Bennetts British Superbike Championship leader Bradley Ray has vowed to fight back to winning ways this weekend at Thruxton with the Raceways Yamaha team.
Ray leads the standings into round six by 34-points and after an incredible winning tally so far this season of ten victories, his home round of Brands Hatch was a rollercoaster for the home round contender. He claimed his first Superbike win on the Grand Prix circuit before crashing out of race two, completing the weekend with a fourth place, which marked his toughest round of the season so far.
Ray said: “Brands Hatch was a very positive weekend for me. I got my first podium, my first win at Brands Hatch back at home. I had good pace, qualified on pole, set a new lap record in the race as well. I was fast, I was leading the first race and leading the second race but unfortunately made a small mistake and crashed out. It was damage limitations in race three, I had a few problems with the bike and I wasn’t able to maximise my pace, so I was fortunate to bring home fourth place.
“All in all, we lost some points in the championship, but the positives are there and we were fast at a track that I wasn’t normally fast or strong at in the past, so it bodes well for the rest of the year and for the finale at the end of the season.
“We found a good way with the bike and we’re getting stronger and stronger. I’m looking forward to Thruxton, it’s normally a good track for Yamaha and it’s a track I enjoy riding at as well, so looking ahead to that it’s going to be a strong weekend.
“There is a lot to focus on the tyres and making sure we’re strong at the end of the race. I’m feeling positive and I’m ready to get going, put Brands’ results behind us and look forward, keep riding the way we are. We’ve been fast all year, so we just keep working. We have a few small areas we can improve, and there’s some small ways to make it a bit better, but overall I’m happy, positive and ready to get going at Thruxton - we’re going to go and keep continuing the hard work as a team.”