Bradley Ray ended his winning drought on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit by claiming the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race victory of the weekend as Scott Redding continued to close and Kyle Ryde returned to the podium.

Ray had seized the advantage at the start of the race with Christian Iddon and Rory Skinner initially holding the top three positions ahead of Ryde and Redding.

Ryde was soon into third on the Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha, and behind Skinner went wide on lap three at Graham Hill Bend, giving Redding the invitation he needed to move ahead.

Ray was pushing to claim his first Superbike victory at his home circuit and started to edge an advantage, but behind Iddon was holding second until lap six when Ryde attacked at Hawthorns.

Iddon was ready to fight back and he made his move on lap ten at Paddock Hill Bend with a dive down the inside, but the defending champion regained the position at Hawthorns.

Redding though was also in the hunt and he moved into third at Hawthorns and then had Ryde in his sights as Iddon held fourth place on the AJN Steelstock Kawasaki.

The champions then were duelling for second place and Redding launched his move on Ryde at Surtees with a dive down the inside. The Hager PBM Ducati then had his sights firmly set on closing the gap to Ray at the front as Ryde gave chase.

Redding was closing but despite setting the fastest lap of the race to take tomorrow’s Omologato Pole Position, he had to settle for second and take his first podium finish with Hager PBM Ducati since his 2019 title-winning year.

Ryde held third to add to his podium tally for Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha, but Iddon and Danny Kent were also in close contention as Team Green equalled their best result of the season and McAMS Racing Yamaha claimed their highest finish of 2025.

Tommy Bridewell fought off Max Cook for sixth place ahead of Skinner who dropped to eighth with DAO Racing Honda’s Josh Brookes and Lee Jackson completing the top ten.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 1 result:

1. Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha)
2. Scott Redding (Hager PBM Ducati) +1.085s
3. Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha) +2.824s
4. Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +3.376s
5. Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) + 3.420s
6. Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) +9.867s
7. Max Cook (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) +10.109s
8. Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) +11.854s
9. Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) +12.539s
10. Lee Jackson (DAO Racing Honda) +12.695s

For the full session result please click here

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:

1. Bradley Ray (Raceways Yamaha) 210
2. Kyle Ryde (Nitrous Competitions OMG Racing Yamaha) 154
3. Rory Skinner (Cheshire Mouldings Ducati) 130
4. Leon Haslam (Moto Rapido Ducati Racing) 122
5. Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 111
6. Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) 93
7. Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 88
8. Christian Iddon (AJN Steelstock Kawasaki) 81
9. Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 74
10. Storm Stacey (Bathams AJN Racing BMW) 73

For the full standings click here