04/05/09 - Maiden Win for Centurion & WP Suspension
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Dan Cooper took a stunning maiden win for the Centurion Racing team at round two of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park today, 4th May. His team-mate Tom Grant secured a fantastic sixth place after starting from the back of the grid for the re-started 14-lap race.
The two Centurion riders exceeded all expectations after what had been a bad weekend up to that point and following a number of electrical and mechanical problems for the two youngsters over the practice and qualifying the race result is a true credit to both riders and the entire Centurion team for working so hard.
Grant managed to qualify in 11th place with Cooper in 21st, both riders moved forward on the grid one place after Chris Martin was unable to race due to an injury sustained in qualifying. After two laps of the opening race the heavens opened and the race was red flagged allowing the riders to come and change tyres. Cooper opted for intermediates and Grant for the same for the restart. Grant was unfortunate to miss the sighting lap after changing from his dry tyres and was forced to start from the back of the grid leaving him with a lot of work to do.
Cooper started in 13th place for the re-start, the position he was in when the red flag was shown. He gained a fantastic start and was soon making a bid for the leading pack after settling into a rhythm and dealing with the changing weather conditions. A number of riders fell into the hands of the track conditions, which Cooper was eager to take advantage of. By lap five Cooper had comfortably settled into third place behind Lee Johnston and Dennis Hobbs, Johnston lost the front into Hizzy's and it was not long before Cooper was battling with his former Centurion team-mate Hobbs for the lead. On lap eight the youngster from Stroud made a confident pass and soon got his head down and strung together some fantastic lap times and stretched his lead to nearly 17 seconds by the time the chequered flag came out.
Commenting Cooper said "I'm delighted to get Centurion's first race win and really pleased that it came so early on in the season. We've had a number of problems this weekend and the boys have worked so hard to get everything right for the race. The tyre gamble was a big one as we just weren't sure what it was going to do. I got into the lead and just had to keep my head down and stay focused for the remaining laps. I'm so pleased to have won it but they were long old laps that I just wanted to bring it home in one piece as I kept seeing people around me crashing. I would like to thank the entire Centurion Racing team for helping me as much as they have all weekend and that I was able to give them their first ever win, it's a great feeling."
Tom Grant gained a great result in sixth place from the very back of the grid after making a late tyre change decision and opted for intermediates. Grant worked his way through the full 33 rider grid and battled hard to gain positions and make up lost time. Fighting hard the youngster rode and exceptional race for the Centurion team and gained a solid sixth position at the end of the 14-laps.
A disappointed Grant commented "It's been a really tough weekend and I've had a number of engine problems. When it started raining it was a real lottery on which would be the best tyre to run, we had to change to intermediates but went over the allocated time and were forced to start from the back. I just had to get my head down and work hard to try and fight my way through but I'm really frustrated that I didn't get sorted in time to start on the grid position that I should have. We had a disaster this weekend so I have to take home the fact that we got some good points and just hope that everything is fine for Donington in a couple of weeks time."
Team manager Gary Stubbington said "We're over the moon with both riders and Dan rode a brilliant race to take the team's first win. We would like to thank Alan for coming up from Southampton to help us with our problems, the boys worked all through the night to get everything sorted and we're very grateful to them for all their help. We would like to wish Alan's wife a speedy recovery. It's been a difficult weekend with some big problems but thankfully we managed to work our way through them and we're very much looking forward to Donington Park."
General Manager Paul Rees commented "After the problems on Saturday and Sunday we were hoping the boys would come in at least the top ten but their results were outstanding and I would like to echo what Gary has said, a big thanks to Al and the team they've been awesome!"
Supersport Results
Cooper Centurion Racing Honda
Hobbs Yamaha
Wilson Kawasaki
Hipwell Yamaha
Fitzpatrick Yamaha
Grant Centurion Racing Honda
2009 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Dates
23-25 May - Donington Park
29-31 May - Thruxton
19-21 June - Snetterton
3-5 July - Knockhill
17-19 July - Mallory Park
7-9 August - Brands Hatch GP
29-31 August - Cadwell Park
11-13 September - Croft
25-27 September - Silverstone
9-11 October - Oulton Park