Points for Centurion Racing
 Centurion
Racing secured a positive result at Oulton Park this weekend,
when riders Dan Cooper and James Westmoreland gained a seventh
and eleventh place respectively in the Fuchs-Silkolene British
Supersport Championship. This was 20-year-old Dan Cooper's
best result to date in the tough 600 Class. After dislocating
his shoulder during first qualifying this was a fantastic
result from the youngster. Westmoreland also improved from
the 15th position that he achieved at Thruxton a couple of
weeks ago and obtained a healthy points scoring position.
The Centurion team were missing a rider at Oulton Park,
Dennis Hobbs, after the incident at Thruxton involving James
Webb, Hobbs is currently seeing specialists regarding an operation
on his shoulder, which he hurt during the crash and as yet
it is not known when he will return to racing.
Cooper from Stroud, looked exceptionally
good all weekend and despite his off in qualifying he was
keen to get a good result after his disappointment at Thruxton.
Seventh place at Oulton has seen him leap to 12th in the overall
Championship positions. After completing qualifying he ended
up in 14th place on the grid and was left with a lot of work
to do if he were to gain a top ten finish. The race was red
flagged on lap three after an accident at Druids and was re-started
as a 12-lap race. Cooper got a great start and was up to 10th
after the first lap. Fighting his way past Ian Hutchinson
and Craig Fitzpatrick he was eager to chase down the 2007
R6 Cup Winner Toal, only 0.14 separated the pair as they crossed
the line.
Commenting the youngster said "I'm really thrilled
to have got seventh place. It was a really tough race but
I just got my head down and got on with the job in hand. My
shoulders were killing me at the end of the race but I was
having a good scrap with BJ Toal and I'm sure I'll be feeling
a little second hand tomorrow. It was quite a big crash in
qualifying and both my shoulders took a bit of a battering
but hopefully they will be feeling a little better by the
time that we get to Brands. I would like to thank all the
Centurion team for working so hard this weekend and I'm delighted
I could get the result that I did for them. We go to Brands
this coming weekend and I'm eager to try and get a similar
result."
James Westmoreland qualified in eighth
position on the Centurion Honda and was unable to gain a good
start in the 12-lap re-start and was down in 14th place after
the opening lap. After opted for an intermediate front tyre
the 19-year-old from Hull struggled for grip throughout the
race forcing him to make small mistakes and dropping him places.
He said "I'm really disappointed with my result today;
I was hoping that I would be able to run within the top eight
and get a good result. With the drying weather conditions
I choose to run an intermediate front tyre and I struggled
with it for most of the race. I also out-braked myself at
Knickerbrook which obviously lost vital seconds and a couple
of places. It was a shame as I was running really good times
with would have put me nearer the top end. I had an engine
problem in morning warm up and therefore had to use the second
engine from my other bike which was slightly different. Hopefully
things will change for the better at Brands at the weekend."
Team Manager Gary Stubbington commented
"It's been a good weekend for the boys in general despite
some minor problems that cropped up. Both have scored points
in the Championship and that's the main priority. After Thruxton
we needed a little bit of a confidence boost and that was
just the thing. Dan Cooper rode an exceptional race despite
his injured shoulders; it would be nice to be able to gain
similar results to those at the remaining races. We are still
waiting to hear from Dennis and his situation but the team
would like to wish him well and hope to see him back out on
our bikes soon."
General Manager Paul Rees, was delighted
with the results commenting, "Especially after the engine
problems we had. The engineers worked extremely hard and fast
to enable the bikes to be on the circuits both at Thruxton
and here at Oulton. Dan had to grit his teeth and ride through
the pain in order to gain such an important position at this
stage of the competition. It was a shame Westy out-braked
himself at Knickerbrook though, as he was riding strong and
this obviously lost him time and places. He did well to come
in at eleventh position and gain some points. However, a good
weekend was had and we are looking forward to the short visit
back to Brands Hatch this coming weekend. The Centurion teamwork
in the paddock was again exceptional, so a huge thanks go
to the whole team for their efforts."
photo moto-photo.co.uk
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