Britain’s Kyle Ryde will have to fly solo for the opening WorldSSP round at Phillip Island this weekend as team boss Manel Puccetti has decided not to find a substitute for injured reigning champion Kenan Sofuoglu.

Ryde is no stranger to the circuit but this is his first year in a factory-backed squad. The youngster wasn’t over the moon with his performance in testing but ended 1.4s off the pace of PJ Jacobsen.

“The final tests were a case of getting there step-by-step. I am a bit frustrated because I know I can be faster but I think the current set-up on the bike is holding me back. We are still working out what to do to improve it. We do not want to make big changes but the smaller ones we are making now are not enough yet,” said Ryde.

“I enjoyed riding but wanted to go faster in the afternoon. I am sure by Friday we will be able to make a big step. So far I have been riding around on my own but when I get in with some faster competition I am sure this will give me a boost.”

Puccetti has said he needs to find a suitable rider for the Thailand round: “If we could find a top rider to come here at the last minute and make a good race in the podium zone then it could have been good. We could have taken some points from our championship competitors. But after two or three days we have not found a high level rider to fight for the podium.

“That is a very difficult thing to achieve, of course, because the championship will be very strong. This is the reality of the situation so we decided not to replace Kenan for the race in Australia. For the next round in Thailand we will know something next week but for sure we need to find a replacement for Kenan for that round.”

Ant West will probably be available…