Bradley Ray continued his dominance of the 2025 British Superbike Championship as he romped to a dominant ninth victory of the season during Race 2 at Knockhill.
Held in tricky wet conditions, Ray dismissed the challenge posed by the weather to take hole-shot from pole position before easing clear in the initial laps out of harm’s way.
Establishing a two-second margin after just two laps, Ray proceeded to manage his pace thereafter, eventually coming home with more than four seconds in hand over Rory Skinner.
In the context of the title battle, with Kyle Ryde struggling for pace in the wet to finish down in seventh place, the margin between himself and Ray at the head of the standings has swelled to 41 points.
With damp weather and wind descending on the Scottish circuit in time for the shorter 20-lap sprint, the conditions might have been viewed as a prime opportunity for Ray’s rivals to pull some ground back.
However, far from play it safe in respect of his championship advantage, Ray simply got the job done in the moments after the start. Getting the hole-shot into Turn 1, the Raceways Yamaha rider made the most of the clear track in front of him to immediately break the pack with some scintillating speed.
Behind him Ryde slotted into second from Skinner, but both would be overhauled by the fast-advancing Storm Stacey by the end of lap two.
By this point, however, Stacey was already well adrift of Ray in front and instead turned to fighting a rear-guard action from Skinner after the local rider also got the better of Ryde on lap two.
The pressure eventually told for Stacey as Skinner regrouped to grab second again on lap eight, but with a three-second deficit up ahead, there was little opportunity for him to make up ground to get into the lead fight.
Allowing Ray to control the pace out front, he crossed the line for his eighth victory in a row, putting him level-pegging with manager and mentor Shane Byrne for consecutive wins in BSB. Should he win Race 3 this afternoon, his nine wins on the trot would represent a new series record.
Skinner pulled clear to bring home his second podium of the weekend, while Tommy Bridewell also made strong advances in the difficult conditions to land his third rostrum of the 2025 BSB season.
With the wet weather allowing the more specialist riders to come to the fore, Danny Kent put in his best performance of the season with a charge from 11th place, the McAMS Yamaha rider getting the better of a fading Stacey in the closing stages.
In sixth, Fraser Rogers equalled his career-best BSB result with an impressive run, the TAG Racing Honda rider passing Ryde late on as the OMG Nitrous Competitions Yamaha rider suffered in the treacherous conditions.
Leon Haslam made headway from his lowly 13th on the grid to take home eighth, ahead of Christian Iddon in ninth - also on the move from 18th on the grid - while Josh Brookes completed the top ten.
Rounding out the points were Andrew Irwin, Lee Jackson, Charlie Nesbitt, Luke Hedger and Max Cook, while Race 1 standout Scott Redding found the going considerably tougher in the conditions as he steadily slipped down the order on the Hager PBM Ducati, eventually crossing the line 19th.
2025 British Superbike Championship [BSB] | Knockhill | Race 2 Results | Round 4 of 11 | |||||
Pos. | Rider | Nat. | Team | Motorcycle | Gap |
1 | Bradley Ray | GBR | Raceways Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | 20 Laps |
2 | Rory Skinner | GBR | Cheshire Mouldinga TAS Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | +4.135 |
3 | Tommy Bridewell | GBR | Honda Racing UK | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +8.528 |
4 | Danny Kent | GBR | McAMS Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | +8.702 |
5 | Storm Stacey | GBR | Bathams AJN Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | +10.819 |
6 | Fraser Rogers | GBR | TAG Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +13.058 |
7 | Kyle Ryde | GBR | OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing | Yamaha R1 | +13.658 |
8 | Leon Haslam | GBR | Moto Rapido Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | +18.628 |
9 | Christian Iddon | GBR | AJN Steelstock Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | +18.820 |
10 | Josh Brookes | AUS | DAO Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +18.947 |
11 | Andrew Irwin | GBR | Honda Racing UK | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +19.097 |
12 | Lee Jackson | GBR | DAO Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +19.511 |
13 | Charlie Nesbitt | GBR | MasterMac Honda | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +19.805 |
14 | Luke Hedger | GBR | Whitecliffe CDH Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +21.912 |
15 | Max Cook | GBR | AJN Steelstock Kawasaki | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | +22.976 |
16 | John McPhee | GBR | MasterMac Honda | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +23.060 |
17 | Scott Swann | GBR | Send My Bag Racing by IWR | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +23.906 |
18 | Billy McConnell | AUS | C&L Fairburn/Look Forward Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +26.013 |
19 | Scott Redding | GBR | Hager PBM | Ducati Panigale V4 R | +26.741 |
20 | Lewis Rollo | GBR | SENCAT by Swan Racing | Aprilia RSV4 | +39.613 |
21 | Richard Kerr | IRL | ROKiT BMW Motorrad | BMW M 1000 RR | +43.895 |
22 | Jaimie van Sikkelerus | NED | TAG Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +1 Lap |
23 | Blaze Baker | ZAF | NP Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +1 Lap |
24 | Davey Todd | GBR | LEW 8TEN Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | +1 Lap |
25 | Jamie Davis | GBR | Whitecliffe CDH Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +1 Lap |