Kentish Express Ashford & District
Ray stars in debut season
Motorsport
Bradley Ray finished an encouraging debut season in the British Superbike Championship in front of almost 60,000 racing fans at Brands Hatch at the weekend. Sittingbourne’s Shane Byrne took centre stage as he claimed an unlikely sixth title after overhauling the 33-point lead Leon Haslam had going into the final three races. In race one, Lydd’s Ray made a great start, battling in the top seven before finishing ninth, with Byrne taking the win and Haslam finishing fourth. Ray, on his Buildbase Suzuki, was again looking good in race two on Sunday, occupying a top-seven place ahead of championship leader Haslam. However, an issue with his bike saw Ray return to the pits as Byrne won again, closing to within two points of the struggling Haslam, who could only manage 10th. In race three, brake failure to Haslam’s bike forced the title contender to jump off his bike, breaking a wrist and ankle in the process, allowing Byrne to ease to eighth place to seal the title. Ray was next, just 0.4seconds behind his Kent counterpart – ending the season 11th in the championships standings. Ray ended up with 14 top 10 finishes from the season, which included a third at Oulton Park last month. Ray said: “In all, it has been a great year in BSB. We have learnt a lot and hope to take this forward with us next season. I’d like to thank the team, my sponsors and the fans who have supported me this year. It has been amazing to battle hard and even take my first podium. I hope next season is even better.”