Billy McConnell, aboard the MAP Raceways Yamaha, took a steady 10th place and held on to his title lead at a damp Oulton Park in Cheshire today during round two of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship.

The undulating northern venue succumbed to damp conditions, which made the going extremely difficult. Race leader Hudson Kennaugh crashed out just one lap into the race bringing out the safety car. While the safety car was on track McConnell crashed on the wet track. The race was then red flagged and he was able to dash back to the MAP Raceways garage and pick up his number two machine. On the re-start he raced to 10th place and picked up six valuable points to keep him at the head of the standings.

His team-mates Lee Johnston and Allan Jon Venter both crashed out of the race, Lee whilst leading and AJ whilst running in seventh.

Johnston had decided to run with intermediate tyres and as the weather conditions were changing he was able to make up ground on the riders in front, gradually picking them off and seizing the lead. Unfortunately, his lack of experience on intermediates got the better of the young Ulsterman and he lost the front on the entry to Hizzy's chicane.

AJ met a similar fate as he realised the group ahead of him were trying to break away. He upped his pace in order to stay with them but to no avail. He crashed out unhurt just four laps into the re-start.

The third round of the Fuchs-Silkolene Supersport Championship will take place at Donington Park on the 23rd-25th May.

Billy said: "Hudson crashed out first and that brought the safety car on track. I was following it and tipped into a corner and the bike just chucked me off. It was just the wet had caught me out as the bike just came round. So I had to do the re-start on my spare bike and it hadn't quite the same settings plus I must admit I was lacking in confidence after the crash. Tenth isn't where I want to be but it is still points, which is important. We have some work to do before Donington as we need to improve our wet and damp settings. I've got high hopes for Donington."

Lee said: "I've experience of running at the front so that didn't bother me. It was just the conditions that caught me out and I've never ridden on intermediate tyres before. It would have been nice to get the win and repay my MAP Raceways Yamaha team for all the hard work. No win today but we'll see what we can do at Donington Park."

AJ said: "I had a near-crash before I actually went down and we have traction control on the bike but we haven't used it much. I switched it on but the weather still got me. I could see the lead bunch was getting away and I upped my pace. The weather just caught me out which was a shame as I was running well inside the top ten."

Steve Rodgers, MAP Raceways Yamaha Team Manager said: "It has been a tough day on track but all the riders rode well. It is just a shame the conditions have been so treacherous. Billy is still leading the championship, Lee did us proud by leading the race and AJ was once again running in a top-ten position when he fell. We will re-group and come back stronger for Donington Park."

Race results

1. Daniel Cooper Honda 25:59.417

2. Dennis Hobbs Yamaha +16.679

3. Ben Wilson Kawasaki +24.109

4. Dean Hipwell Yamaha +32.765

5. Craig Fitzpatrick Yamaha +34.652

6. Tom Grant Honda +36.639

7. Marty Nutt Yamaha +39.617

8. Kev Coughlan Honda +45.124

9. James Westmoreland Triumph +46.880

10. Billy McConnell MAP RACEWAYS YAMAHA +54.249


Championship standings after round 2 of 12

1. Billy McConnell MAP RACEWAYS YAMAHA 31

2. Daniel Cooper Honda 29

3. Steve Plater Honda 25

4. Craig Fitzpatrick Triumph 20

5. Dennis Hobbs Yamaha 20

6. Dan Linfoot Yamaha 16

12. Lee Johnston MAP RACEWAYS YAMAHA 11


Maiden Win for Centurion Racing

www.centurionracing.net

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

Words - Carly Rathmell


Fitzpatrick Battles Back

Craig Fitzpatrick took a superb 5th place in the second round of the British Supersport Championship to continue his strong start to the campaign. After starting from the back of the grid, Fitzpatrick bravely fought his way through the field as the bad weather wreaked havoc at Oulton Park.

Fitzpatrick made a steady start to the weekend posting the 10 and 11th quickest times in the respective free practice sessions.

In Qualifying, Fitzpatrick lapped quicker than he had ever done before around the technical Cheshire circuit. However his best time of one minute 39.931s was only good enough to put him 9th on the grid, with the top ten riders separated by just over a second. Fitzpatrick was disappointed not to be nearer the front and felt he could have gone faster had he not been hampered by fuelling problems.

Damp conditions for the morning warm-up session meant there was little change to sort the fuelling issues on the number one bike, and for the second consecutive race, Fitzpatrick was force to race on his number two machine.

The race began in the dry, but as the rain began to fall after a couple of laps it had to be stopped and restarted. With the weather looking decidedly changeable, the riders were left with a make or break tyre choice. At the last minute, Fitzpatrick took the intermediate option. Unfortunately the late decision had meant Fitzpatrick was too late to take his rightful spot on the grid and was forced to start from the back.

With the track still mainly dry, Fitzpatrick was eager to make a charge and by the end of the first lap was already up to 16th. As the rain started to worsen the track conditions became treacherous. Riders were crashing out at almost every corner, as it soon became apparent who had chosen the correct tyres. With only five laps of the fourteen gone, Fitzpatrick had made staggering gains and was up to 6th place. As the laps passed, the rain continued to fall and stretched field began to settle. Fitzpatrick had enough left in reserve to make up one more place and ended the race setting faster times than those in front, but the gap was too great. After an impressive ride, Fitzpatrick crossed the line in fifth, to secure valuable championship points.

Fitzpatrick has now climbed up to fourth in the overall standings and will look to continue his good form into the next round at Donington Park in three weeks.

Championship Standings:

1. Billy McConnell 31

2. Dan Cooper 29

3. Steve Plater 20

4. Craig Fitzpatrick 20

5. Dennis Hobbs 20

7. Dan Linfoot 16



Words Sam Farrington