Ray “to stay grounded” for BSB title focus

Surprise Bennetts British Superbike championship leader Bradley Ray is eager to build momentum into the 2018 campaign after his perfect start with a maiden double victory at Donington Park for Buildbase Suzuki.

The BSB youngster stunned his rivals by dominating to a double victory at the season opener in tricky conditions at Donington Park to lead the riders’ championship from the likes of experienced hands Shane Byrne by 19 points, Dan Linfoot by 21 points and Leon Haslam by 23 points.

Despite having almost a full race win worth of BSB points advantage on his nearest challengers, Ray accepts there is a long way to go before turning attention to the key point to the year, the BSB Showdown, and is keen to continue building on his impressive start at Brands Hatch Indy.

“I didn’t know what to expect at the first round and it has taken a while to sink in,” Ray said. “It was an amazing feeling and the Buildbase Suzuki is working really well, so we want to keep the momentum going into this weekend at Brands Hatch. We know we can run the pace in different conditions and that is a big confidence boost.

“I didn’t think I would be leading the championship after Donington Park, Brands Hatch is going to be interesting as we have tested there earlier in the year and the bike felt good, but it is a long championship and we need to stay grounded.

“We can take the confidence of the double win at Donington Park into this weekend and just keep pushing on because we need to be consistent if we want to fight for this title.”

Ray stepped up to the BSB championship last year, scoring a podium in his rookie year at Oulton Park, and is tipped to lead the Hawk Racing-run Suzuki squad’s charge after a difficult debut year for the new GSX-R1000 in the series.