BSB: Ray: "We think we've got our bike back"

Bradley Ray has said he feels that he’s got his Buildbase Suzuki back how he likes it after storming to pole position at Cadwell Park this afternoon.

The 21-year-old got the better of series leader Leon Haslam by 0.036 seconds for his third pole position of the year, but admits he had to hang it out for the lap time.

Despite having pace at pretty much all circuits, Ray has struggled in recent rounds – scoring points in just five of the last eight races. However, the young gun now feels he and the Mallory Park-based Hawk Racing team are moving back towards the sweet spot that saw him stand on the podium in the opening three races of the year including two wins at Donington Park.

“I hung it out like you have to in qualifying, I didn’t have much left but that’s how you have to ride to get pole in a class like BSB,” Ray told MCN.

“We did make a small change with the bike that made an improvement, but honestly, the team have been working over-time this weekend to get the bike feeling right and we finally think we’ve got our bike back. Hopefully we can carry on the way we’ve been going and get two good results tomorrow.”

Despite surging to the front in qualifying, Ray maintains that his goal from the weekend is to leave with two solid finishes to help secure his Showdown space.

“I’m 0.3 seconds slower than Haslam in sector one, but I make it all up in the last sector so if we can improve sector one then things should be a bit better. I’m happy to be starting on pole and it should make the race tomorrow a lot easier.

“The aim is to come away with some valuable points for the Showdown, if we can get a podium that’s great but the aim is to come away with two solid results.”