Ray takes the treble to win the Quattro Group Race of Aces trophy

Bradley Ray celebrated an impressive hat trick of Bennetts British Superbike Championship race wins at Snetterton for Raceways Yamaha, as Kyle Ryde, Tommy Bridewell, Rory Skinner and Leon Haslam all celebrated podium success at round three.

Ray carried his winning momentum into Sunday’s race day by taking a strong race two victory but behind him the battle for second went all the way to the chequered flag.

Ray lead at the start, but Ryde instantly went for a move down the inside into Wilson for the first time but the defending champion had to scrub off speed and ran wide, to rejoin behind his Yamaha rival.

Ray maintained his impressive pace to take the victory, but the battle for second was intensifying. Skinner on the Cheshire Mouldings Ducati was pushing to make amends after his retirement from yesterday’s race and was holding second with a small advantage, but Ryde and Bridewell were closing rapidly.

Ryde and Bridewell had reignited their 2024 title rivalry and were trading positions, with the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha rider leading the Honda Racing UK contender as they reeled in Skinner ahead of them.

At the trio crossed the line to start the penultimate lap they were inseparable and Skinner ran slightly wide at Wilson, which gave Ryde the opportunity he needed to move ahead. The Cheshire Mouldings Ducati rider fought straight back though a corner later at Palmer to regain the position.

Ray would win the race, but the fight for second went down to the wire as Ryde went for a move on Skinner at Murrays and then it was the drag to the finish line. Skinner was narrowly able to regain the place on the exit of the corner to take second, but behind Bridewell beat Ryde to third by just 0.008s.

In race three Ray delivered the third victory of the weekend, as Ryde returned to the podium after missing out earlier in the day. Haslam though was back in the fight and celebrated third place after a titanic race-long battle.

At the start of the race, Ray led the pack ahead of Skinner and Ryde, with the reigning champion making a move a lap later on the Cheshire Mouldings Ducati rider at Wilson.
Ray and Ryde were able to break the pack, but behind again there was a titanic battle for the final podium position.

At the start of the third lap, Skinner was holding third place ahead of Haslam and Danny Kent with Tommy Bridewell also in close contention. The Honda Racing UK rider went for a move on the inside into Murrays and lost momentum on the exit.

Bridewell was soon into fifth and then a lap later made his move on Haslam, before then pushing ahead of Skinner to hold third place. However, the ‘Pocket Rocket’ was also on the move and he pulled an impressive pass into Riches at the start of lap nine to pass both Bridewell and Skinner in one move.

Bridewell instantly retaliated to regain the position, but as the trio reached Brundle, the Moto Rapido Ducati Racing rider was into third place again ahead of Bridewell and Skinner.

Skinner was then on the attack and went for a pass into Riches to ease Bridewell back a position, but again the Honda Racing UK rider fought back into Murrays to move back into fourth place.

Bridewell was then looking to get back ahead of Haslam, which he repeated at Murrays, but Haslam was stronger into Riches and again he reclaimed the position.

By lap 14, Haslam had made another of his moves down the inside into Riches, before Bridewell again dived down the inside at Wilson after a mistake from the 2018 champion. However, Bridewell also made a small mistake a few corners later to allow Haslam back ahead.

Ray had crossed the finish line ahead of Ryde, but Haslam claimed his first top three finish of the weekend by holding off Bridewell by 0.074s with Skinner completing the top five.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:

1. Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) 140
2. Kyle Ryde (OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) 110
3. Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) 102
4. Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 74
5. Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) 74
6. Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 73
7. Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) 70
8. Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 57
9. Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 50
10. Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) 43

For more information on the Bennetts British Superbike Championship visit www.britishsuperbike.com

RACEWAYS YAMAHA’S RACE WINNER BRADLEY RAY SAYS:

“It’s been an incredible weekend, and heading into Snetterton, I didn’t expect to have been as strong as we were.Kyle kept me really honest in that last race, I was able to pull at the start, but the time was coming down. I tried to manage the lap times and was able to respond when I needed to.

“I think we almost identically matched lap times–I made a few small mistakes at the end with a few laps to go because I was so excited to do the triple but overall a very positive weekend and I’m looking forward to Knockhill.”