British Superbikes: Bradley Ray moved back ahead of his Bennetts British Superbike Championship rivals after the opening Free Practice sessions at Brands Hatch with 0.247s separating the Raceways Yamaha rider and Knockhill race winner Rory Skinner.
Ray moved back ahead as he fought back on defending champion Kyle Ryde who set the pace in the opening session, with Skinner separating the pair as the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha rider ended his afternoon with a crash at Stirlings, but is ready to bounce back tomorrow.
Leon Haslam ended the day fourth fastest for the Moto Rapido Ducati Racing team; a small crash at Druids midway through the session wouldn’t halt his momentum as he bids for a podium return, edging out the returning Scott Redding on the Hager PBM Ducati.
Christian Iddon was sixth fastest as the AJN Steelstock Kawasaki rider was nudged to sixth in the closing moments ahead of McAMS Racing Yamaha’s Danny Kent and Honda Racing UK’s Andrew Irwin.
Lee Jackson and Charlie Nesbitt completed the top ten, with Tommy Bridewell just 0.001s adrift in 11th position with Max Cook the final rider inside the leading 12 who progress directly into tomorrow’s Bandero Café Shoot Out Qualifying 2 session.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, combined Free Practice times:
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) +1m:25.096s
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) +0.247s
- Kyle Ryde (OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing Yamaha) +0.288s
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) +0.347s
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati) +0.373s
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +0.462s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) + 0.569s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +0.593s
- Lee Jackson (DAO Racing Honda) +0.651s
- Charlie Nesbitt (MasterMac Honda) +0.695s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +0.696s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +0.744s
BRADLEY RAY
RACEWAYS YAMAHA
“I enjoy coming back to Brands Hatch. It’s one of the tracks where I haven’t stood on the podium on the GP track in Superbike. Today was a real good day, I felt really, really good. This morning, I struggled a bit as I hadn’t been here for a couple of years, it was tricky, obviously but I ended up second, so it was good, but I felt with myself I needed to find something else with the bike and the feeling and we worked through the lunch time and made a step.
“We’ll get working tonight but overall I feel happy, I feel confident, I feel a lot better than I did when I went out this morning so for me that’s good going to sleep tonight ready for tomorrow. I think Rory (Skinner) will be there, Kyle (Ryde) will be there, I think Leon (Haslam) is stronger this weekend and hopefully (Tommy) Bridewell can find something for this weekend, he’s normally strong at Brands Hatch. You can’t count out anyone in BSB around Brands Hatch.”
For more info check out our dedicated British Superbikes News page
Or visit the official Bennetts British Superbike Championship website www.britishsuperbike.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.britishsuperbike.com
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