Ray shuts down “fast for one lap” talk with peerless win at Oulton Park in race one

Bradley Ray made his presence felt in the British Superbike paddock after a breakaway win and record race pace in the first race at Oulton Park to secure victory in domineering style on his return to the class.

The 2022 champion had been set to return to his old team and teammate, Kyle Ryde for 2025 at OMG before everything fell through on the eve of the Navarra test.

Much work behind the scenes lead to get both rider on the grid with a new sponsor at OMG for the now one man team featuring just Ryde, while McAMS previous manager Steve Rogers made a comeback to the paddock, bringing back the old Raceways name to get Ray on the grid, with the #28 keen to show hos appreciation, adding “It’s obviously great to get the win, for myself and obviously Raceways and Steve (Rogers) and everyone in my corner”.

• 2025 British Superbikes: Oulton Park - Race Results (1)
• 2025 British Superbikes: Oulton Park- Qualifying Results

Before the race, Ray took the opportunity to speak to Shane Byrne, as he revealed on TNT Sports BSB coverage, with the returning rider revealing to British Superbikes that there was no solid plan before that chat going into the race:

“I didn’t really have a plan to go into the race - I spoke to Shane (Byrne) and sort of said just get a good start, see what happens in the opening laps and go from there, basically.

I got it an alright at the start and felt good straight away - the bike felt really good on the first lap off the start, so I thought, you know what, I’m just going to go as hard as I can ‘cause I knew that the tyre would last because we’ve done enough in practice and in testing to know that on lap 16, on lap 18 of the tyre I can still do a respectable lap time.”

It had appeared that a comfortable Ray had eased off - his early in race record pace had seen him build a lead of over five seconds- but there were further revelations from the Yamaha man, who said he had actually had a small error, but enough of an advantage to remain clear out front:

“Once you’ve got a gap it’s good to manage towards the end - and I made a little mistake, maybe four or five laps to go  - which let Glenn get a little bit closer, but I was just watching the pit board, doing my own race, trying to stay calm because, obviously I haven’t been in this position for a long time.”

The Kent born rider also added that it was tough being out front alone after a disappointing WSBK campaign in the years since he left, where he recorded just one top ten finish - a sixth place at Imola in 2023, stating  “it was a long, long eighteen laps with no-one in front of you and just a pit board to look at every lap.

It’s not been easy - if you look on the results in the World Championship they’re not very good at all, but honestly I felt I’ve took a step from when I left in ‘22. “

Ray also touched on the idea he had been presented as a one lap wonder, believing that his race win at the first attempt should put paid to that notion:

“Coming back, I’ve learned a lot in myself. I’ve learned how to manage sessions and manage races so that’s only a positive to take into this season. Today showed that - a lot of people said to me you're only fast for one lap, which I am, but I’ve backed it up with a race win - so there’s a lot of work gone into this and I’m just happy to be able to bring it home.”

Ray finished by re- emphasising his happiness to be back after almost being ride-less and his gratitude to those who made it a possibility, saying he was “Honestly, over the moon - it’s been a good winter - obviously a lot has happened, but yeah, super ,super happy to be back winning races, being competitive again, that’s what I’ve missed - being with such a great team and such a great person in Steve, it’s all dedicated to him.”