Ray leads Showdown challengers at Silverstone

Full BSB FP2 results from Silverstone

Bradley Ray has topped Friday practice at Silverstone ahead of the Bennetts British Superbike Showdown decider as all riders got up to speed on the unfamiliar National circuit layout.

Following the safety concerns which led to the cancellation of the British MotoGP at Silverstone two weeks ago, BSB has opted to switch to the National circuit layout which saw small schedule changes to allow riders to become familiar with the 1.6-mile track.

After Josh Brookes topped FP1, fellow top six challenger Bradley Ray bolted to the front with consecutive fastest laps at the end of the afternoon session to be the only rider to duck into the 53-second bracket, eventually ending FP2 fastest with a 53.876s.

That enabled the Buildbase Suzuki rider to edge out a slender margin on the chasing pack of 0.127s on Jake Dixon on the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki – who has already secured his Showdown spot – with Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon impressing in third place.

Honda’s Jason O’Halloran, who also has a slim shot at making the top six, ended Friday fourth quickest in front of Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin and BSB championship leader Leon Haslam who bounced back from a heavy high side crash in FP1.

FP1 timesheet-topper Brookes missed the second half of the afternoon session after suffering a technical issue with his McAMS Yamaha on track which saw him tumble down to 17^th on the FP2 times.

Fellow BSB Showdown contender Peter Hickman kept in touch with the front-runners by taking seventh place in the second session for Smiths Racing BMW ahead of an impressive showing from Gino Rea on the OMG Suzuki.

Fellow BSB rookie Tarran Mackenzie slotted into eighth on the McAMS Yamaha as Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty rounded out the top 10.