Buildbase Suzuki’s Bradley Ray secured his spot in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship’s Showdown, despite also suffering misfortune at Silverstone and round nine of the season at the weekend. The weekend started strongly, with Ray fast in practice before setting pole position in qualifying on his GSX-R1000. From the head of the grid for race one he led the way, but was disappointed to crash out of the lead.

Ray, keen to make amends for his spill and secure his Showdown spot, was embroiled in a battle for the win in race two before he too was the victim of another rider’s attempted overtake. Lucky to stay upright, he was forced off track, costing him several positions. He recovered ground but dropped down the order in the closing laps with a problem with his gear selector. However, he finished 14th, the two points enough to seal his place in the top six.

In the third and final Superbike race of the weekend Ray crossed the line in seventh  place to cap off an up-and-down weekend with a solid result.

Speaking after the weekend, Ray said: “Ultimately, it’s job done; the aim was to come here this weekend and secure a place in the Showdown, and we’ve done that. I’m disappointed we didn’t do it on Saturday and disappointed I crashed out of the lead; I think I probably put a bit of pressure on myself with the Showdown on my mind, but we got the points we needed in the end.

“I felt like we could maybe have been on the podium in race two. There wasn’t really room for a move there and it cost us a lot of time and dropped us back, and in the final race the pace just wasn’t quite there. While there aren’t any points for it, it was good to set another pole position and we know we can be fast.

“I’m confident going into the Showdown and honestly, really pleased to be in there; it’s only my second year in BSB, it’s only the team’s second year with the new GSX-R, so we’ve got to be happy.”

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