PaddockChatter Interview

Brad recently did an interview with PaddockChatter about 2014.  Here it is in full:

In the end Brad Ray’s ninth place finish at the third round of the Spanish CEV championship at Aragon didn’t tell the full story of his efforts. The recently turned 17-year old rode through the field to compete in a manic nine-rider battle for third place. At one point he had a debut CEV podium within his grasp but a small mistake pushed him back to ninth, just 0.8 seconds from third.

It has been a promising season so far for the young British hopeful. Riding for the KRP set up, he has stepped up to challenge established names in the series on factory bikes. Like 2013, the Kent-based rider is also competing on three fronts  – the CEV, Red Bull Rookies series and Motostar British championship events.

To show he is developing a level of consistency Ray was involved in a similar scrap, this time for second place, involving six riders in Le Mans, the first time the series held a round outside Spain three weeks ago. Again some small mistakes just prevented him from finishing higher than seventh but the experience of racing with the cosmopolitan Moto3 field on alternative machinery is standing him in good stead. As he says, “we’re up at the front all the time now.”

We caught up with Brad to talk briefly about his experiences in the CEV, his FTR KTM and the Red Bull Rookies series.

First of all Brad, you finished ninth in the Moto3 CEV race at Aragon on Sunday, yet you were just 0.8 seconds from standing on the podium. Are you happy with that?
I’m very happy with that. We were up with the front bunch and fighting for the podium which was really good. I got up to third at one point but you’re always at 110 percent through the race and I made a few little mistakes and dropped back. It’s so close. If you make one mistake you drop back two or three places. It was very clean. It’s good riding with other people from around the world because you then know how they ride, where they’re fast, where they’re not. There are so many fast riders in there like Migno and Rodrigo. They’re all fast and they’re all on factory bikes.

In some ways Aragon was similar to the race in Le Mans. You fought through the pack to join a group with the leading riders…
Le Mans was a good race for us because nobody had been there, it was a new track for everyone. We thought it’d be a hit or miss round in terms of being up at the front but we proved it wasn’t and we’re up at the front all the time now.

You’re riding the FTR KTM machine this year, a bike none of the other top riders are using. How are you finding it?
The FTR KTM is a really good bike. We’re the only people riding it and you obviously have to do your own data and work around problems on your own. Whereas if we were on a factory KTM we would go to a bigger team, look at their data and compare it to ours. But we’re on our own and we have to do it ourselves and make do. It’s a really good chassis. It takes a while to set it up but when it’s set up it’s really smooth, handles really well and does what you want it to do.

Does that go some way to explaining why you seem to come strong on Sunday afternoon?
Yeah, definitely. If you haven’t got as fast an engine as the front boys you can make it up in the corners. If they are five or six ks quicker down the straight then you have to brake ten or fifteen metres later to catch them back up again. But if you have a fast bike with good handling then you’re winning.

Does it take you some time to adapt to the FTR chassis after you have been riding the KTM machine in the Red Bull Rookies series?
It’s not too bad. It is a bit different. The KTM has a different suspension and different chassis. It’s got a trail frame, not a solid frame. It doesn’t take too long, maybe three or four laps to get back to your usual bike. But you get back on and you think, ‘I’m on an FTR KTM’ and then you go back to the Red Bull KTM. You just gel with it.

Do you feel you would benefit from longer races in the series?
Definitely. If you’re only doing ten laps if the CEV was only a ten lap race and you move onto GPs next year and do 26 laps then you’re definitely going to be knackered. You’ve got to do long distance races to be prepared for the future races definitely.

How do you feel the Rookies series has been going so far? You’re twelfth in the championship but that doesn’t really reflect how quick you have been this year.
The first two races in Jerez were sort of a misunderstanding through suspension with the suspension guys. So we sat down when we first got to Mugello with the suspension people, had a really good talk and found a solution. It worked for the race definitely. I was fighting for the podium position when the gear shifter bolt fell out so I had to retire from the race, which was a bummer.

How often does that happen?
Not very often, no [laughs].

A few of the CEV riders have wildcards lined up. Is there any chance of you getting one in 2014?
It would be nice to do the British Grand Prix but obviously we can’t do a wild card because we’re there with Red Bull, which is a shame. We asked Red Bull but they said it was a no-no as you can’t really do two races in one weekend.

What’s next for you?
I’m at Snetterton this weekend for the BSB, then Catalunya for the CEV. Last year was the first time back there for four years when I rode there on a Metrakit 80cc. On the Friday we had two dry sessions, then the rest of the weekend was wet. It’s going to be a difficult one because it’ll be the first time there on the KTM FTR. We’ll just try to get a good base setting and then work from that.

Thanks for your time Brad and good luck this weekend.

Thank you. Catch you later.

Our thanks go to Neil at PaddockChatter for letting us use this story, Go check out their website for a wealth of news and views on bike racing.