The final two races of the fourth Superbike World Championship round played out today at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
Yesterday, Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team representative Bradley Ray qualified nineteenth in Superpole which meant that he started race 1 from the seventh row of the grid. He finished that race inside the points zone, thirteenth, or rather twelfth following the disqualification of a rider who had finished ahead of him.
Today, in cool and cloudy conditions, the young English rider competed in the Superpole Race, which ran over a distance of just ten laps. In such a short race and starting from row seven, Ray was only able to make up only a certain amount of ground, crossing the line fourteenth.
Race 2 ran in the early afternoon. Bradley got away well when the lights went out, immediately making up several positions. With a consistent pace, the Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team rider climbed up through the field as far as fifteenth place, scoring another championship point in the process.
The fifth WorldSBK round will take place on 2-4 June at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
"Reaching the points zone in both the long races repays the work we’ve been doing and confirms the progress that Bradley is making race by race, which leaves us feeling confident with a view to the rest of the championship.”
“I’m pleased with the results we’ve scored this weekend at Barcelona, as we’ve continued to improve and have kept moving in the right direction. We only struggled in Superpole, where perhaps we could have earned a better position. From mid-race on, my race pace was very fast, similar to that of the top ten riders. The gap separating us from the frontrunners continues to get smaller and so we just have to continue working this way at Misano. I’m pleased with our progress and want to thank the entire team as they’ve done a fantastic job.”
