Bradley Ray topped Pre-Qualifying with a new lap record to lead the top12 riders into Q2 after the opening day of the fourth BSB round of the season, at Snetterton.

The lap record had dropped in both of the previous sessions on Friday, and Ray was up to speed from the very start of PQ, his new record of 1m 46.102s coming on just his first flying lap on the McAMS bike, and closing in on the all-time lap record at the Norwich track.

The Yamaha rider showed blistering pace early on, but it was the opposite story for his nearest rival, Max Cook.

The AJN Steelstock bimota rider was in confident mood after a positive challenge to Ray’s time in FP2, so waited for the final ten minutes to make his mark, finishing 0.474s behind in second.

Kyle Ryde had sorted out his bikes woes for third, the championship leader was 0.600s behind for Nitrous Coin Nitrous Competitions, as the top Ducati in PQ.

Leon Haslam had also fixed the throttle issue which saw him miss time earlier in the day, bouncing back for fourth in the final session on Friday to ease into Q2 for Moto Rapido Ducati.

Scott Redding was close on times in fifth for Hager PBM Ducati.

Christian Iddon saw his best time drop to sixth overall for Sencat Racing, still his best place in a session on Friday after finding more improvements for his Yamaha.

Local rider Ryan Vickers was the top Honda in seventh, ahead of Storm Stacey in eighth for Bathams AJN Ducati in eighth, and Glenn Irwin in ninth on the second Nitrous Competitions entry, at a track where he did not race last season after injury.

Danny Kent worked out where to make improvements for the rest of the weekend for Cheshire Mouldings Yamaha, with a lap good enough for a top ten placing overnight, just ahead of team-mate Rory Skinner, who made his Q2 placer safer with a late improvement of one place, taking the Scottish rider out of the at risk slot.

The final Q2 direct place went to Honda UK rider Jason O’Halloran, who saw his risky move of ending the session in the pits pay off as he was not displaced by any late laps from riders behind, holding onto 12th.

Joe Talbot came close, leading to a tense wait as the chequered flag waved for the Australian, with the second bimota just slower in 13th, with fellow rookie Ilya Mikhalchik in turn close behind on the sole remaining BMW in 14th.

Josh Brookes did not seem to have resolved his FP2 woes, finishing 16th for DAO Racing, one place ahead of team-mate Lee Jackson.

Brayden Elliott did not take part in the PQ session.

There are two replacement riders for the Norwich round, with Graeme Irwin (21st) returning to deputise for his brother Andrew at MET fonaCAB on the ‘26 Ducati after securing a point at Knockhill. He is joined by Ben Luxton (23rd), who moves over to fill in for the injured Luke Hedger at Whitecliffe CDH Racing, while hopeful he can still also complete his regular stock class races as well at the meeting.

Full results for the 2026 Snetterton BSB PQ:

 

Official British Superbike Snetterton Records:

All time lap record: Shane Byrne 1m 46.024s (2017)
Old lap record : Bradley Ray 1m 46.583s (Yamaha, 2025)
New lap record: Bradley Ray  1m 46.102s (Yamaha, FP2, 2026)

2025

Round 3

Qualifying: 1. Bradley Ray (2. Kyle Ryde, 3 Rory Skinner)
Race 1: 1. Bradley Ray (2. Kyle Ryde, 3. Tommy Bridewell)
Race 2 (sprint) 1. Bradley Ray (2. Rory Skinner 3. Tommy Bridewell)
Race 3: 1. Bradley Ray (2.Kyle Ryde 3. Leon Haslam)

FP2

The second session saw Ray once again on new lap record pace (1m 46.196s) set near the end, there was little time to reply.

This time it was Cook pushed back to second, leaving him 0.630s slower after taking over from Ray before the Yamaha man reclaimed P1 in FP2.

Vickers was the best of the rest, over a second off the new lead lap.

Ryde spent much of the session last on the timesheets, trying to work on what had left him feeling uncomfortable on the Ducati in FP1, moving to a late fourth.

Skinner completed the top five in the half an hour session, with Kent and Glenn Irwin picking up the pace late on for sixth and seventh respectively.

Redding slipped to eighth, ahead of Haslam in ninth, with O’Halloran completing the top ten after lapping with his team-mate Vickers.

Talbot was the best of the rookies, in 11th, just ahead of Mikhalchik.

Josh Brookes had an issue, only completing two laps in FP2.

FP2 Results:

 

FP1

The first session was an indication of how the BSB bikes had evolved in just a year, with Ray’s Snetterton 300 layout record from 2025 already broken.

Ray fought with Redding to regain the top spot in the session after leading for much of the hour with the time set on just his fifth lap, bouncing back to P1 at the chequered flag, only to be toppled again by the Ducati rider (1m 46.393s).

Ray was the only rider within a second of the lead time, just 0.021s slower, while third placed Vickers was 1.085s behind.

Ryde was a solid fourth, with Haslam bouncing back after missing much of the track time available for a throttle change, after working with his mechanics to get back on track, for fifth.

Kent jumped up to a late sixth, with Cook the top bimota with a personal best performance in seventh.

Skinner was late out of the pits for an eventual eighth, ahead of Stacey who was shown a late orange/black ‘meatball’ flag in ninth, with O’Halloran completing the early top ten.

Mikhalchik was the top rookie in the session.

Graeme Irwin had to pull off track early in the session, while technical gremlins also ended Brayden Elliot’s FP1 early.

 FP1 Results: