BSB: Bradley Ray – “Everything is about racing and finding a better me”

Bradley Ray is a very likeable character. Talking to him, he comes across as grounded, polite, and somebody who hasn’t let success in motorcycle racing go to his head, and yet, success he has had. 

At the age of six, Brad began riding in various classes of the British Minimoto championship, where he dominated the competition for three consecutive years, going on to later win both the FAB Racing British MiniGP50 and GP70 by the time he was eleven years old. 

Following this, he gained a wealth of experience competing in the Red Bull Moto GP Rookies series, Motostar championship and the Spanish CEV Moto 3 competition amongst others, culminating in an offer of a place in the superbike class at the British Superbike competition in 2017. 

Once described as “my little Rossi” by Stuart Hicken, of Buildbase Suzuki, after an impressive double win at Donington Park in 2018, 2021 will be Brad’s fifth season in BSB. It will also be his second year riding the German marque, having spent last year with Synetiq BMW and this season now with Rich Energy OMG racing.

Despite having a year’s experience riding German machinery, 2021’s motorcycle will be the all new M1000RR – an updated and improved version of the previous S1000RR.

In view of this, I asked Brad about his hopes for the new bike. He said:

“BMW have clearly put a lot of time, effort and money into the new bike.  You could see in the World championship that the bike struggled and so they [BMW] have gone away and taken feedback from pretty much everybody who rides it in BSB and the World series. 

“It’s only been 2 years as well since they produced the new S1000RR, so it’s a huge commitment from BMW to get the bike right.  I think the new M-Sport is going to be great and very competitive and I’m really looking forward to riding it when it turns up as we haven’t had the chance yet to test it for this season.”

It goes without saying that the pandemic restrictions placed upon racing last year will have affected the ability of teams and their riders to produce their best results. 

In a normal situation, the British Superbike championship extends from April to October and consists of 19 races, with a further seven races known as the “showdown” – a title decider, held over the final three weekends of the competition. 

However, last year, the season was shortened to six triple-header events, which omitted the title showdown format and took place in a much-reduced timeframe between August and October 2020. 

Despite the relative lack of time on the grid, Brad still managed to produce a very respectable thirteenth position in the BSB standings. He spoke to me about what the fans could expect to see from him this season:

“Although I’ve a year under my belt on the BMW, last year didn’t exactly go to plan as we had a few mechanical issues, a few injuries and a shortened season to contend with.  We also didn’t get much testing in, so it was a case of learning the bike each round we went to and trying to improve it based on that performance. 

“We had a few strong results, but we always seemed to be on the back foot.  Hopefully this season will be stronger for us, especially with the new bike and the amount of testing we’re going to be getting done. 

“I think we can hit the ground running this year and be a lot more competitive than last year, with a focus on fighting for the top five every round, with podiums and wins.”

It’s obvious to see that both his time in the Junior World championship and his success on a superbike has given him a taste for being on the world stage.

That, and the fact that he pulled the team up from 64^th to 10^th position in the 2018 Suzuka 8-hour endurance event in Japan after a first-hour crash for teammate Silvain Guintoli, suggests that this young man has his eyes on the highest prize. He went on to say:

“International racing is going to be my aim in the long-term and a World championship is where I’d like to be, whether that’s in World Superbikes or an offer of a ride from Moto GP.  At the same time, I love riding my bike and I’m obviously fully committed to the incredible opportunity and challenge provided to me by the Rich Energy OMG team in the domestic championship.”

Part of that challenge this year will be the fact that his new teammate, Kyle Ryde, is also a good friend of his. I asked Brad if it feels different to be both teammates and rivals for the championship, and, laughing, he replied:

“It’s quite a nice achievement for both myself and Kyle to be where we are now, especially thinking about how much we, and our families, went through to get us racing professionally. As kids, we did a lot together and raced in a few championships side by side but to think we’re on the same team for the first time, well, that’s incredible.

“Yes, we have a really good friendship and respect for each other on and off the track and we help each other out as much as possible.  But the fact is that we are rivals as well, so we’re going to be making moves and trying to beat each other, so I’ll just say may the best man win on the day.”

Parting ways with Bradley, it was clear his commitment to the sport, his fans, his team, but also to his own personal development as he navigates the professional road ahead, is exemplary. 

I finished our time together by talking a little bit about how he spends his free time, but it felt almost irrelevant, and he ultimately brought the conversation back to his day job:

“For me, everything is focused on racing, trying to improve myself and finding a better me.” 

This ascending, understated athlete with a shed load of talent is a real credit to the Rich Energy OMG Racing team, as well as the wider BSB community.  If indeed his overriding aspiration is to always ‘try to find a better me‘, then it seems he’s well on his way to achieving that.