Technical problems blighted Bradley Ray’s weekend in the latest round of the Superbike World Championship at Misano.

Despite qualifying 15th in the Superpole with a lap of 1min34.371, Lydd racer Ray was forced to start race one last when his MotoxRacing Yamaha failed to fire up on the grid. He battled his way to 18th place at the chequered flag, before a 14th-place finish in Sunday’s red-flagged Superpole race.

A great start to race two saw Ray among the group battling for 10th place, but gremlins struck again four laps from the finish forcing him to retire.

“We had a better race today and my feeling with the bike was better,” said Ray after race two.

“I was able to stick with the group battling for the top ten or 12, but then I made a mistake at one point which caused me to drop back, and Loris Baz got past me.

“A small issue with the bike forced me to retire with only a few laps to go, which was a pity as it would have been nice to score some more points, but I felt we made a good step in that second race.

"Now we look forward to Donington, my home round, where I hope to score some good results.”

Despite the reliabilty issues, MotoxRacing team principal Sandro Carusi remained in a positive mood.

“I’m sorry about the results this weekend, our races conditioned by some unfortunate events,” he said.

“At the same time I’m pleased with the gradual progress that we’re making though. I’m sure that Bradley will soon be able to reach the positions we set ourselves at the start of the year.”