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