Strong Results for Centurion Racing
James Westmoreland secured his best result ever this weekend
at the tiny Scottish circuit, Knockhill, at round eight of
the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport series, where he gained
a fantastic second place. After crashing out on Friday morning,
usual Centurion Racing rider Dan Cooper dislocated his right
shoulder and knocked himself out ruling him out of the race
this weekend. A phone call to European Superstock 600 rider,
20-year-old Dan Linfoot and Linfoot was soon driving to Knockhill
to replace the injured Cooper and gained a solid 13th place
on his first outing on the Honda 600.
20-year-old James 'Westy' Westmoreland was riding exceedingly
well throughout the weekend and was the fastest rider in the
two dry practice sessions on Friday. However during the wet
qualifying on sessions on Saturday, Westy dropped to sixth
in the first qualifying session but finally moved through
the second in the combined qualifying, his first front row
start.
Dan 'Linny' Linfoot made his first appearance on the Centurion
Honda in the opening wet qualifying session and without adjusting
anything to the bike Linny settled in well and made good progress,
by the second qualifying session the 20-year-old from Wetherby,
North Yorkshire finally qualified in a great 11th place.
Westy gained a superb start and was leading into the first
corner, by lap four he had fallen to fourth behind Ian Lowry,
Glen Richards and James Webb. He soon regained his form and
dug deep and passed James Webb into the Hairpin on lap sixth
and was hunting down Richards, once again making his move
at the Hairpin for second. Lowry had already bridged a big
gap and although Westy was setting fast lap times he was unable
to catch the Irishman before the race was cut short and red
flagged due to rain on lap 22.
A delighted Westy said "I'm really happy with the result
today. I was happy with the start that I gained but I was
a bit cautious on the first few laps as it had been a while
since I'd led a race, after I calmed down and got into a rhythm,
I managed to pass James (Webb) and Glen (Richards). I'm really
pleased with the result and would like to thank all the Centurion
team for working so hard. I would also like to pass my condolences
to the family and friends of Craig Jones."
Linny proved exceptional on the Centurion Honda after being
thrown in the deep end, only riding the bike for the first
time on Saturday and for the first time in the dry during
the race on Sunday. Linny gained himself an extremely creditable
13th place on the race and two points in the Championship.
Linny who currently rides on a Yamaha in the European 600
Superstock Championship and is lying in fifth place in that
Championship has not ridden at Knockhill since 2005 on a 125.
Commenting he said "I'm very grateful for the Centurion
Team for giving me this last minute opportunity to replace
Dan Cooper, which offered me a direct comparison from the
Yamaha to the Honda. Obviously having three wet sessions over
the two days I was hoping that the race would be wet as I
had no dry set up or time on the bike. I was impressed with
the bike and would love to make the move into Supersport in
2009."
Race Result
Ian Lowry Suzuki
James Westmoreland Centurion Racing Honda
Glen Richards Triumph
13th Dan Linfoot Centurion Racing Honda
James Westmoreland is now lying in fourth place in the Championship.
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