Lydd's Bradley Ray admits he must improve in qualifying in order to secure top-10 finishes after the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship in Portugal.

Ray had obtained 18th spot in Superpole, therefore starting from the sixth row in race one, in which he crossed 17th at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao.

In the sprint race, run over 10 laps, Ray obtained 18th place while he maintained a consistently fast pace in race two and confirmed the 18th position of the previous race.

He said: “Overall, I am happy with my weekend but, obviously, not completely because I think we had the pace to get into the top 10.

“We need to improve in qualifying to make the races easier. We only made small changes to the bike but I think we made a good step forward, reducing the gap to the front in all the sessions and also in the races.

“So, we can say that we have made some significant progress here in Portimao.

“We need to continue working in this direction with the aim of fighting for the top-10 positions.”

The next round of the competition is set to start on the weekend beginning Saturday, September 8, at the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit in France.