Bradley Ray set the pace in the third and final British Superbike Championship practice at Silverstone on Saturday morning with a time of 53.128 giving the Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha rider a 0.208s advantage over the Oxford Products Ducati of Tommy Bridewell.
With good conditions once more all round the 1.64-mile National circuit, it was Bridewell who set the early pace in the 20-minute session from Danny Buchan (Synetiq BMW) and Christian Iddon (Buildbase Suzuki) with the leading eight riders all quickly lapping in the 53s bracket.
The leaderboard soon changed, with Ray moving into the top spot after five minutes with a lap of 53.415s giving him a gap of 0.140s over new second placed rider Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing). Rory Skinner moved up to third with Bridewell down to fourth and Skinner’s FS-3 Racing Kawasaki teammate Lee Jackson now in fifth.
At the half way point, Ray still led from Irwin but Peter Hickman was now up into third, the FHO Racing BMW rider, like Irwin, going quicker than he’d managed all day Friday. Jackson soon pushed them both down the order though as he slotted into second.
Ray improved his time to 53.383s with five minutes to go and immediately bettered that next time around with a 53.128s putting him over four tenths of a second clear of Jackson. The latter was soon in third though as Danny Kent jumped up into second after lapping at 53.524s on the Buildbase Suzuki.
No one was able to knock Ray off the top spot but a late flurry of quick laps saw the order behind him change and it was Bridewell who eventually took second with Iddon in third, the trio separated by 0.208s.
Further back, Ray’s teammate Kyle Ryde came through to fourth with Irwin fifth and Leon Haslam moving up to sixth. Hickman and Kent placed seventh and eighth with Jackson and Skinner slipping back to ninth and tenth respectively.
Friday’s pace setter Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) was just outside the top ten in 11th with the MCE Ducati pairing of Tom Sykes and Josh Brookes back in 15th and 16th.
