Battling display from Stratford-based OMG Racing at Brands Hatch
OMG Racing's Kyle Ryde and Bradley Ray brought home strong points across the three races at Brands Hatch to boost their chances of securing places in the top eight British Superbike Championship showdown positions.
A big effort from the Stratford-based team saw them finish consistently in top ten with Ray claiming a hat-trick of fourth-placed finishes and Ryde also bringing home some crucial points.
Team principal Paul Curran admitted it was a "little frustrating" not to see the pair come home with at least one podium finish but says that's now "in the history books" and everyone's attention is now on Thruxton.
"Brad did all he could to fight for third place three times but just didn’t quite have that last bit of pace and Kyle worked hard to come back from a tough Friday to have a smile back on his face by the end of race three," he said.
"Brands Hatch is in the history books now and we look to Thruxton. The track will suit both the Yamaha R1s and the riders and I’m looking forward to some good, strong results down there.”
Finishing third and fifth in glorious conditions after Saturday’s qualifying sessions, all eyes turned to the opening race of the weekend. Ray was holding his own in third until he was edged out to the final podium spot by Tommy Bridewell, with Ryde just behind in fifth.
Ray led early on in race two but the two McAMS Yamahas made their decisive moves. In similar fashino the first race, Bridewell would once again pip Ray to the final podium spot. Ryde fought hard but didn't have the pace to keep with the leading group but picked up valuable points in seventh.
The third and final race was almost a carbon copy of the previous one as once more Ray found himself in podium mix before being thwarted by Glenn Irwin. Ryde crossed the line in seventh but had cut the gap to the race winner by five seconds, a big improvement.
Ray, who is second in the championship with 255 points, said: "I feel like this weekend I’ve ridden as hard as I have all year so to come away with three fourths is a little bit frustrating but it’s points on the board and points for the showdown.
"Obviously, podium credits are the main thing for me, but we need to just find out what we’re missing against the other two Yamahas at the minute and take the fight to them as best we can."
Ryde added: "I think we’ve both made the best of what we had over the weekend and I’m proud of myself for not getting worse as the weekend went on.
"The objective is to be in the showdown for the first time and when you can’t finish on the podium you finish top eight and that’s what we’re doing."
The next round of the BSB at Thruxton takes place from 12th-14th August.
