Bradley Ray took his first British Superbike Championship win of the season last weekend at Snetterton, and followed it up with another podium, but it was very much a case of what might have been.

Ray loves Snetterton and had won in his last six races there, and he made that seven in race one on Saturday. Sunday was a very different story with an unfortunate DNF from a podium position in the sprint race at lunchtime. He made up for the disappointment with a third-place finish in race three, but it could have been so much more as he hunted down Scott Redding in second place in the final few laps.

The weekend at Snetterton started off strong for Ray as he was immediately getting into a comfortable rhythm from Free Practice 1 – quickly challenging lap record pace and ending FP1 and FP2 in the second and first spot respectively. Going on to clock a fastest time of 1:46.102, the supported rider topped pre-qualifying to round out a strong Friday – laying a concrete foundation heading into the first race day of the weekend.

Saturday’s Qualifying two session promised to deliver a more blistering pace at the front of the order – and McAMS Yamaha’s Ray delivered a masterclass fastest lap, smashing the lap record with a 1:45.757 to claim pole position for the opening race.

Race one of the weekend proved a defining moment for Ray, who lined up on pole and made the most of it from the drop of the lights. The Lydd racer quickly found his groove at the front before proceedings were halted by a red flag on lap two. When the field went again for a reduced 14-lap dash to the flag, Ray showed no signs of disruption, nailing the holeshot once more to lead the pack into Turn One.

What followed was a masterclass in composure, as the 29-year-old fended off sustained pressure from Max Cook. A bold lunge from Cook at the start of lap five briefly demoted Ray to second, but he wasted no time responding, carving back through at Murray’s Chicane four laps later to retake command of the race.

Cook’s retirement late on handed Ray breathing room out front, stretching his advantage to over half a second just as Scott Redding began to close in. Composed to the end, Ray held position through to a second red flag, which brought the race to an early conclusion and sealed his maiden win of 2026.

Sunday’s 12-lap Sprint Race saw Ray start from the front row and immediately go on the offensive, briefly slipping to fourth before digging in behind Cook. The fastest lap of the race, set by Ray on lap five, propelled him into the top three at Turn One of lap 6, setting up a look at Ryde ahead of Murrays Chicane.

The move materialised at the close of lap 8 – a clean pass that briefly put Ray in second, only for contact between the two into Turn One to send him into the gravel, ending a promising ride prematurely. Ryde was subsequently issued a 3-second penalty for his part in the clash.

Sunday’s finale gave Ray the chance to put Saturday’s misfortune behind them, and a strong launch from third kept him firmly in the podium mix from the outset.

A pass from Ryde, followed by a later move from Ryan Vickers at the Montreal Hairpin, temporarily shuffled Ray back to fifth. But he wasn’t finished – capitalising on a Cook error to move into fourth on lap nine, before repeating the trick on Vickers four laps later.

Ray crossed the line in third to bank a second podium of the weekend, heading to Brands Hatch third in the standings and 61 points off the championship lead.

Speaking after the weekend, Ray said: “It’s been a solid weekend overall, especially getting our first win of the year, which was a great feeling for the team. Race 2 was unfortunate, but that’s racing – we’ll move on. I tried my hardest to challenge for second in Race 3, but sadly we didn’t have enough laps left to make it happen.

“I feel like we had a bit more to give in that race, but we’ll take the podium and look ahead to Brands with confidence in our ability to fight at the top. My feeling with the bike was great all weekend and I can’t thank the team at McAMS Yamaha enough for all of their hard work yet again.”

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