Tough End To 2014 For Bradley Ray At Brands Hatch

Brad Ray crashed out of his home round of the Motul British Motostar Championship at Brands Hatch after taking pole position in difficult conditions.

Brad came into the final round of the Motul British Motostar Championship on a high after his win at Silverstone two weeks ago, and confident he would end his year with a victory at his home round.  

That confidence was on show straight from the off on a wet circuit during Friday’s first free practice session, topping the sheets by four tenths from Moto3 rider Joe Irving. The circuit dried out for the afternoon session, and it was role reversal with Irving, the ‘Bard’ only five hundredths of a second behind in second place.

Just like the Friday morning the rain had closed in during the night and dampened the circuit off for the first of two qualifying sessions on Saturday. In Q1, Brad handled the tricky conditions well to finish in second behind Joe Irving by seven tenths of a second. The second session faired better for Brad, after the track dried he posted a 1:34.990 lap, half a second quicker than the second place man, meaning the ’Bard’ would start from pole position for Sunday’s 12 lap race.

Sunday morning saw Brad experience mechanical issues with the FAB-Racing EE125, which made him sit out of the warm up. The team worked hard to get the bike ready for the race, eventually deciding to change back to an old engine that was officially over its reconditioned mileage.

As the lights went out Brad got a great start and took the holeshot into Paddock Hill Bend and led from the front. After only three laps he had a five second gap in front of second position and felt good with the bike. But the very next lap he entered the Graham Hill Bend and lost the rear when he applied the power to his EE125, luckily he walked away uninjured.

A frustrated Brad said after the race: “The start of the weekend went well, we put a new engine in prior to the free practice two and it didn’t miss a beat through qualifying. But Sunday morning the crank broke and we reverted to the old engine with lots of miles on it for the race.

“I got into a little rhythm in the race, and I felt good and the bike felt good but then I crashed at Graham Hill Bend. I just tipped in, opened the gas and it slid away from me. Top three in the Championship is brilliant. Roberto’s happy, I’m happy so we can’t complain.”

Brad ends the 2014 Motul British Motostar 125cc Championship in third place, just reward after the hard work all year.

Photography By: 

Bonnie Lane

Battling Victory For Bradley Ray At Silverstone

Bradley Ray took his fifth win of the season on Sunday at Silverstone, setting a new lap record in the process.

After ending his Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup career with a podium last weekend in Aragon, Bradley Ray headed into the penultimate round of the Motul British Motostar Championship in a confident mood.

During the free practice sessions on Friday, Brad set his stall out by posting a 2:21.264 lap, six tenths quicker than the Moto3 rider Joe Irving. In hotter conditions for free practice two, Brad improved his time by 2.2 seconds and posted a 2:19.0 lap, sending him into qualifying in high spirits.

Ahead of qualifying on Saturday the team made the decision to change the engine in the EE125 machine, giving Brad a better chance of heading the pack for Sunday’s 10 lap race.

But the weather took a turn for the worst ahead of the first qualifying session, forcing the riders to head out on wet tyres with constant rain during the 20 minutes. Brad only completed five laps, due to a mechanical problems with the FAB-Racing EE125, but was still able to post a 2:41.322 lap, only 0.317 off Joe Irving in pole.  The team was forced to revert to the older engine for race day.

Qualifying two was cancelled due to the rain delaying the timetable, which saw Brad starting Sunday’s race in second place on the grid.

During the morning warm up session on a dry circuit, Brad made a slight mistake and dropped the bike but hit his hand badly on the tarmac causing bleeding to his knuckles. After a trip to the medical centre, and a bandaged hand, he was was cleared to take part in the race.

After making a poor start, Brad worked his back to the front and begun his race long battle with Moto3 rider Joe Irving. As he forged his way past the ‘Bard’ set a new lap record around Silverstone, posting a 2:18.757 lap. After swapping places with Irving, Brad took the flag early due to a red flag stopping the race, as the first man across the line, and also the first 125.

After the race Brad said: “Today we went into the race with a positive attitude, the first few laps the bike felt good and I felt good and pushed hard. I had to catch Joe Irving as he had a two second gap, I passed him but I just couldn’t pull away.   I stuck behind him for a few laps and then got past and was still there as the red flag came out so we got the win.”

Brad will now have to wait two weeks before getting out on his bike again, which see’s his first weekend off for eight weeks, before he travels to his “home” round at Brands Hatch and the final round of the Motul British Motostar Championship.

 Photography By:

Bonnie Lane