Ray’s season saved

Bradley Ray’s British Superbikes comeback has been saved after a dramatic few days off track. Lydd racer Ray had a deal in place to return to the series at the team he won the 2022 title with , OMG Racing, having ended a two-year spell in World Superbikes. But that was turned on its head earlier this month with the surprise announcement that, due to commercial reasons, OMG were withdrawing from the championship.

However Raceways Motorcycles, who enjoyed great success in BSB between 2017-2023, are now back on the grid with an 11th-hour entry for Ray on a Yamaha R1. Under the leadership of Steve Rogers, Raceways Yamaha will hit the track for the first time at the official test at Donington on April 18-19, ahead of a further test at Oulton Park on April 23-24. The first round of the season is at the Cheshire venue from May 3-5.



“I am super happy and grateful to Steve Rodgers and Yamaha Motor UK for putting together this opportunity for me at the very last minute, it has been a bit of a whirlwind,” Ray said. “Obviously it has been a very difficult couple of weeks and there has been a lot of uncertainty, but when Steve rang me with the opportunity I couldn’t say no as it’s as close as we could be to the original plan for the year - remaining with Yamaha on an R1 in BSB, which is amazing. “I can’t wait to get the 2025 season started as soon as possible and be back fighting for wins.

” Rodgers added: “It was never really my plan to return to racing, but following what has happened with OMG it was a huge shame to see the riders facing 2025 without a ride. We came close to signing Brad as McAMS Yamaha back in the day, so when it became clear we could do something to get him on the grid this year I couldn’t quite resist the opportunity. “Thanks to Stuart Higgs and the team at Motorsport Vision, plus the guys at Yamaha Motor UK for helping us make it happen.

It’s not a simple task setting up a BSB team in a couple of weeks, but we’ll give it a go!” In a further twist, OMG will now race on after agreeing a sponsorship deal with Nitrous Competitions. However the new-look team, like Raceways, will be a one-rider squad featuring defending champion and Ray’s former team-mate Karl Ryde..