Podium hat trick for Oxford Tag Triumph

After a dramatic weekend at Brands Hatch which saw two of Oxford Tag Triumph's riders miss races through injury, Cadwell Park saw a welcome return to form for the Derbyshire-based team - with the two injured riders both scoring the best results.

Billy McConnell made a return to action less than three weeks after fracturing the first metacarpal in his right hand and from the outset showed that he had the pace to run near the front, qualifying on the front row just 0.001 off Alastair Seeley with the dominant Ben Wilson on pole at his local circuit.

Christian Iddon once again proved he has what it takes to race at this level, qualifying ninth one spot ahead of team-mate, Paul Young with Shaun Winfield recovering well from injuries sustained at the last round to line up 22nd on the grid.

Race one saw McConnell chasing down leaders Wilson and Seeley to take his fourth podium of the year with Iddon pressing his team-mate hard throughout the 12 lap race finishing just two tenths behind to take a fine fourth place as he fended off his former Supermoto adversary, Sam Warren.

Further down the order, Paul Young managed to grab a handful of points in eleventh place while Shaun Winfield struggled with set-up but only narrowly missed out on a Cup podium finishing fourth in class and a creditable eighteenth overall.

With changes to the grid positions for race two based on lap times and some extensive work to optimise the superb handling of the Oxford Tag Triumph Daytona 675 machines carried out overnight, the four rider squad looked in fine form for Sunday's main event.

McConnell and Iddon once more battled it out for the final podium spot with McConnell coming out on top again after Iddon was forced to relinquish his position as he avoided a crashing Sam Warren at Barn Corner, allowing McConnell to sweep past as Iddon took evasive action.

Young's decision to run a harder rear tyre proved his undoing as he struggled to find the pace and was forced to settle for safe points and tenth position. Not the strategy that was planned but nevertheless one that sees the amiable Aussie hold on to fourth in the championship and head to Donington Park still well within a shout of grabbing back third off his team-mate, McConnell.

Shaun Winfield's performance this weekend should be applauded, too. Still recovering from injury, the seventeen-year-old Cup rider showed real determination to improve throughout the weekend to grab second place in the Cup and finally score some points in the main championship, setting the fastest Cup lap of the race in the process.

A positive weekend for the team, but marred by the tragic loss of fellow competitor and friend of the team, Ben Gautrey. Ben was universally liked by all that met him. He was a talented young rider with a promising future and will be very much missed. The team would like to extend its deepest sympathies to his friends and family at this sad time.

Billy McConnell #75

"It's been a good weekend all told considering the hand injury. To be honest it wasn't such a problem for the first few laps but it did start to give me a bit of pain over the Mountain and through the fast direction changes at the chicane and through Hall Bends.
I'm pretty pleased that I've reinforced my third place in the championship but a little disappointed that I couldn't run with Seeley and Wilson. Hopefully we can find that little bit extra from the Triumph before Donington and put on a good show."

Paul Young #96

"I struggled to find a good set-up quickly and ultimately that's cost me this weekend. Cadwell has never been too kind to me but I had hoped for more this year. I opted for a harder rear tyre after a few scares on the softer option in race one and that proved to be a mistake so it was just one of those weekends where I couldn't seem to do much right.
On the positive side we're still fourth in the championship and only just off third so we'll go to Donington even more determined to pull back some points."

Christian Iddon #21

"The patchy wet first session really suited me so the weekend started well. The second session was wet so we couldn't get any set-up and I think that cost me a little in qualifying - I was a little disappointed with my times as I knew I could go faster.
The races both went really well though some of the changes we made for the second race made me slower in parts of the track so I was happy to finish both races in fourth if a little disappointed not to have made in onto the podium - when I had to avoid Warren and Billy came past that was my chance gone - he rode great, defended well and I couldn't get back past him.
This has been my best points haul of the season though and I'm now running where I feel I should be. I'm really looking forward to Donington now and will be pushing all the way for the podium."

Rob Winfield, Oxford Tag Triumph Team Principal

"Another good weekend for the team in terms of progress and results with Billy and Christian getting some strong finishes and Shaun stepping things up a gear and really finding some pace so it's looking good for Donington. But it's also been a very sad weekend with the tragic loss of young Ben Gautrey. Ben was a lovely lad, a friend of the team and good mates with Shaun, so it was a shock when we heard the news. Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship

Round 9

Race 1 (12 laps):

1 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 18:09.262
2 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) +3.410
3 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) +10.100
4 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) +10.309
5 Sam Warren (Yamaha) +10.492
6 Allan Jon Venter (Triumph) +16.502
7 Gary Johnson (Honda) +20.301
8 Luke Stapleford (Kawasaki) +20.593
9 Jimmy Hill (Triumph) + 20.834
10 Pauli Pekkanen (Triumph) +20.932

11 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) +25.339
18 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) +42.094

Race 2 (14 laps):

1 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 21:00.762
2 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) +3.389
3 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) +14.434
4 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) +16.563
5 Gary Johnson (Honda) +23.910
6 Jimmy Hill (Triumph) + 24.387
7 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) +27.778
8 Allan Jon Venter (Triumph) +28.795
9 Marty Nutt (Suzuki) +36.277
10 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) +36.888

14 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) +41.626

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship points after round 9 of 12:

1 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 358
2 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 305
3 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) 180
4 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) 152
5 Sam Warren (Yamaha) 151
6 Luke Mossey (Triumph) 130
7 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) 128
8 Dan Cooper (Triumph) 115
9 Allan Jon Venter (Triumph) 92
10 Gary Johnson (Honda) 86

11= Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) 80

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup Championship
points after 9 rounds of 12:

1 John Simpson (Triumph) 294
2 David Paton (Yamaha) 229
3 Sam Hornsey (Triumph) 194
4 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) 183
5 Ben Padgett (Honda) 167
6 Anthony Rogers (Yamaha) 115
7 Adam Blacklock (Yamaha) 114
8 Matthew Hoyle (Kawasaki) 111
9 Jonny Buckley (Yamaha) 82
10 Jody Lees (Honda) 79

The next outing for the Oxford Tag Triumph team will be at Donington Park, Leicestershire for the next round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship over the weekend of the 9th-11th of September.

For more information or for hi-resolution images of the Oxford Tag Triumph team in action, contact tagtriumph@robhoyles.com or log on to www.tagtriumph.co.uk

Photo Credit: Steve Gough

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