Bradley Ray and Scott Redding shared the Bennetts British Superbike Championship victories in two intense races at Oulton Park today as the title fight goes down to the wire at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time (17/18/19 October).
30-points separate defending champion Kyle Ryde from fierce rival Ray ahead of the final three races in Kent, but with a maximum of 105 points available, Leon Haslam also remains in mathematical contention after a hat trick of podiums at Oulton Park.
Ray claimed a sensational victory in race two, starting 14th on the grid to pass both Christian Iddon and Haslam on the final lap to return to winning ways for Raceways Yamaha.
The race initially got underway once again in mixed conditions with yesterday’s winner Josh Brookes hitting the front of the pack from Ryde, Lee Jackson and Iddon. The championship leader though hit the front of the pack as Rogers moved into second by the end of the opening lap.
The race was red flagged on lap three when Peter Hickman’s LEW 8TEN Racing BMW Motorrad suffered a technical problem and then there was a subsequent clean-up for track contamination.
On the restart, Iddon hit the front of the pack from Brookes and Jackson, but Ray was on the attack and he was carving his way through the pack. By lap five, he was trailing championship rival Ryde and he made a decisive move into third.
Haslam and Iddon had made a break at the front of the pack, but once Ray had moved ahead of his Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha rival, he had the leading pair in his sights, setting a blistering pace to close the gap ahead of the final lap.
Ray first made a move on Iddon for second at Island, before having Haslam in his sights. The Raceways Yamaha rider dived down the inside at Knickerbrook to snatch the lead, holding it to the chequered flag as the top three were separated by just 0.481s.
Ryde held fourth, with Storm Stacey back in the top five for Bathams AJN Racing BMW and Tommy Bridewell claimed sixth place for Honda Racing UK.
In the final race of the weekend, Redding delivered an incredible win for the Hager PBM Ducati team after an intense ten-way battle for the victory ahead of Ray and Haslam.
Ray knew he needed to outscore Ryde before the title chase heads to Brands Hatch for the season finale, and he instantly hit the front of the pack at the start, ahead of his closest championship rival with Haslam into third place.
A lap later and Ryde had seized the advantage with a move at Old Hall, but Ray instantly fought back and regained the position into Island.
The leading trio initially had begun to break the pack but Redding was closing, and behind him a freight train of riders were also ready to join the battle including Iddon, Stacey, Bridewell, Max Cook, Glenn Irwin and Charlie Nesbitt all in pursuit.
Ray was holding the lead despite the mounting pressure from Ryde, Haslam and Redding as the order continued to change with the Moto Rapido Ducati Racing rider moving into second place at Lakeside on the seventh lap.
A lap later and Haslam grabbed the lead with a move at Old Hall and as he moved ahead, Ryde also saw his opportunity to move forward and a pass at Hizzys put him ahead of his main title rival, pushing Ray into third.
The lead changed again on lap nine, when Ryde made another committed pass into Hizzys. The Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha rider was defending hard, but Haslam was determined and a lap later the lead changed again as he fired ahead at Lakeside.
Ryde was fighting back, making a move back into the lead at Hizzys again, whilst Ray knew he needed to close down his fierce rival and he crucially moved into second place at Knickerbrook on the same lap.
On lap 11, Ray was back at the front of the pack and he was pushing to add to his earlier win in race two, but two laps later Haslam regained the advantage at Old Hall as Redding moved into a podium position on the Hager PBM Ducati.
Redding was into second place by lap 14 as he dived ahead of Ray at Lodge before seizing the lead a lap later at Hizzys.
Redding was pushing for the victory with Haslam holding second as Stacey then was third as he began battling with Ray for the final podium position. The Raceways Yamaha rider moved back ahead for third place with three laps to go and then it would come down to the last corner on the final lap to decide the podium positions.
Redding would ultimately emerge on top to claim his fifth race win of the season, but Haslam hit a false neutral into Lodge for the final time and ran wide, as Ray stormed through into second on the run to the line.
Haslam was trying to regain the ground as Stacey made a final bid for the last podium position on the run to the chequered flag, but the Moto Rapido Ducati Racing rider had the edge by just 0.026s.
Ryde claimed fifth place ahead of Glenn Irwin and Iddon, with Cook, Bridewell and Charlie Nesbitt completing the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race 2 result:
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha)
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) +0.184s
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +0.481s
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) +2.073s
- Storm Stacey (Bathams AJN Racing BMW) +3.894s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +3.996s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +5.048s
- Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) +5.451s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +5.534s
- Billy McConnell (C&L Fairburn Properties /Look Forward Racing Honda) +5.918s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Race 3 result:
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati)
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) +0.462s
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) +0.700s
- Storm Stacey (Bathams AJN Racing BMW) +0.726s
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) +2.251s
- Glenn Irwin (Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) +2.408s
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +2.532s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +2.615s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +2.846s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +3.775s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) 445
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) 415
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) 344
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 272
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 272
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) 268
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati) 237.5
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 217
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 212
- Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) 204
For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com
BRADLEY RAY – RACEWAYS YAMAHA
“After a difficult start to the weekend, it was great to be able to turn things around with today’s success. I feel really pleased to have brought home a win for the team, the last couple of rounds haven’t been easy, so it’s nice to pay them back for all of the hard work.
“I’m feeling happy with our performance this weekend; we took some points away from Kyle in the championship standings, and that’s what matters.
“We’ll head towards Brands Hatch with the aim of replicating today’s form in an attempt to put up a hard fight for the championship crown.”
SCOTT REDDING – HAGER PBM DUCATI
“This weekend has honestly felt like a baptism of fire! I won at Assen and then I came here and I could barely get the bike around, I think it might be to do with not having a set up in the dry around here like these other guys do with this year and previous years.
“I just took it race by race. In the last race, I thought if I got a top five I’d be happy, and a podium I’d be over the moon, and I just felt good on the bike. I had the bit between my teeth, I wasn’t thinking at all about making mistakes or crashing and I was determined but calm.
“I overrode a little bit, but I was just excited and hats off to these guys, I still don’t believe it, we set up the bike based on sighting laps, which isn’t ideal but somehow we made it work.
“I’d go far as to say that was my best win, even more so than when I was in BSB in 2019, because I literally went off of no dry set up on a track which is difficult for me and I don’t know why or how it happened!
“I was going round the slow down lap thinking how did that just happen? They’re the good days, especially after a difficult weekend.”