The final round of the regular Bennetts British Superbike season didn’t quite go to plan for former leader Bradley Ray, despite a podium finish and a solid points haul.

Having taken the treble at Donington Park earlier in the season, Ray arrived in confident mood. 

However he was on the back foot from the office when a technical issue meant he lost of all free practice one on Friday. 

He qualified further down the grid than he would have liked starting the first of four races on Saturday from 7th on the grid with rival Kyle Ryde starring from the front row.

He got away and started to love up slowly and made his way up to fifth battle with Danny Kent and Andy Irwin, before slipping down to ninth. That is where he would finish as the red flag fell two laps before the end due to an incident for John McPhee. 

It means that going into Sunday’s races he would be 11 points behind Ryde in the championship standings. The opening race would see him fourth on the grid, just behind his rival. 

Ray was to finish just off the podium in race one of the triple header on Sunday. With a fourth place finish, which was a marked improvement from his Saturday result. It does leave him further behind in the title race as Kyle Ryde was victorious. 

It was a bit of a lonely race in the end with Skimmer two seconds ahead in third and Andy Irwin a couple of seconds back in fifth. 

His lap was once again fast enough for a fourth place start for the second of the sprint races in a busy Sunday. 

With an encouraging dose of points attained for the championship bout, the squad headed towards Race 3 with a shot in the arm – confident in their ability to run with the leaders.

Ray would again take up position in fourth place on the grid ahead of the penultimate sprint of the weekend, and with every intent to push forwards, the podium-hopeful did just that.

A strong launch from the line saw Ray gain momentum, briefly passing Christian Iddon for third later that lap, before dropping back to fourth to settle into a comfortable rhythm chasing podium contention.

A second, and successful attempt on third place came at Red Gate on Lap 3, before an incident on the same lap deployed a safety car, which compressed the field until racing resumed at the start of Lap 6.  

Ray’s progression through the field didn’t stop there, with an overtake on victory-hopeful Scott Redding promoting him into second place, where he would eventually take the flag for a hard-earned podium finish for the Raceways Yamaha outfit, and adding 16 points to his championship tally.

The R1 rider also set the fastest lap of the race – earning himself a pole position start for the final sprint of the weekend.

With intentions of replicating his Race 3 form – Ray made a strong start to the weekend’s concluding charge – holding the lead on the opening lap and initially keeping a hard-charging Kyle Ryde at bay.

Engulfed in the leading group, Ray slipped back to third by the end of Lap 3, before another safety car would enter the circuit to narrow the field.

The final race of the Donington Park meeting was a tale of two halves for Ray, who struggled to regain momentum and find his feet as the safety car rolled into the pits to start Lap 8.

Despite showing fight, the Ray slipped down the order to take the flag in seventh.

Speaking after the weekend, Ray said: “It was an up and down weekend for the team and I. It’s been the toughest weekend of the year by far for us. It was just one of those weekends where things didn’t come together.

“It’s a shame to lose some points to Kyle – but we’re heading into the showdown now and I feel good in myself and in how I’m riding. We’ll come back stronger at Assen”

Images courtesy of Yamaha Motors