superbike race one Wyman got off to a strong start and settled into a lonely 6th position, running the full 19 lap race distance with no battle. He was the benefactor of some late race attrition that would put him in 5th spot by race-end.


"Race one I spent a lot of time just getting familiar with the new machine and trying to adjust myself to the SBK coming off the Bagger, which was more difficult than I had originally thought it would be going into the weekend," Wyman said. "5th place is a good result considering the time on the bike but the top guys are quite a way up the road. We needed to try a few things for the Sunday warm-up to be better prepared for race two."


On Sunday Wyman would pull double duty, and race the Harley-Davidson Road Glide in the King of the Baggers main event before SBK race two. In the baggers race Wyman got off to a hole shot lead that would put him with a 1 second gap over rival O'Hara. Wyman relinquished the lead on lap 4 after a two-lap scrap that saw the leaders swap positions. In the end, Wyman finished 2nd in the race just a half second behind in his King of the Baggers debut, and 25 seconds clear of 3rd.


"On the Harley I knew it was going to be between Tyler and I when the race started," Wyman said. "My plan in the race was to manage the pace the best I could so I could look after my equipment, as we had had some cooling issues with the bike throughout the race weekend. My goal was to bring it home no worse than second but if I had a chance at the win, I would take it. When Tyler got a bad start I decided to put my head down and pull a gap. I was able to do that but toward the middle of the race I had to start looking after the engine and make sure I could bring it home. I was able to stay with him through the last lap but we just didn't have the steam to bring home the win."


"All told I'm happy with our debut and we learned a ton about our Road Glide, which is still in its early stages of development. With round one of three now in the books, we need to win the last two races at Road America and Laguna Seca to take this championship. That's our focus."


Next up was Superbike race two, and Wyman got off to a stronger start than race one, but found himself in the same lonely position falling short of the race pace in the front group. Wyman would bring home the Panera Bread Ducati in 6th place. With loads of data and experience that was missed in the abbreviated pre-season, the KWR team now has a plan for the upcoming round two at Virginia International Raceway in three weeks time.


"The first round is in the books now and I'm happy to have scored points in both races, but not satisfied with our pace or results overall. We've got some work to do in order to get more comfortable with the bike but I know the KWR team will be able to put out a runner for the rest of the season. It's up to me as a rider to start maximizing the potential of our bike so with our few mechanicals sorted out I look forward to pounding out laps in Virginia and figuring it out."


Round two at Virginia International Raceway will not feature the King of the Baggers but is set for a Superbike double-header May 21-23, 2021.