Oxford Tag Triumph over adversity

During a difficult weekend that saw more red flags in the Supersport class than in any other, the Oxford Tag Triumph team managed to keep a secure foothold on third and fourth place in the Fuchs-Silkolene Supersport Championship standings despite suffering the cruel blow of two injured riders.

Both riders were unable to take part in Sunday's main feature race with the team's up-and-coming Cup rider, Shaun Winfield being taken out in a three bike pile-up on the first lap of Saturday's sprint race at Paddock Hill Bend while Billy McConnell made a rare error in Sunday's morning warm-up and high-sided on the exit of Graham Hill Bend.

Both suffered relatively minor injuries, with Winfield sustaining damage to his elbow and extensive bruising all over his upper body, while McConnell broke the first metacarpal in his right hand forcing the medical team to declare him unfit to compete, despite the tough Aussie's protestations.

The weekend started brightly for McConnell, finishing free practice second overall just a few tenths off series leader, Ben Wilson before qualifying and finishing fifth in the first sprint race, less than three tenths off the podium. Similarly, Shaun Winfield had been taking big chunks out of his lap times throughout practice and qualifying and was looking to move forward in the championship from a solid third place.

With just two riders fit for Sunday's main race, the focus was on Paul Young and Christian Iddon, both of whom had struggled with set-up throughout practice and qualifying, finishing Saturday's sprint race down in eleventh and sixteenth respectively.

After much head scratching and poring over data, several overnight changes were made. Both riders found some pace in morning warm-up and with the team's focus firmly fixed on the two remaining riders for Sunday's main feature race the mood was a positive one.

A first lap crash resulted in a pile-up involving four riders that brought out the red flags. The race was restarted only for a second red flag due to another incident causing the race to be delayed to allow the Superbike race to go ahead on schedule.

Eventually, the race was restarted and Youngy and Iddon both got off to a great start, matching the leaders' times in the early stages of the race before settling into a rhythm and finishing a difficult weekend with solid fifth and sixth place finishes and a good points haul that now sees Youngy just seven points off McConnell's third place in the championship.

Billy McConnell #75

"I'm obviously very disappointed to have made such a schoolboy error - first flying lap, third corner and first left hander and I just gave it too much throttle, it's as simple as that. It's such a shame as we were on the pace and improving all the time, so I just feel like I've let the team down. I think I could have gone for the win today but it'll have to wait until Cadwell now - my hand is pretty sore at the moment but it's only a broken metacarpal so I'm sure it'll be fine in three weeks time."

Paul Young #96

"It hasn't helped me not having the two practice sessions on the full circuit as I haven't been here for two years, so we haven't got a really good set-up for the bike. We improved it for the second race and I think it showed. We've made progress and scored good points. I couldn't have ridden any harder in either race without taking massive risks and maybe I'd have been on the podium had I taken a few more chances - but with a low score in the first race and many of my championship rivals crashing out I decided to make the best of what we had and take the points. There was nothing to gain from a silly lunge on the last lap - I didn't get the bike working well enough, so I need to make sure I get it right at Cadwell and get back on the podium."

Christian Iddon #21

"We struggled a bit early in the weekend mainly because I've only been here once before, so I was learning as we went. We were left scratching our heads a bit, and couldn't find the improvement we were looking for. I felt like I was pushing but the lap times weren't there which was obviously really frustrating. I was held up in the race but managed to post a better lap time that moved me up the grid. Sunday was a difficult day with all the stoppages but once we finally got underway the bike felt good and I'm really pleased with sixth after such difficulties earlier in the weekend."

Rob Winfield, Oxford Tag Triumph Team Principal

"A really mixed weekend for the team with all the usual highs and lows that come with racing motorcycles. I'm really disappointed for young Shaun as it looks as though the Cup championship could be out of his reach now - anything can happen over the next three months though, so we've just got to keep plugging away. He's improving at every round so we can only look at the positives, really.
Same goes for Billy. He was looking good for race two and was confident he could run with Seeley and Wilson but we all make mistakes - it's just unfortunate that his meant he missed a race and the potential of a good points haul.
Hats off again though to the determination of Youngy. After a poor start to the weekend by his standards, he never once got down and as ever was only looking for solutions not problems. Both he and Christian rode brilliantly in the second race so at least we ended the weekend on a high and can now go to Cadwell in three weeks time full of optimism."

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship

Round 8

Race 1 (10 laps):

1 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 15:29.311
2 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +0.019
3 Sam Warren (Yamaha) +4.263
4 Jimmy Hill (Triumph) + 4.557
5 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) +4.597
6 Luke Mossey (Triumph) +4.781
7 Dan Cooper (Triumph) +5.553
8 Matthew Whitman (Triumph) +6.147
9 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) +7.123
10 Pauli Pekkanen (Triumph) +7.895

11 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) +8.315
16 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) +12.448
DNF Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph)

Race 2 (12 laps):

1 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 17:56.450
2 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +0.030
3 Matthew Whitman (Triumph) +4.893
4 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) +4.897
5 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) +5.402
6 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) +7.297
7 Pauli Pekkanen (Triumph) +11.017
8 Allann Jon Venter (Triumph) +14.796
9 Luke Stapleford (Kawasaki) + 15.375
10 Marty Nutt (Suzuki) +15.929

DNS Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph)
DNS Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph)

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship points after round 8 of 12:

1 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 308
2 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 265
3 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) 148
4 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) 141
5 Sam Warren (Yamaha) 140
6 Luke Mossey (Triumph) 130
7 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) 119
8 Dan Cooper (Triumph) 115
9 Steve Plater (Honda) 80
10 Lee Johnston (Honda) 80

15 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) 54

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup Championship
points after 8 rounds of 12:

1 John Simpson (Triumph) 274
2 David Paton (Yamaha) 200
3 Sam Hornsey (Triumph) 175
4 Ben Padgett (Honda) 167
5 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) 150
6 Matthew Hoyle (Kawasaki) 111
7 Adam Blacklock (Yamaha) 88
8 Jonny Buckley (Yamaha) 82
9 Jody Lees (Honda) 66
10 Anthony Rogers (Yamaha) 65

Photo Credit: Steve Gough