Rory Skinner brought Bradley Ray’s record-equalling run of victories to an abrupt end as a masterful display of wet weather riding saw him snap up victory in the final BSB race of the weekend at Knockhill.

The local rider kept his cool despite needing three bites of the cherry as two separate red flags twice brought proceedings to halt while he was leading.

However, Skinner retained his composure at the third time of asking to win a shortened 16-lap sprint, in so doing denying Ray his hopes for a record-breaking ninth consecutive BSB victory. In third, Fraser Rogers revelled in the conditions to take a well-deserved maiden podium finish on the TAG Racing Honda.

Despite being out-performed by Skinner in treacherous conditions, second place for Ray coupled with a lowly 11th for Kyle Ryde - who was forced to fight from the back of the grid after problems in the run up to the third start - sees the gap between them swell to 52 points after four rounds.

On a weekend beset by intermittent wet and windy weather throughout, the worst of the conditions would be reserved for the final BSB race of the weekend. 

However, while the race went ahead on time - with Skinner beating Ray to the lead into Turn 1 - it was promptly red flagged on lap three amid a short, sharp shower.

Despite this, action got underway fairly quickly as a full restart, again with Skinner getting the jump on pole man Ray on the run to Turn 1 but a slip for Blaze Baker exiting the Taylor’s hairpin on lap five would leave fuel on the circuit and force a second stoppage.

With grid positions this time determined by where the riders were at the time of the stoppage, Skinner got away from pole position, only to find he’d be the one beaten to Duffers Dip by Ray at the third getaway.

Undeterred, Skinner slithered up the inside of Ray’s Raceways Yamaha into McIntyre to regain a lead he’d protect to the chequered flag.

Indeed, despite Ray’s best efforts to stay on terms with Skinner initially, the Cheshire Mouldings TAS Racing rider would edge clear over the truncated distance to complete only his second victory in BSB. His first since switching to Ducati machinery, it comes a year after claiming his maiden BSB win at Knockhill too.

Ray was left to settle for second, scuppering his bid to break Shane Byrne’s 22-year record for consecutive victories, even if he can take heart from being able to sit on level-pegging with his manager and mentor after an eight-race streak.

With the two restarts doing their bit to shuffle the original grid order and allow some of the more confident wet weather riders to shift up the grid by the third getaway, Rogers emerged as the big winner with his superb run to third.

Having equalled his best ever BSB finish in Race 2, Rogers held his nerve as he came under attack from Max Cook behind him for fourth before mounting his own attempt on third place man Christian Iddon ahead of him.

Iddon had been the big winner in the first two starts, going from an original ninth on the grid to fifth by the final start.

Shuffling his way to third place, Iddon - who started Race 2 down in 18th - looked set for his first podium on Kawasaki machinery, only to come under waves of attack from Rogers in the final laps.

Rogers eventually got his man on lap 11 before resisting the attentions of the experienced veteran to the flag for a new personal best.

In a strong end to the weekend for the AJN Steelstock Kawasaki team, Iddon was fourth with Cook sixth, the youngster ceding a top five result to Storm Stacey, who after slipping back initially, worked his way back up into fifth by the flag.

Leon Haslam ended a disappointing weekend in seventh place, the Moto Rapido Ducati rider losing third in the overall standings to Skinner in doing so.

Andrew Irwin led the factory Honda challenge in eighth, ahead of Scott Redding, who made a strong show of himself to go from 19th on the grid to ninth at the finish despite his lack of experience in the treacherous weather conditions.

Charlie Nesbitt rounded out the top ten, ahead of Ryde, who valiantly fought up the order from the back of the grid but would ultimately run out of time to make it back into the top ten.

Danny Kent - who had originally started from the front row - struggled en route to 12th, while Race 2 podium winner Tommy Bridewell also suffered as he laboured to a disappointing 13th. Lee Jackson and Luke Hedger took the remaining points on offer.