Bradley Ray looking for Ducati BSB weakness at “good for the Yamaha” Thruxton

This weekend’s Thruxton BSB will put a major Yamaha streak on the line, but Bradley Ray is hoping it’s Ducati whose weaknesses are exposed at the Hampshire track.

Yamaha has won all three races at each of the last five editions of the BSB Thruxton round, going back to 2021. Ray, though, hasn't won at Thruxton himself, but has been on the podium in five of the six races he's done there with Yamaha, only missing the top-three in Race 1 last year when he was eighth.

Jason O’Halloran has been the most prolific rider in recent years, with eight wins in nine races between 2021 and 2021, but last year – when the Australian was racing World Endurance – it was Kyle Ryde and Danny Kent who split the victories, with the former winning on Saturday while Kent took both Sunday victories.

In one way, Yamaha’s domination of the fastest track on the calendar is surprising, since the R1 is among the slowest bikes in the Superbike class in terms of straight line speed.

However, the bike’s sweet-handling nature has made it the weapon to have at the Hampshire track, where tyre conservation is much more important than straight line performance.

Ducati, on the other hand, has typically struggled at Thruxton with its Panigale V4 R. This year’s new bike has proved dominant throughout the 2026 BSB season, especially in the hands of championship leader Kyle Ryde, but Bradley Ray is hoping that any weaknesses the new V4 R does have will be highlighted by the unique Thruxton layout.

“I think Thruxton’s notoriously good for the Yamaha,” Bradley Ray told Crash.net after Race 3 at Oulton Park.

“It’s going to be interesting, since Ducati don’t have any weak points at the minute, so maybe we’ll find them at Thruxton. 

“After this weekend, I think we’ve made a step with the bike, so hopefully we’ll carry on working in that direction at Thruxton.”

Ray heads to Thruxton having been sure of the step made in his performance compared to the start of the season at Oulton Park.

“The pace is obviously a lot stronger,” he said.

“Got three thirds at the start of the year, and obviously a win, a second, and a third this weekend. 

“My overall pace was better, my qualifying was better, and I was able to stick it to Kyle [Ryde]] who obviously cleared off in all the races [at round one]. 

“So, we’ve definitely made a step. 

“We were never going to stop working, we’ve got to try and close that gap a little bit more.”