Ray ends up as top Suzuki rider

Brad Ray ended the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season as the top Suzuki rider after 27 hard-fought championship races over 12 race weekends.

Following the championship finale at Brands Hatch at the weekend, the Ashford-born rider finished 11th overall in the standings. Scott Redding, in his debut season, just edged fellow Ducati rider Josh Brookes to take the title. Ray, riding the Buildbase Suzuki for the last time this year, progressed though all three qualifying sessions to start eighth for the first of three races.

The opening race was reduced to a 12-lap sprint following a crash. With points his main ambition, Ray finished just 0.250 seconds behind team-mate Luke Stapleford for 15th place. Starting from the middle of the sixth row of the grid for race 2,

Ray garnered two more valuable championship points for 14th after 20 racing laps.

In race 3, the Lydd racer settled into the rhythm of the race and achieved another 14th place and gleefully received his hard-earned reward as the best Suzuki rider of 2019.

Ray said: “It’s been a challenging year for me and the Buildbase team.

“We didn’t start off very well, but we made a few changes with the bike and built up a bit of confidence in myself, to then pull through a few podiums, a few top-5s and also a few pole positions means all in all it’s not been a bad season, but probably not as good as what myself or the team may have expected.”

Ray will be at the Lord of Lydden meeting on Saturday. He will not be racing but will be take part in a Q&A session on the Saturday evening.