Cadwell BSB: Ray leaps to spectacular Superpole

Rich OMG Yamaha’s Bradley Ray will start the first race of the Cadwell Park BSB weekend from pole position after prevailing in a nail-biting one lap Superpole session on Sunday.

With the Louth venue’s tight and twisting nature prompting organisers to revert to a single lap Superpole format for this weekend’s Bank Holiday event, the session swelled with momentum until the closing stages when Ray - the penultimate rider to go out - stormed to the top of the timesheets with a superb 1’25.457s effort.

The OMG Yamaha rider - who is already confirmed to be through to the Title Showdown for the first time in five years - gathered all of his speed in the final sector, turning round a 0.1s deficit to provisional pole sitter Rory Skinner to end the lap a remarkable 0.258s clear at the top.

Completing his lap to the Disclosure song ‘You & Me’ - the track he nominated after BSB granted riders one song each to go out to celebrate the one-off Superpole switch - the result marks Ray’s second BSB pole position of the season having also topped the timesheets at Knockhill.

It means Ray stands a good chance of clawing back some podium credits on his Showdown rivals, not least after fellow form men Jason O’Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie could only manage seventh and ninth respectively on their McAMS Yamahas.

FS-3 Kawasaki duo Skinner and Lee Jackson complete the front row, the former - the 11th rider to go out - having deposed long time leader Peter Hickman from a lead he’d held almost from the start.

Indeed, as one of three riders to make it through to Superpole from Q1 - which was run as a conventional 15-minute free session - FHO BMW’s Hickman made the most of his additional track time to stop the clock at 1’25.997.

Going out second in