Top 15 for Centurion Racing
 It
was a very successful weekend for the Centurion Racing Team
at round nine of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship
at Cadwell Park. The two regular Centurion Riders, James Westmoreland
and Dan Cooper, were joined this weekend by Tommy Bridewell.
All three riders secured strong top 15 positions in the 14-lap
race, Westmoreland gained a positive fifth place, Bridewell
in 10th and an injured Cooper in 14th place.
James Westmoreland had been struggling throughout the weekend
with bike set up and a few technical problems during practice,
which saw him lose out on vital track time. The youngster
from Hull could only qualify in ninth position but he was
eager to gain a good start and battle with the front runners.
A great start saw Westy lying in fifth place into the first
corner, the race was soon red flagged after an incident on
the opening lap.
After a short delay the race was cut short to 14 laps, Westy
did not gain a great start and was in eighth place after the
first lap, working hard and digging deep he managed to get
past Chris Martin and Steve Brogan, he was then locked in
a tight battle to the finish with Triumph rider Paul Young.
Commenting he said "I'm really happy with my results
as I raced well after a difficult weekend with set up problems.
Cadwell is not a track that suits me and my riding style all
that well, so fifth on a bad weekend is good and I've managed
to close in on Lowry in the Championship and pulled a gap
on Martin and Brogan so I'm pretty pleased. Thanks again to
all the Centurion team."
Tommy Bridewell became a welcomed member to the Centurion
Racing team, despite very little time on the Honda 600 and
still recovering from a badly broken leg, Bridewell rode extremely
well over the weekend to gain a solid tenth place in the race.
As Bridewell battled to get to grips with the Centurion bike
around the very difficult Cadwell track his times were consistently
improving and a big effort in second qualifying saw him qualify
in tenth place, just behind Westmoreland.
Riding on the one off CJ Riders Fund number '9' machine Bridewell
was boxed into the first corner off the start but still managed
to gain a place by the end of the first lap. He then became
locked in one of the closest battles of the race in a four
man scrap for eighth position with regular front runners Ian
Lowry, Chris Martin and Steve Brogan. Getting the better of
Brogan and only being 0.2 behind Martin at the chequered flag,
young Bridewell rode an exceptional race.
Speaking with him "I'm really grateful to the Centurion
Team for giving me this opportunity. It was a hard weekend
and a difficult track to learn everything all at once, I had
to dig deep during qualifying if I was going to get a good
grid position. The race was tricky but I really enjoyed it
and I was having a good dice with the others. My leg was getting
quite sore towards the end of the race but I'm pretty pleased
with where I finished."
Dan Cooper was also riding injured and after dislocating
his shoulder at Knockhill two weeks ago he was eager to prove
he could ride and finish in a good position. He gained 14th
place and two points in the overall standings. Fighting through
the pain Cooper was adamant that he wanted to ride at the
physical track after missing out last year with the same injury.
He said "I knew this weekend was going to be difficult
and it was a battle with the time to try and get fit for it.
My shoulder is still giving me some grief and there were times
I thought about not riding. Cadwell is such a physical circuit
and although I was injured I really wanted to ride there as
it's also a great track. I had a couple of problems with the
bike during practice but once we sorted them, my aim was just
to get some points during the race. It's definitely put pressure
on my shoulder and I know the best thing for me will be to
get the operation on it at the end of the year. I'm looking
forward to the last three races of the year and hope I'll
be fully fit for them all."
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