Lydd's Bradley Ray closed in on his maiden British Superbikes Championship title with a strong points haul at Donington Park at the weekend.

The RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha rider was hampered by poor grip on his way to fourth place in Saturday's sprint race before second in race two and victory in race three - his third of the season - on Sunday gave him a 66-point lead over Honda Racing's Glenn Irwin with one round remaining.

Those podium places were even more impressive with Ray switching to the harder tyre.

"Saturday was disappointing to lose points to Glenn [Irwin] and Jason [O'Halloran] so we made the decision to swap to the harder tyre for Sunday’s first race," he said.

"I questioned the decision in my head as we pulled up on the grid and everyone else was still on the softer Pirelli SCX tyre, so I just got my head down and gave it my best and to come home in second place really justified the decision.

"It was mega to get the win in race three for both me and the RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha team and it gives us a nice points buffer as we head to the final round at my home circuit of Brands Hatch in two weeks.”

Ray battled hard with PBM Ducati rider and Donington specialist Tom Sykes in the opening race of the weekend, denying himself a podium finish in the sprint after running wide at Goddards on the final lap.

FHO Racing's Peter Hickman dived through to snatch the final podium place, with MCE Ducati's Tom Sykes winning the race.

For Sunday afternoon’s first of the two longer races, Ray took the brave decision with his crew to opt for the harder Pirelli tyre to counter the lack of grip in the closing stages.

The choice paid off as the championship leader fought his way to second place behind Sykes while his closest title rivals could offer no answer in the championship chase.

A frantic final race was halted by a red flag so Crowe Performance's Chrissy Rouse could receive treatment after an incident at Goddard's. Ray had once again settled in behind Sykes before taking the lead with a fabulous move into the Old Hairpin on lap four.

SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad's Andrew Irwin, along with brother Glenn, gave chase before the latter's footpeg snapped, while Jason O’Halloran’s championship challenge ended painfully after crashing out at the Melbourne Loop.

The final round of the championship is at Brands Hatch on October 14-16.