British Superbikes: Ray claims first Bennetts BSB Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit victory as Redding closes
Bradley Ray ended his winning drought on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit by claiming the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race victory of the weekend as Scott Redding continued to close and Kyle Ryde returned to the podium.
Ray had seized the advantage at the start of the race with Christian Iddon and Rory Skinner initially holding the top three positions ahead of Ryde and Redding.
Ryde was soon into third on the Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha, and behind Skinner went wide on lap three at Graham Hill Bend, giving Redding the invitation he needed to move ahead.
Ray was pushing to claim his first Superbike victory at his home circuit and started to edge an advantage, but behind Iddon was holding second until lap six when Ryde attacked at Hawthorns.
Iddon was ready to fight back and he made his move on lap ten at Paddock Hill Bend with a dive down the inside, but the defending champion regained the position at Hawthorns.
Redding though was also in the hunt and he moved into third at Hawthorns and then had Ryde in his sights as Iddon held fourth place on the AJN Steelstock Kawasaki.
The champions then were duelling for second place and Redding launched his move on Ryde at Surtees with a dive down the inside. The Hager PBM Ducati then had his sights firmly set on closing the gap to Ray at the front as Ryde gave chase.
Redding was closing but despite setting the fastest lap of the race to take tomorrow’s Omologato Pole Position, he had to settle for second and take his first podium finish with Hager PBM Ducati since his 2019 title-winning year.
Ryde held third to add to his podium tally for Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha, but Iddon and Danny Kent were also in close contention as Team Green equalled their best result of the season and McAMS Racing Yamaha claimed their highest finish of 2025.
Tommy Bridewell fought off Max Cook for sixth place ahead of Skinner who dropped to eighth with DAO Racing Honda’s Josh Brookes and Lee Jackson completing the top ten.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 1 result:
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha)
- Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati) +1.085s
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha) +2.824s
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +3.376s
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) + 3.420s
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +9.867s
- Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +10.109s
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) +11.854s
- Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) +12.539s
- Lee Jackson (DAO Racing Honda) +12.695s
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:
- Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) 210
- Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha) 154
- Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) 130
- Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) 122
- Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 111
- Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) 93
- Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 88
- Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 81
- Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 74
- Storm Stacey (Bathams AJN Racing BMW) 73
BRADLEY RAY
RACEWAYS YAMAHA
“At the start I was just setting a rhythm and pulled just a little bit of a gap, not a lot to feel safe. Mid race it got out a little bit more over a second and I had this sort of weird feeling with the bike that was like something was going to go wrong with it, and I did like two 26.0s in a row and that led to Scott (Redding) getting close to me at the end. It’s a stressful race watching the pit board every lap not sure if the time is going to be going up or coming down!
“Towards the end, I was watching the pit board and to be honest I had nothing left, I was giving it everything, especially the last three or four laps. It was a long race I didn’t properly look at my pit board until lap 12 and there was still eight laps of the race to go and I felt like I’d done an endurance race already!
“It was a tough race, Scott was strong at the end and Kyle (Ryde) was strong in the middle of the race and was closing in. I think tomorrow is going to be a big fight between all of us, we have a few small things to maybe improve for tomorrow, especially for the second part of the race. I am happy to finally get the first podium here on the GP track on a superbike and to make it a win is even more special.”
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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