BSB: Brad Ray makes Buildbase Suzuki Superbike debut

Bradley Ray got his first taste of the Buildbase Suzuki GSX-R1000 he’ll campaign in this year’s MCE British Superbike Championship at Mallory Park today.

Tipped as one of Britain’s quickest youngsters, Ray steps up to the Superbike class after a strong showing in the Supersport category saw him win more races than eventual champion Tarran Mackenzie in 2016.

Ray got his first run out at the Mallory Circuit, which is also home to the team’s workshop, alongside Superstock 1000 team-mate Alex Olsen and Bennetts Suzuki riders Sylvain Guintoli and Richard Cooper.

Not only was he riding a Superbike for the first time, but it was the first time he’d hopped on to a litre machine so the Kent rider spent most of the afternoon familiarising himself with the bike before  next week’s tests in Spain. 

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“It’s been a steady day,” he told MCN at Mallory Park. “It wasn’t just my first day on a Superbike but the first time on a 1000cc bike, jumping up from Supersport last year. We were just getting comfortable with the bike, it feels quite nice – not too big not to small!

“The first thing you notice on the thousand is how fast it is! It’s completely different. When I first jumped from the 125cc to the 600cc I thought the same but then after a while I wanted more power. I don’t know whether that will be the case with this but bloody hell it’s fast! I’ll get used to that and as I learn about the bike I’ll want more power and change the ways in how I want the power to be delivered and hopefully by the end of the year we can make a good step forward.

“You can’t run electronics in Supersport anyway so I’m used to riding without traction control, it’s a bike at the end of the day. You’ve just got to learn to ride it fast, get a load of laps under your belt and you’re away!”

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