Bradley Ray “ready to go now” for BSB 2026 after Kyle Ryde defeat

After missing out on the 2025 BSB title in the final race of the 2025 season, Bradley Ray says he is “ready to go now” for the 2026 season.

Ray’s 2025 started superbly with 10 wins from the first 12 races, but a mid-season form dip allowed Kyle Ryde to seize control of the championship, the Nottingham rider ultimately taking the championship by 20 points.

But it’s still Ray that ends the season with the most victories with 12 compared to Ryde’s six, and with the same amount of podiums (21) as the now-two-time BSB Champion.

It’s a season that leaves Ray – who will return in 2026 with the same Raceways Yamaha team he’s competed with in 2025 – motivated for next season.

“I’m ready to go now,” he told BritishSuperbike.com after Race 3 at the Brands Hatch finale.

“I’m ready to go for [2026]. There’s a few things that we can improve the package for next season. 

“It’s obviously strong now, but always trying to find a tenth here and a tenth there, and that’s what we’re going to be doing over the winter, and come out next year fighting.”

The Raceways team was put together in the final month before preseason testing started this year, after Ray was left without a ride for the season late on following the collapse of OMG – before it was rescued by Nitrous Competitions.

The tumultuous start to the year combined with Ray’s journey back into BSB after spending two years he admits were “tough” in World Superbike, but he says he has got what he wanted out of the year, which he says is among the best he’s had in racing.

“I’ve had a tough couple of years in World Championship and I said to the people around me that I want to come back and enjoy racing again,” he said.

“I want to come back to BSB, enjoy what I do, enjoy what I love, and this season has given me that back, for sure. 

“The start of the season was very touch-and-go; obviously I thought I was all done and sorted with OMG but whatever happened there happened and it left me without a ride for 2025 four weeks before the season started. 

“So, my manager Shane [Byrne] rang around and tried to get something ticked off for the season. 

“But that late on it’s super-difficult, and I said to Shane ‘I need to be on something competitive, if I’m going to come back I want to come back to win races and fight for the championship’. 

“We planted the seed with Steve Rogers over the phone and went back and forth a little bit to get things up and running, but he basically said two weeks before the first test at Donington ‘Yeah, we’re go, driver’.

“And that was it. He said even if we have to pull up in the back of the van we’ll get the bike sorted and away we go. 

“To be honest, it’s been one of the best seasons of my racing career, the team have been unbelievable; Steve’s been like a top bloke, to come out of retirement to help me. 

“He said ‘Look, driver, I’m not doing this for anyone else; I’ll do it for you, but that’s it’. So, that means a lot for me and it shows how much belief and faith he’s got in me as a rider. 

“We tried our best this season to give Steve the championship, which he deserves for sure.”

Ray added that there have been a few things this year which have been outside the control of both him and the Raceways team that contributed to him losing the title.

“Sometimes things happen that are out of your control,” he said, “and a few times this year that’s happened – no fault of the team, no fault of myself, just how it is. 

“I can’t be sour about it, we’ve had an unbelievable season. We finished second in the championship with an incredible battle with Kyle [Ryde].”