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Lydd's Brit Energy OMG Racing Yamaha rider Bradley Ray claims first British Superbikes win treble at Snetterton
05:00, 13 September 2022
Lydd's Bradley Ray was unstoppable at Snetterton as he claimed his and Brit Energy OMG Racing Yamaha’s first-ever British Superbikes Championship win treble.
On a weekend where the mood was sombre following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, Ray rode an exceptional opening sprint race on Saturday to hold off Tarran Mackenzie by 2.4sec.
Ray passed Mackenzie to win race two and overcame a two-second time penalty to complete his hat-trick, leaving him ecstatic and giving him a 13-point lead over McAMS Yamaha's Jason O'Halloran.
"To take my first BSB treble is a real career highlight and to do it with the RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha team is something special," Ray said.
"We’ve had a really good year so far and these results set us up nicely for the next nine races.
"It wasn’t an easy weekend as Taz fought hard as you know he always will.
"Despite a small issue in race two, my Yamaha R1 was mega across the weekend so a big thank-you to the team for giving me such a great bike.
"We’ll continue to approach every weekend the same way we have all season and I’m looking forward to getting back to Oulton Park.”
Like the sprint race, the first of Sunday’s two longer-format events saw Ray and Mackenzie battle it out for honours.
On his 150th BSB start, Ray led the way from his 10th pole position of the season before Mackenzie recovered from a sluggish opening to take the lead. However, in the closing stages a perfectly-executed pass at the end of the back straight saw Ray take his second win double of 2022.
Initially, race three was a repeat of race two with Ray and Mackenzie scorching ahead. But when Ray ran too deep into the Montreal hairpin, Mackenzie slipped through.
Ray got his chance to attack when a safety car was deployed yet Mackenzie went early, taking the pursuers with him, and the top three received two-second time penalties.
Undeterred, Ray made his move on Mackenzie at almost two-thirds distance before crucially extending his lead to 1.7sec at the flag, ultimately taking victory by 0.7 from FHO Racing BMW's Hickman as Mackenzie was relegated to third.
The series now moves on to Oulton Park on September 23-25 where the top-eight riders have their points reset to 1,000 with any podium credits added.
