2022 British Superbike Oulton Park: Ray back to winning ways in runaway victory

Bradley Ray was in a class of his own after disappearing up the road and out of sight in the first race of the Oulton Park British Superbike weekend.

Starting from seventh on the grid after a wet qualifying, Ray immediately returned to the form he had shown in the dry - topping the recent test then arriving to Sunday’s action ahead on the timesheets thanks to a lap record in practice.

Up to fourth by the first few corners, then third at the chicane taking two bikes at once, the 24 year-old pulled out an incredible move as the lead three jostled for position, going through an open gap to move into first while Rory Skinner was trying to steal away the position from pole man Kyle Ryde.

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Once ahead Ray never looked back. His lead could have been bigger, but it was managed to remain comfortable on the drying track, leading over the line by 2.756s. His in-race lap record of 1m33.865s will also see him on pole for race two tomorrow.

The win also brought Rich Energy OMG Yamaha their first victory of the season. It was an even bigger deal for Ray, who had not secured a first place for four years, an achievement he described as making him feel  ‘over the moon - I’m so glad to get the monkey off my back after four years of not winning a race - it’s difficult, so nice to be back on the top step and looking forward to tomorrow’.

Ray grabs second shot at a win

It was not the #28 riders first stab at winning a race this season - he was ahead in the second race at Silverstone when he fell from a clear lead.

Ray was keen to not make the same mistake: It’s never nice to crash out of a lead but I got to the front and thought, right, just do what you so,ride the bike enjoy it, have fun - if you think about crashing you end up going slower or you will crash thinking about it’.

The win moves the Kent man into fourth in the title standings - on a total of 61, just one point behind both Skinner and Ryde, with Glenn Irwin still out ahead after his triple win in Silverstone, which means he would always finish day one still ahead overall.

Skinner delighted with second

Before turning a wheel Rory Skinner had declared Oulton Park to be his ‘bogey track’ on the grid, a thought he reiterated post-race, meaning he was all the more happy to have secured second caliming ‘P2 round here on a Superbike feels like a win’.

The Scottish rider, who is still only twenty, kept Ray in check as best he could while holding off his team-mate Ryde for FS-3 Racing Kawasaki.

Skinner, who has been a podium finisher at both rounds so far, gained an advantage over Ryde when mud was splashed after running wide. Explaining, he said at the chicane ‘I just dropped my knee into the grass, and I actually thought I’d ripped my knee slider off, ‘.

That caused Ryde to be showered in mud and have difficulty ripping off his tear off, for which Skinner offered his apologies as the mess was unintentional.

Ryde held on to third despite his woes to complete the podium. Also not a fan of Oulton he too claimed that a podium almost felt as good as a win.

Josh Brookes had an eventful day with MCE Ducati. Moving through Q1 in the sixth and final slot, setting up the bike allowed him to gain confidence and time - finishing Q2 second.

Although the Australian could not quite match that in the race he held on for fourth, closing in on Ryde ahead.

Peter Hickman was racing in the same, very experienced group of riders and was next to see the flag in fifth for FHO Racing BMW, their top finisher.

Tommy Bridewell had been absolutely flying when red flags stopped play and was all geared up for a run at the podium places. It was not to be, leaving him sixth in race one for Oxford Products Ducati.

He had qualified 16th with Christian Iddon one place behind and they tore through the grid together until Bridewell’s final attack for the rostrum, with the Buildbase Suzuki rider also moving up ten places in the race for seventh.

Jason O’Halloran had a magic first visit to Oulton Park in 2021, where he dominated and won all thre races. A shadow of that performance after an average Silverstone - finishing every race just outside of the podium places, he could do no better than eighth, losing out on track to Iddon but just ahead of FS-3 Kawasaki’s Lee Jackson in ninth.

Danny Buchan was not far behind to complete the top ten for SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad.

Championship leader Glenn Irwin never really got into gear. Looking to be holding back after finishing practice in seventh, the next gear never came qualifying in ninth. The Honda Racing rider slipped further back in the race, though he rallied to move ahead of his brother for eleventh, With Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) twelfth.

Former BSB champion Leon Halsam found the going tough in the race again. After a best of 13th in round one hopes had been high for a recovery from the experienced rider, but 13th was the best in store for the Visiontrack Kawasaki, a place less than where he qualified with his only progess being backwards.

Ryan Vickers (FHO Racing BMW) kept ahead of Tom Sykes who didn’t fare as well as his team-mate Brookes. Skyes finished down in 15th for the final point.

Tom Neave started from the back of the grid after a spill in Q1, and had climbed to an impressive 17th and closing when the red flag stopped play.

Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) looked to have sorted out his issues after coming top in Q1, however as the rain vanished so did the former Moto3 champions form qualifying an eventual 13th and fading to 21st in the race.

Luke Mossey had earned a front row start but ran wide early in the race and never recovered - the TAG Racing Honda was 24th when the race was stopped.

That stoppage came on the penultimate lap when Davis Johnson highsided from his Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha. Slapped back to the ground both man and bike were sent spinning with the machine landing on him as they careered into the gravel together. Johnson left on a stretcher for medical attention.

Liam Delves was also classed as a lap down, while Bjorn Estment suffered a bike issue which saw him return to the pits.

Tarran Macekzie failed a late fitness test so misses the Oulton Park weekend, delaying his title defence further.