WSBK: Ray achieves double point-scoring finishes on BSB Spec bike

Bradley Ray’s wildcard performance at the Donington Park World Superbike meeting was nothing short of spectacular, out qualifying former series runner up Marco Melandri and finishing in the points in both races being the clear highlights.

Brad went to Donington Park in order to continue developing the Buildbase Suzuki and to get more time on the bike, as British Superbikes have to take a break from action to accommodate the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT. The ‘Kid from Lydd’ took full advantage of the dry track time on Friday evening to seed himself straight through into Superpole 2, whilst many regular front runners on the World stage had to participate in Superpole 1.

Having qualified 10th, Brad’s opening World Superbike race saw him demonstrate great pace, running with the likes of Marco Melandri, Jordi Torres and Leandro Mercado for the majority of the race. Brad would finish 14th in race one, an outstanding achievement, ahead of the factory Honda of Jake Gagne and

In race two, Brad got a good start and ran in the top ten for the opening part of the race, before dropping back through the field with an arm issue. The 21-year-old sensation brought the bike home for one point, making it a double point scoring weekend for him. He will now look to apply what he as learnt from the world stage to Snetterton – the next round of the Bennetts British Superbike championship.

“It was an interesting weekend. We showed up to a good event and had good pace throughout both races. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit difficult on our BSB spec bike with the WSBK-spec bikes around us. However, we was there to learn and develop our package so we can be better for Snetterton. We qualified 10th which was amazing, ahead of Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri. We showed great potential in the first ten laps, however tyre wear started after that. 

“We made another good step in race two. We tried a different swingarm which provided a fairly good pace over the distance of the race but didn’t give us much over the course of a single lap. About 15 laps in, my arm started to hinder me but it wasn’t arm pump, so we will get that checked out. This meant that I got caught but I really believe we could’ve had a 12th in race two. Again, we were there to develop and find out what we can improve. We struggled in the wet but understood where to improve, which was a step in itself.

“We carry a bit more confidence going to Snetterton which is good; hopefully we will be able to apply what we learnt from Donington there. If we had a WSBK-spec bike, I don’t think we would’ve been too far off of the front guys and it annoying to think ‘what could be’. We could run decent pace in the races. We have great confidence in the team now, putting us in good stead for the remainder of the BSB year.”