Features 30 Aug 2016

Profiled: Ryan Masri

The story of rising Australasian Supersport racer so far.

CycleOnline.com.au this week shines the spotlight on 19-year-old Ryan Masri, who hails from Prestons in New South Wales.

Just like most motorcycle racers out there they all got into because of their ‘old man’ either raced or were racing at the time by the time their kids decided they wanted to have a crack at racing as well.

This was how Masri got into motorcycles. If you’re deadest into motorcycle racing, the name Jim Masri is a big enough name who doesn’t really need an introduction.

Ryan, who works as a sparky for Elecdata, started to get into motorcycles while his Father was racing at that stage: “While dad was racing I rode a lot of dirt track and a bit motocross,” explained Masri.

However his introduction to the tar didn’t come until 2014 when he rode in the FX300 Ninja Cup series in the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship

Image: Keith Muir.

Image: Keith Muir.

“We thought it would be a good opportunity to get into road racing by entering the Ninja Cup series,” explained Masri who was 17 at that point. That year Masri finished in seventh place overall with 161 points to his name.

“2014 went alright for us, so we decided to continue in the same class for the following year,” he added. 2015 saw Masri going two better than what he did in 2014 by finishing fifth overall, just three points off Hunter Ford.

The question is, what could have been for Masri? As in the last race of the year in 2015 he was in fact coming second in the points, but he copped a jump start penalty which resulted him in finishing in fourth place in the final race. But still bigger and better things were to come for 2016.

At the end of 2015 Masri got offered a test ride with the SA Kawasaki Bcperformance team aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R machine. After a positive test session Masri was lined up by Kelvin Reilly and the team to spearhead an assault on the 2016 Supersport championship in the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship.

To date Masri is currently sitting in fourth position with 166 points. He has scored a 10th at the opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park in March, a fourth place at Mallala where he scored his first top three finish which came in race one. At the third round at Queensland Raceway Masri again finished in fourth place, again with a top three finish in race three.

“I’m really happy with how this year is going,” Masri said. “My plan was to get a podium finish by the end of the year. As this is my first year racing a 600 it’s completely different to what I’m used to. I got my first podium finish at Malalla in just my second round, so I’m stoked!”

Masri also said it was simply unreal to be riding with a team such as the SA Kawasaki Bcperformance team, as the whole team are helping him out big time. On top of that, his teammate Kyle Buckley is more than happy to be leading him a hand by allowing him to ask a lot of questions.

“It’s a lot of fun being a part of the SA Kawasaki Bcperformance. We have a lot of fun together, which creates a good vibe within the team. However there are times to be serious and times to learn and knuckle down at tasks at hand.

“Having so many key people such as Kelvin, who has previously raced in the British Superbike Championship, Kyle, who is an experienced Supersport rider, as well as Robbie Bugden, who really doesn’t need an introduction, there is just a world of knowledge within the team.

“So it has made it a lot easier for myself to adapt to the Supersport bike and learn and pick up on the little things to be successful. It’s been very different. There a lot of different things you have to learn. As good as a 300 can be learning with close racing and so on, there are a lot of bad habits you can pick up on the 300 which you really have to nut out on the 600.

Image: Keith Muir.

Image: Keith Muir.

“It’s a whole new chapter. A lot of new things to learn and that is what the team has been good at is showing me and telling me what I have to learn. As long as I keep listing and keep my head on the right way I’ll just keep getting better.”

With three more rounds to go in this year’s ASC, what is Masri’s goal plan for the rest of the year? Well, being his first year his goal was to get a podium finish by the end of the year. Now that he has achieved four podium finishes by the third round, his plan is to fight harder and try and get a few wins by the end of the season.

What about his future? When CycleOnline.com.au asked where he sees himself in five years’ time, Masri said he would like to be racing overseas.

“I don’t mean to sound arrogant or anything, but I believe if I continue to push hard, learn and listen to the people around me who have a world of knowledge around me, I believe I might be able to make it overseas. I would love to say World Superbikes, but BSB might be the way to go first.”

In closing Masri said he wanted to say a huge thanks to the whole SA Kawasaki Bcperformance team, in particular Kelvin and his two mechanics Duncan [McCrindle] and Vaughan [Cumming] who have put in 100 percent effort at every round and really helped him to get him where he is today.

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