Bradley Ray off to flying start with opening victory at Cadwell

2022 British Superbike Championship
Round Seven – Cadwell Park – Sunday

British Superbike Qualifying

Bradley Ray set an incredible pace with the fastest ever lap of Cadwell Park to take the Bennetts British Superbike Championship pole position for the eBay Sprint race following an intense Omologato Superpole this afternoon.

Ray was the penultimate rider to set a lap, but the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha saved his best until the final sector where he upped the ante to snatch the Omologato pole position by just 0.258s from Rory Skinner.

Mr Superpole Tom Sykes had been the first rider to leave the eBay pitlane and the MCE Ducati rider set his fastest lap of the weekend, securing a second row start in sixth place.

Peter Hickman was up next and the FHO Racing BMW rider was the one to set the pace for a considerable duration; the local contender going to the top of the times, but he wasn’t displaced until Rory Skinner.

Skinner had set a time that would be hard to beat; the fastest lap of the weekend up until that point, but Ray gave it everything to grab the advantage.

Skinner’s Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki teammate Lee Jackson was gunning for honours, but he would miss out to his teammate by 0.019s and will start third on the grid for the eBay Sprint race alongside Ray and Skinner.

Danny Buchan will head the second row this afternoon, with Hickman ending in fifth after the final flying laps were complete.

Saturday’s quickest rider Tommy Bridewell was eighth fastest. Meanwhile Ryan Vickers and Andrew Irwin both failed to set their lap in Omologato Superpole, the pair both crashing unhurt on their flying laps.

British Superbike Qualifying Results

British Superbike Sprint Race

Bradley Ray delivered a masterful performance in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship eBay Sprint race at Cadwell Park on Sunday afternoon, claiming his fourth win of the season to close the deficit at the top of the standings, with Rory Skinner and Danny Buchan completing the podium.

The restarted race got underway with Ray launching off the Omologato pole position into the lead ahead of Skinner, who had been alongside him on the front row, with Danny Buchan and Jason O’Halloran in close contention.

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Ray was pushing at the front to make a break, edging ahead of the chasing pack by 0.786s at the chequered flag, but the battle for third was on. Buchan moved ahead of O’Halloran on lap seven as he battled for his first podium finish of the season for the SYNETIQ BMW team and despite the championship leader’s best efforts he couldn’t get back ahead.

The leading trio remained as Ray, Skinner and Buchan with O’Halloran holding fourth place; meanwhile Tommy Bridewell had carved his way up the order on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati to move into fifth place ahead of Peter Hickman on the FHO Racing BMW.

Andrew Irwin was another rider to move up the order; he had a scrap with Leon Haslam for seventh position over the closing stages, meanwhile Glenn Irwin and Josh Brookes were elevated up the order to complete the top ten.

Following the race, Christian Iddon was issued with a 2 second Long Lap equivalent time penalty and a three position grid penalty for Race 2 following an incident on the penultimate lap which caused Tom Sykes to crash out of the race.

The race was initially red flagged on the second lap following a crash that involved Dan Jones, Lee Jackson and Takumi Takahashi. Jones was taken to the circuit medical centre and was conscious, before he was transferred to Hull Hospital for assessment and treatment.

Bradley Ray – P1

“It feels good to win again. It is hard especially in the sprint race with less laps. Everyone is just going to go as quick as they can, I knew if I got the holeshot and led the first lap or two I could put the hammer down. In sector one and two I’m ok, but in sector three I was able gain a little bit of time on everyone. I just kept my cool, hit my markers, made a reference lap time that I wanted to do majority of the laps. I lost a bit of rear tyre towards the end but overall I am super happy with the Sprint race. I think tomorrow is obviously going to be a little bit more difficult with two 18 lappers. I am happy with the package and it is nice to get my first win at Cadwell. These next six races for me are about gaining as many podium points to try to close the gap to Jason for when we start the Showdown towards the end of the year. I am over the moon to get the full five podium points for that win and gain those on Jason O’Halloran in the standings.”

Jason O’Halloran – P4

“I’m really happy with today, to be honest. I thought I was going to be further back as for one reason or another I’ve struggled to find the setting to get comfortable and really be able to push on the bike, but that race was a solid run. I’ve gained a bit of confidence back, set my best lap towards the end and the front boys weren’t too far ahead. We’ve got the data from today, we’re on the front row tomorrow and I think we’ll be in with a chance to fight for the podium in the longer races.”

Glenn Irwin – P9

“In terms of the Showdown today has been good, but it’s one of those races I’m not pleased with. We have one eye on those trying to get in and they didn’t score big and we finished close to them on track. I’m pleased with the fight throughout the race after struggling at the start and getting a bit beaten about, we managed to respond and made some progress. Our job here is to improve the Fireblade, and it’s something I really enjoy and have enjoyed the development journey, but when we don’t achieve that as a team it frustrates me, and what is frustrating me most about today. As a team we’re struggling in the same areas, so tonight is like a game of Monopoly, we’re rolling the dice and scratching our heads.”

Josh Brookes – P10

“After the difficulties we had in qualifying, a top ten position is an improvement but, understandably, there are no hurrahs in the team. We still have a load of work to do, and we need to find some further improvements to get us to where we need to be. It was good to be racing with riders who have had wins and podiums, and I enjoyed jumping the Mountain, but I’ll keep working and feed as much information back to the team as I can so we can try to improve tomorrow.”

British Superbike Sprint Race Results

British Superbike Championship Points

British Supersport Race One

Harry Truelove kept Jack Kennedy at bay to take the Sprint race win at Cadwell Park by almost three seconds.

The Appleyard Macadam Racing rider took victory some 2.931secs clear of the championship leader at the end of a 12-lap scrap as GP2 runner Jack Scott came home third.

Truelove’s team-mate Bradley Perie was the fourth rider across the line before a 12 second gap to fifth-placed Eugene McManus.

Kiwi Damon Rees was the ninth Supersport machine across the line, two positions ahead of Goulburn’s Tom Toparis who made his return to racing at this round after an 18 month lay-off following major arm surgery.

Cameron Fraser was the second GP2 finisher in 13th spot overall, five seconds clear of Barry Burrell who was third of the GP2 runners in 14th.

British Supersport Race One Results

British Supersport Championship Points

GP2 Points

British Superstock 1000 Qualifying

South Australia’s Billy McConnell beat Padgetts Honda rider Davey Todd to pole ahead of tomorrow’s race, pipping him by 0.022secs with a best lap of 1min 27.979sec.

Charlie Nesbitt, who led yesterday’s opening practice, will also start from the front row after qualifying third, just ahead of Richard Kerr. Double Thruxton winner, Alex Olsen, will start fifth.

Brayden Elliott qualified 11th while countryman Levi Day will start from 17th on the grid.

British Superstock 1000 Qualifying Results

1. Billy McConnell (C&L Fairburn Properties/Jackson Racing) 1min 27.979s
2. Davey Todd (Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles) +0.022s
3. Charlie Nesbitt (VisionTrack Suzuki) +0.267s
4. Richard Kerr (AMD Motorsport) +0.518s
5. Alex Olsen(FHO Racing with Kobelco) +0.625s