Lydd’s Bradley Ray apologised to his team after crashing out in race two of the second round of the Superbike World Championship at Catalunya.

Yamaha Motoxracing rider Ray, who scored a point in the opening round in Phillip Island, Australia, never found momentum in Spain despite a testing session at the same circuit the previous week and ended the weekend in the gravel with Team HRC’s Iker Lecuona after three laps.

He could manage no higher than 21st in practice and although his Superpole qualifying time was more than a second faster, he again finished 21st, lining up on row seven for race one.

A good start and strong race pace took Ray into 18th place and he held station from there to the chequered flag, but couldn’t climb up the order in the 10-lap Superpole race, finishing 22nd.

“[It was] a tough Sunday for me and the team,” Ray said.

“In the Superpole race, the front tyre quickly wore, while in race two I crashed through sector one, taking [Iker] Lecuona down with me, which I am very sorry about.

“The only thing we can do is try to quickly find a way out of this situation. I’m really sorry about the lack of results so far, and the crash, and apologise to my team after all their hard work but I’m sure we’ll be able to come back stronger.”

Team principal Sandro Carusi added: “Today’s race could have seen us make up for yesterday, but Bradley’s crash put paid to those hopes. I want to thank all the Yamaha staff for their valuable help during this difficult time.”

The next round of the championship will take place on April 19-21 at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands.