Ray’s ‘chilled’ approach pays off for pole

Bradley Ray concedes his mid-season lull has been triggered by pushing too hard and feels his calmer approach to the Cadwell Park round has shown its worth with pole position.

The Buildbase Suzuki rider led the early Bennetts British Superbike championship standings thanks to a double victory at Donington Park followed by a podium and seventh place at the second round at Brands Hatch Indy.

Since then the Suzuki rider has failed to reach the rostrum, with two high-profile offs at Snetterton and Thruxton, and dropped down to fifth place in the BSB riders’ standings with his spot in the Showdown under threat.

But Ray has battled back in qualifying at the Lincolnshire circuit with his first pole position since Snetterton which he puts down to applying less pressure on himself.

“The last few rounds have been very difficult and I’ve been trying and trying to push on to get the best results we can,” Ray said. “Maybe that has meant pushing too much and putting too much pressure on myself.

“I’ve come into this weekend quite chilled and it seems to be working at the moment so hopefully we can go back to our old selves like we were at Donington and Brands for the first two rounds.

“The team has been working really hard to find the problem we’ve been having with the bike. To get pole here is amazing considering it is not one of my favourite tracks.

“It is really good and it certainly makes the races tomorrow a lot easier starting from pole and being up in the front group. It should be a close and interesting race one tomorrow.”