Donington Park Dominance for Yamaha Motor UK
Words and images courtesy of Raceways
This weekend’s second round of the 2025 Bennetts British Superbike Championship saw Raceways Yamaha and Bradley Ray storm to a dominant triple victory at Donington Park.
Walking away from the Leicestershire-based venue and onto the third round of the season, Ray and the Raceways-backed team hold the position of championship leaders. They sit 12 points ahead of the competition.
With Ray and the Raceways crew proving unstoppable up-top, Kyle Ryde and the OMG Nitrous Competitions Racing squad rode to a coup of second place finishes. This made for a stellar result of a Yamaha 1-2 in the first and second race.
The weekend started off well for R1 riders, Ray and Ryde. The pair slotted into the top 5 to progress directly through to Qualifying 2.
With eyes set on mounting a strong effort in Saturday’s Qualifying session, Ray secured a well-earned pole-position start. He achieved this with a blisteringly fast lap-time of 1:26.907. Ryde slotted just behind into P2 on the grid.
Ready for battle in Race 1, Ryde took an early lead on the opening lap. Meanwhile, Ray dropped back to P3 in the running.
Using his time to settle into a rhythm and save tyre life for later in the race, Ray sat comfortable behind the leaders. A scramble for position towards the end of Lap 8 saw him pounce into P2. Glenn Irwin took the lead. Ryde slipped back to P3.
The order remained until Lap 14. Ray made a move for the front at Melbourne Hairpin.
With clear air ahead, the former BSB champ made a swift getaway. He pulled a 0.9 second lead by lap 17. The gap later extended to 2.7 seconds as the pack begun the final lap.
Across the line, Ray took the flag by over a second. Ryde finished P2 in the opening race of the weekend.
With Ryde going from pole position and Ray from P2, Sunday’s Sprint Race kicked off with a holeshot off the line for Ray. He took an early lead to control the pace at the front.
A nail-biting back-and-forth battle between himself and race hopeful, G.Irwin, ended with the rival making a mistake on entry to Foggy-Esses on Lap 8 of 12. This mistake gave Ray a chance to break free. He led the field by a comfortable margin yet again.
The Raceways R1 rider took a second victory of the weekend. Ryde finished as runner-up yet again, crossing the line over a second behind his Yamaha R1 counterpart.
With a fairytale ending in mind for the third and final race of the weekend, Ray set off from the second row of the grid. He got the holeshot yet again and led the pack into Turn 1.
The R1 rider proved untouchable during the opening stages of the race. He stretched a sizable gap of over two seconds.
His pace was answered by rival, G.Irwin, at half race distance.
By lap 17, the gap between the two was down to just 0.2 seconds. Ray soon found his lead threatened by a charging rival from behind.
A carbon copy of the mistake at Foggy Esses from Race 2 saw G.Irwin lose close contact with Ray. Meanwhile, the Yamaha rider was nearly a second clear.
But the fight wasn’t over yet. Brad had to fend off a relentless challenge for victory on the final lap. Taking the defensive line and pushing used tyres to the limit, he eventually crossed the line to claim his third win of the weekend. He bagged a well-deserved triple victory to cap-off a sensational weekend.
Meanwhile, OMG Nitrous Competitions’ Kyle Ryde ended his weekend’s efforts in P5.
A difficult final race saw the 2024 champion secure a further 11 points for the standings. Ryde and the team sit P3 overall heading away from Donington Park.
It was a challenging weekend for Danny Kent and the McAMS Racing Yamaha squad. Despite their best efforts, they attempted a comeback from a relentless Friday. The day brought a duo of crashes.
Kent, aboard the McAMS-backed R1, secured a best-place finish of eighth in the final race of the weekend.
A challenge-enduring three days of action see the team head towards the next round of Snetterton on the back foot. They are eager to progress and improve on a challenging start to the year. They sit P7 in the standings.
In the Pirelli National Sportbike Championship, Raceways Yamaha’s Ash Barnes led the R7 effort. He achieved a hard-fought podium finish in the weekend’s opening race on Saturday.
At a circuit of his liking, Barnes rode on rails aboard the R7.
He crossed the line within the top 3. This came after starting the first 12-lap stint from the middle of Row 2.
Starting from the same position for Sunday’s second 12-lap charge of the weekend, the Raceways hopeful fought amongst the points for much of the race. However, a costly mistake saw him cross the line outside the points in P17.
Heading out of Donington Park and towards the third round of the year at Snetterton, Barnes holds onto his spot as top R7 rider in the series.
He sits P6 in the overall standings with 34 points to his name.
Yamaha’s trio of riders in the Bennetts BSB Championship, along with a host of R7 riders in the Pirelli Sportbike Championship, are back on track in four weeks. The paddock heads Norwich-bound for the third stop of 11 on the 2025 calendar.
Bradley Ray
Raceways Yamaha – Bennetts British Superbike Championship
“I didn’t really expect to win all three races coming into the weekend – I knew we’d be strong but I didn’t think we’d be in a position to take the triple given how strong Glenn and Kyle were at the test. We worked well as a team all weekend, worked hard on used tyres to find our rhythm for the end of the race. Glenn kept me honest in the last race and that one was probably my best win of my BSB career, having to dig deep after Glenn came back to me towards the end! I had to find something in myself and the bike to keep him behind, and we did, so I’m happy for myself, Raceways Motorcycles, Yamaha and all my team to back up Saturday’s win with the Sunday double.”
Ash Barnes
Raceways Yamaha – Pirelli National Sportbike Championship
“Overall, our weekend at Donington Park was a positive one. We demonstrated strong pace throughout and were able to walk away with some silverware for the trophy cabinet back home. It was a shame to have ended Race 2 in the way we did. I was pushing so hard to keep up with the field, and a small mistake cost me a second strong finish of the weekend. We’ll focus on the positives and head into Snetterton with confident minds.”