Lydd’s Bradley Ray ends two-year stint in Superbike World Championship with another point for Yamaha Motoxracing to finish 21st in the standings
05:00, 22 October 2024
updated: 17:39, 31 October 2024
Bradley Ray ended his two-year spell in the Superbike World Championship with another points finish - his fourth in a row.
Lydd racer Ray, who is returning to the British Superbike Championship in 2025, took the last points place on offer in race two of the final round of this year’s series in Jerez to bring his stint with Italian squad Yamaha Motoxracing to a close on a high.
He ends the season 21st in the championship with 14 points - however disappointingly for Ray that’s five points and two places lower than in his debut year.
Ray timed 1min39.273sec for his final Superpole, putting him 19th on the grid for race one, where he moved up into the group fighting for points crossing the line 17th.
“Not an easy race,” he admitted. “After the Superpole, we made a change to the bike but, unfortunately, it didn’t bring the desired results and meant that I had less grip as well as less pace.”
Saturday’s Superpole race brought a 16th-place finish and, continuing the pattern of improvement, Ray made a good start to race two and maintained a rhythm that saw him finish inside the points zone in 15th spot.
“It’s been a complicated weekend, but with the data collected in yesterday’s race we were able to improve the setup of our bike, which allowed us to score points today,” Ray added on Sunday.
“I’d have liked to fight for the top 10, because I wanted to score a good result for the team. I want to thank [team principal] Sandro Carusi and the whole team for all the support they’ve given me this year.”