BSB Oulton Park Race 1 Results [TS] | Ray dominates as McAMS pair crash late on

UPDATE: Peter Hickman disqualified from fourth position as a consequence of his coming together with Jason O’Halloran

Bradley Ray’s quest for a first British Superbike Championship (BSB) title could not have started any better after romping to a dominant victory in a controversial opening race of the weekend at Oulton Park, while his closest rivals failed to score.

The first of nine BSB races over three rounds that will ultimately decide this year’s champion, Ray came into the encounter - the first since points were equalised among the top eight - with a slim 13 and 30 point advantage over McAMS Yamaha duo Jason O’Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie by virtue of his superior podium credits.

However, after Mackenzie crashed out on his own with three laps remaining and O’Halloran was sent down in a contentious clash with Peter Hickman on the final lap, Ray’s victory means that margin has swelled to a comfortable 37 points over the latter.

Even so, while a fortuitous twist of fate behind has done him a fine service in the title race, it in no way takes away from another formidable performance by Ray on the privateer RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha as he swept to his eighth win of the year, his fourth in a row.

Having qualified on pole position with an 0.8s advantage, a bungled getaway that left him third behind O’Halloran and Tommy Bridewell initially suggested Ray would be in for a more difficult afternoon of racing.

However, after Bridewell nosed into the lead with a clean pass through Shell hairpin, Ray would follow suit on his fellow Yamaha rider at Lodge. He’d then carry that momentum through on the Oxford Ducati rider at Old Hall to ensure he ended the opening lap back in front.

While his rivals rallied behind him initially as they - together with Hickman - stretched away from the pack, O’Halloran and Bridewell’s mid-race dispute over second place would be all the distraction Ray needed to begin pulling the pin during the second-half.

Multiplying his advantage by 0.4s a lap, Ray eased away to come home a clear 2.7secs winner, albeit completely unaware of the drama unfolding behind him.

In a race already proving relatively unkind to most of the Title Showdown contenders as they circulated at the bottom end of the top ten, Mackenzie had been among those mired in the pack thanks to a poor start from fifth that left him languishing in ninth on the opening lap.

However, having eventually picked his way back through to fifth place, the defending champion was pushing hard to bridge the gap to the podium pack ahead when he folded the front at Shell hairpin and slid off track into retirement.

With McAMS Yamaha’s hopes now resting on O’Halloran, the Australian seemed destined for third place having been forced to cede to Bridewell in their tussle for second.

However, those hopes were dashed on the fast snaking approach to Druids as Hickman - having maintained a watching brief in fourth for the majority of the race - made an unconventional lunge for third at the quick right-hander.

To his credit, Hickman made it stick and had most of his FHO BMW up and past O’Halloran’s Yamaha as they dipped for the apex. However, it would appear O’Halloran was caught completely unawares as he leaned right, only to clip the tail of Hickman’s bike, unsettling his Yamaha enough to force it down.

Sending both rider and bike into a series of barrel rolls through the gravel trap, while unhurt in the incident, an incensed O’Halloran wasn’t shy in making his feelings known towards the nine-time Isle of Man TT winner.

Though he stayed upright, Hickman didn’t see a reward for his attempts after the scrubbed momentum allowed an opportunistic Leon Haslam to slip by into third place for only his and VisionTrack Kawasaki’s second podium of the year.

Hickman would later be disqualified from the results altogether as punishment for the collision.

Elsewhere, Glenn Irwin picked up the pieces among the rest of the Title Showdown contenders in fourth place, ahead of Danny Buchan, while Lee Jackson recovered from a difficult start that left him down in 12th to get back up to sixth.

Christian Iddon picked up seventh, ahead of another two Title Showdown contenders in Rory Skinner and Kyle Ryde in eighth and ninth respectively. Josh Brookes rounded out the top ten.

In the overall standings, Ray is the big winner having swelled his lead to 37 and 55 points over O’Halloran and Mackenzie respectively, the McAMS duo still ranked as his closest rivals despite their DNFs.

Second for Bridewell, however, sees him leap from eighth to level pegging with Glenn Irwin in fourth - 58 points behind Ray - and Jackson sixth (62 points behind).

2022 British Superbike Championship | Oulton Park | Race 1 RESULTS