Bradley Ray gifted second in race three after Haslam gear issue: “third was all I had”

Bradley Ray pushed hard for the entire Oulton Park meeting to try and bridge the gap to British Superbike championship leader Kyle Ryde, and despite picking up the race two win, had only gained a point back after three hard races.

Rayb had shown his pace with a surge from 14th on the grid to win the shortened race two, but race three was a more tactical and more frantic affair, with riders slowing the pace and the large on track group proving overtake after overtake.

• 2025 British Superbikes: Oulton Park (Showdown) - Race Results (3)
• 2025 British Superbikes: Oulton Park (Showdown) - Race Results (2)

Ray had started the race from pole and became the early leader after getting the holeshot to lead into turn one:

“It was a tricky race. I tried to get off at the front, set a good rhythm, but Kyle’s plan was always to try and get past me and maybe slow it up. So at that point, I backed  off the pace a little bit just to keep a steady rhythm. Eighteen laps around here with the temperature in the tyre, with the track temperature - it’s quite difficult. So there was quite a lot of passes.”

Leon Haslam had taken over at the front, with Scott Redding and then Storm Stacey joining the front group, which also included Ryde, with a flurry of other bikes closing in behind. Ray felt the need to push back to the front as the vibe of the race was very much pass or be passed:

“Leon was leading, I went back, then Scott came through and then Scott set a good rhythm towards the end that was quite strong. Storm came past me towards the end and I knew I had to get straight back past him and try and get close to these boys on the last lap.”

The Raceways Yamaha rider was grateful to benefit from Leon Haslam’s bad luck, running out wider after suffering a gear selection issue, with the former British Superbike champion feeling he had hit his limit in the taxing race:

“Unfortunate for Leon, in that last corner gave me second place, ‘cause third was all I had at the end, but yeah super happy to be on the podium and claw some points back in the championship.”

After increasing, Ray had a big job to do to make the title gap manageable again and keep his 2025 hopes alive heading into the final round at Brands Hatch, with all his hard work seeing him just one point better off than when he started, with the deficit now at 30 points. The #28 remains optimistic after today’s results, which showed a return to form - Ray took his first win since Cadwell Park, and with wins for Josh Brookes and an rusty Redding, proving any thing is possible at the final round:

“Still all to play for. I feel good - this weekend has been really important for us, been strong in the dry and the wet, so that’s obviously a positive and you never know what can happen at Brands in October, so we’ll come out swinging and do our best to do the job we need to do.”