Centurion Racing had a good weekend at the penultimate round of the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Silverstone. The two riders Dan Cooper and BJ Toal got an eighth and eleventh respectively in the tough 18-lap race and a good weekend in front of Centurion's Help for Heroes guests.

It was another testing weekend for the Centurion squad with a huge crash from Dan Cooper in second qualifying, which damaged his number one bike and forced the team to salvage what they could from his number one bike and place it into his second bike for race day. He managed to qualify in 12th place on the packed Supersport grid. Making up one place after the opening lap, Cooper was soon eager to gain a strong top ten position and latched onto the back of a pack of riders in a battle for sixth position. Lee Johnston had a ride through penalty for a jump start and Ben Wilson and Paul Young had a coming together allowing Cooper to gain three more positions.

Commenting Cooper said "We've had a couple of problems this weekend and missed a lot of the first session on Friday morning because we had a problem with the bike. We got everything sorted out and then I had one of the biggest crashes I've ever had in my racing career, which knocked the wind out of me. I just wanted to get a good result in the race and bring it home in one piece. I've not had the best of runs over recent rounds and a bit frustrated with myself for not finishing higher up the pack. It was really good to meet some of the Help for Heroes guys and hear their stories; it really makes everything else all very irrelevant. They really are very inspirational people and it was good to hear from them a little bit more about the jobs that they have to do. I just hope at Oulton I can finish the year on a high note and get a good result."

BJ Toal has steadily improved on his results since joining the Centurion team only a couple of months ago and on each outing his results have been better. Securing his best qualifying position so far in the Supersport class this year of 14th, it ensured that he had a better opportunity to perform well in the race. Working hard through the race BJ kept up a good consistent routine and put in some very good lap times and gained a solid 11th place at the end.

Speaking with BJ he said "I'm glad at each race I've managed to improve on my position and finally closing into a top ten finish. We had a small bike problem during qualifying but nothing major at all. I did have to turn off the traction control during the race as I was having a few problems with it and therefore had to ride a smooth race and really enjoyed it. I've finally settled into riding the 600 again and would really like to finish the year at Oulton with a top ten result."

The Help for Heroes servicemen had a thoroughly enjoyable day out and the 10 guests enjoyed a day in the pit lane, Hydrex Hospitality, the Brooklands suite at Silverstone and in the Centurion garage. All had a great time and it was interesting for all the Centurion team members to hear their stories and what they have had to go through and what great people they are. The Centurion Team would like to wish them all well and hope that they will come to some more races in the future. The two signed Arai Help for Heroes helmets will be going to auction after the final round at Oulton Park.

Report Carly Rathmell

Pic Eric O'Brien

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