Bradley Ray and Scott Redding shared the Bennetts British Superbike Championship victories in two intense races at Oulton Park today as the title fight goes down to the wire at Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time (17/18/19 October).
30-points separate defending champion Kyle Ryde from fierce rival Ray ahead of the final three races in Kent, but with a maximum of 105 points available, Leon Haslam also remains in mathematical contention after a hat trick of podiums at Oulton Park.
Ray claimed a sensational victory in race two, starting 14th on the grid to pass both Christian Iddon and Haslam on the final lap to return to winning ways for Raceways Yamaha.
The race initially got underway once again in mixed conditions with yesterday’s winner Josh Brookes hitting the front of the pack from Ryde, Lee Jackson and Iddon. The championship leader though hit the front of the pack as Rogers moved into second by the end of the opening lap.
The race was red flagged on lap three when Peter Hickman’s LEW 8TEN Racing BMW Motorrad suffered a technical problem and then there was a subsequent clean-up for track contamination.
On the restart, Iddon hit the front of the pack from Brookes and Jackson, but Ray was on the attack and he was carving his way through the pack. By lap five, he was trailing championship rival Ryde and he made a decisive move into third.
Ray first made a move on Iddon for second at Island, before having Haslam in his sights. The Raceways Yamaha rider dived down the inside at Knickerbrook to snatch the lead, holding it to the chequered flag as the top three were separated by just 0.481s.
Ryde held fourth, with Storm Stacey back in the top five for Bathams AJN Racing BMW and Tommy Bridewell claimed sixth place for Honda Racing UK.
In the final race of the weekend, Redding delivered an incredible win for the Hager PBM Ducati team after an intense ten-way battle for the victory ahead of Ray and Haslam.
Ray knew he needed to outscore Ryde before the title chase heads to Brands Hatch for the season finale, and he instantly hit the front of the pack at the start, ahead of his closest championship rival with Haslam into third place.
On lap 11, Ray was back at the front of the pack and he was pushing to add to his earlier win in race two, but two laps later Haslam regained the advantage at Old Hall as Redding moved into a podium position on the Hager PBM Ducati.
Redding was into second place by lap 14 as he dived ahead of Ray at Lodge before seizing the lead a lap later at Hizzys.
Redding was pushing for the victory with Haslam holding second as Stacey then was third as he began battling with Ray for the final podium position. The Raceways Yamaha rider moved back ahead for third place with three laps to go and then it would come down to the last corner on the final lap to decide the podium positions.
Redding would ultimately emerge on top to claim his fifth race win of the season, but Haslam hit a false neutral into Lodge for the final time and ran wide, as Ray stormed through into second on the run to the line.
Haslam was trying to regain the ground as Stacey made a final bid for the last podium position on the run to the chequered flag, but the Moto Rapido Ducati Racing rider had the edge by just 0.026s.
Ryde claimed fifth place ahead of Glenn Irwin and Iddon, with Cook, Bridewell and Charlie Nesbitt completing the top ten.
