BSB: Ray “not too bothered” by Haslam lead, thinking about podium points and Showdown

After a promising start to the weekend, Bradley Ray’s charge to victory was cut short in both races by uncharacteristic crashes, leaving the Donington Park double-winner with a 64-point deficit to championship leader, Leon Haslam, although he remains comfortably in the ‘Showdown’ placings.

Brad’s weekend got off to a consistent start, with a 6th place in FP1 and an 11th in FP2, as Brad adapted to changes and settled down into a rhythm for the weekend. The Kent youngster posted a top five time in the final free practice session before stunning everyone in qualifying, by achieving pole position – the first Suzuki rider to do so at Snetterton since Josh Brookes in 2012 and the first British rider on a Suzuki to do so since the championship was reformed in 1996.

However, despite all the hopes of a return to the podium for Brad, a crash from the lead in race one and a crash in a battle for 3rd in race two – when he tangled with Glenn Irwin – means he doesn’t add to his points tally for this season after Snetterton. However, he is still comfortably in the Showdown and 2nd in the championship. The Kid from Lydd will head to Knockhill in just under three weeks time to try and claw back vital points that were lost at Snetterton.

“Obviously, I’m pretty gutted for myself and the Buildbase Suzuki team after the two races. We showed such a promising pace, not just in the practice and qualifying sessions but in the races too. We had a great race pace in both race one and race two.

“We went for the same tyre combination in both races; with the SC1 which is a harder compound, so we may have had the pace to win as we would’ve come good towards the end; Jake Dixon had the same tyre choice and look what he was able to do in the last couple of laps. The crashes were both surprises, as I didn’t really get a warning before the front had tucked. I can’t knock the team’s efforts this weekend, we’ve all worked tremendously hard.

“The main benefit is that we’ve had a better pace than Oulton Park and showed way more potential. It was just one of those weekends that wasn’t meant to happen for us. Looking at the championship, Leon Haslam has a few more podium points more than me, which makes me not too bothered about the 64 point gap as it will all end up being close anyway – should we make it to the Showdown.

“Going to Knockhill, you’ve got to look at being ahead of Josh Brookes, Leon Haslam, Glenn Irwin and Jake Dixon, although having said that, Knockhill is completely different and we could find anyone up the front as our rivals.”

Ray heads to Knockhill, where he went strong last season onboard the Buildbase Suzuki.