BRITISH SUPERBIKE | Ray Matches Record

Wild weather and red flags shook the field in a chaotic Scottish round

Bradley Ray and Raceways Yamaha have extended their lead in the British Superbike Championship by taking two victories from three races at Knockhill in Scotland, with his eight consecutive wins matching Shane Byrne’s record set back in 2003. “To come here and get two wins and a second is great when we’ve had all conditions thrown at us over the three days,” Ray said . “We were quick in all conditions, which is important, and I got my first few wet races this year under my belt. We’ve extended the Championship lead and matched Shane’s record; obviously the winning streak came to an end, but that isn’t a big issue.”

The opening race on Saturday was held in drying conditions on slicks and while Ray had qualified on pole, Kyle Ryde (OMG Yamaha) and local Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) loomed as threats on the front row. In a three-way battle, Ryde led parts of the opening stages before Skinner took his turn at the front, but it was ultimately Ray who took control for the top spot. Ray then backed that result with his record-equalling eighth consecutive victory in race two ahead of Skinner and Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK).

The third encounter was hampered by two red flags due to driving rain and a crash and with the race finally underway, it was Ray and Skinner fighting at the front after Ryde was sent to the back of the grid for a late exit from pit lane. Skinner managed to overcome Ray and manage the gap to take the flag by four seconds, with Fraser Rogers breaking through for his maiden podium on the TAG Honda.

Notably, Scott Redding – filling in for the injured Glenn Irwin on the PBM Hager Ducati – managed a best of fourth in the opening race. Aussie Josh Brookes started out strong by qualifying in fourth, but was ultimately left disappointed. After a sixth in the dry race one and topping Sunday morning warmup, Brookes said he had high expectations for races two and three but slumped to tenth and 16th. “The bike felt nothing like I anticipated it would feel. I was really struggling for grip, despite not changing our set-up,” adding, “For the final race of the day I initially felt better but after a couple of red flags and changing tyres for the final 16 lap restart, the same repeat pattern. I had a huge moment early on where I was off the bike and thankfully landed back on it, but the damage was done and I’d not only lost a lot of places, I had a repeat of race two where I just struggled with grip again.”

Billy McConnell suffered a similar fate, with the team posting that there were “numerous small issues that caused problems all weekend”, leaving them with a DNF from a broken gearshift in race one and a best of 18th in race two.

In Supersport, Ben Currie (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) started from the middle of the second row only to finish ninth in a wet opening race but turned things around in race two to grab the final spot on the podium. “It was fantastic to almost stop the bleeding as such with the podium, as we’ve gone on a little podium drought since our two wins at Donington,” Currie said. “So, it was really nice to stand back up on the podium in Scotland, especially after such treacherous conditions.”

Brayden Elliott delivered a 9-8 result in Superstock, saying they were the first wet laps he had ridden on the Honda. In Sportbike, Jayden Martin had a strong weekend, starting with 18th in race one but then felt comfortable in race two to push to 10th after a penalty for overtaking under the yellow flag. In the final race, a punt into the grass knocked him back to 12th while Macadam Triumph teammate Brodie Gawith had some bad luck, crashing in the Sunday warmup and unable to compete in the races after taking 14th in race one.

Henry Snell continues to impress in his second year in Superteen, taking the win in the opening race and third in race two to lead the standings by 34 points.

The British Superbike Championship now heads to Brands Hatch for round five over July 25-27.

Paddock Pass With Matt O’Connell

This issue of Paddock Pass is more like the Stop and Seal Racing Team news, but bear with me. The good news is that Arthur Sissis will return to ride with Cru Halliday on a Superbike at Queensland Raceway, but team boss Robbie Bolger is still on the lookout for a suitable rider for their third bike. This comes after the team posted on their social media looking for someone with Superbike experience, along with a clip of a slightly younger Bolger setting a 170kmh+ wheelie speed record back in the day while sitting on the handlebars… as you do! This leaves the question about what is happening with the third Stop and Seal Superbike, normally ridden by Tom Toparis.

Toparis has missed several rounds this year due to injury and has been recovering well over the last month or so from back surgery. He is also set to ride at QR – not on a Superbike, though. The team have prepared a Next Gen spec Yamaha R6 for not only Toparis but also Archie McDonald. MA had originally intended the Next Gen Supersport class to run within the Superbike class – not Supersport – so this move potentially puts another three bikes on the grid for the QR Supercars round. The word is Bolger has also purchased two Ducati V2 Next Gen bikes, with the intention of racing them in Australia before putting them in a shipping container to take on the world – first stop Daytona. Anyone for Bike Week 2026?

BRITISH SUPERBIKE STANDINGS

British Supersport Standings