Donington delight for Oxford Tag Triumph

After a two-year absence from the British Superbike calendar, the recently-rescued Donington Park circuit saw Oxford Tag Triumph enjoy its best weekend of the 2011 season with no less than four podium finishes and a massive points haul, once again confirming their standing as the UK's number one Triumph team.

Based just ten miles down the road in Swadlincote, the team was keen to put on a good show at their home circuit. And from first practice it was clear that the local team meant business with 26-year-old former World Supermoto star, Christian Iddon dominating the early sessions in damp conditions and heading both free practice sessions.

But it was to be long-time Triumph ace, Paul Young that pulled out all the stops throughout a dry qualifying, ending the 35-minute session in second place on the grid with team mates Billy McConnell and Christian Iddon finishing on the second row in 6th and 8th place respectively.

Throughout the first race while not quite able to match the race pace of this season's benchmark, Ben Wilson and Alistair Seeley, it became clear that the Daytona 675s of Youngy and Iddon were evenly matched as they diced throughout the 12-lap sprint race, matching each other lap-for-lap as, along with Jack Kennedy, they pulled away from the second group that included Billy McConnell, struggling with set-up and unable to run the lap times of the leaders.

After a tough but clean fight, it was Iddon that eventually got the upper hand, taking third from Youngy on the last lap for his second podium of the season while McConnell had to settle for seventh and some safe points to consolidate third in the championship chase.

Further down the field, 17-year-old Shaun Winfield rode hard to grab 18th overall to finish third in the Cup category and take his eighth podium of the year.

A chaotic race two saw rain showers, exploding Yamahas and two red flags. Throughout the first part of the race, it became clear that Iddon had found some more pace as he set about dicing with Seeley and Wilson.

The rain came down along with the first red flag on lap 9 with Seeley only just fending off Iddon with Youngy in a solid third place before crashing at McCleans just moments after the red flags came out.

With limited time to make repairs before the restart, Iddon and Youngy took their positions on the front row with McConnell just behind them on the second row.

With a seven-lap dash, the pace on the damp track was fierce with Seeley setting a new lap record on a drying line with Iddon right behind just a tenth of a second off Seeley's new lap record and looking comfortable and ready to make a pass.

The red flags came out for the second time though, leaving a frustrated Iddon to have to wait another day for his first Supersport race win as he claimed a sensational second with Youngy just a second behind in third and McConnell in fifth as he closed in on championship leader, Wilson.

A fantastic weekend with the only sad news to report being that Shaun Winfield sustained an injury to his left foot in a high-speed crash during morning warm-up that looks likely to put him out of action for at least four weeks.

Christian Iddon #21

"I'm really happy to get on the podium after two fourths at Cadwell. Since Snetterton we've found a few bits and pieces that have made me more comfortable on the bike - not one thing in particular, just several things that collectively add up to give me more confidence. First practice was damp which I quite like so I was a little surprised to go fastest again the second dry session.
I made a bit of a mess of qualifying and while all the other guys were going faster on a soft tyre I couldn't improve my time from my race tyre so I was a little disappointed to end up on the second row. Both races were great but I was a little frustrated that the second race only ran for four laps as I'm pretty sure I could have made a move before the end of the race had it gone full distance. I guess it's all ifs and buts and I'm very happy to be running at the pace of the top riders in this class and feel confident of carrying my form forward to Silverstone."

Paul Young #96

"Another good weekend for everyone at Oxford Tag Triumph so I'm just really pleased for the team that we've managed such strong, consistent results and a double podium in the second race. Christian has been riding brilliantly lately so hats off to him; I certainly didn't have an answer for him this weekend. I'm still totally focused on trying to grab third in the championship so the hard work really starts at Silverstone in just under a fortnight's time."

Rob Winfield, Oxford Tag Triumph Team Principal

"Another brilliant weekend for the team and it's great to see that we've got three riders now capable of regularly getting on the podium with Christian proving his third at Knockhill was no fluke and Youngy once again showing both speed and consistency. Billy didn't have such a great weekend but he's still in third in the championship, putting in his usual 100% commitment and I really can't ask for any more than that.
Shaun was riding well and scored another podium in Cup so it's a real blow for him to have sustained an injury during warm-up but it's all part of the learning curve and he's improving and learning all the while. I'd just like to thank my team for all their hard work and of course to all the team partners and sponsors who have supported us and helped us to achieve such fantastic results."

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship

Round 10

Race 1
(12 laps):

1 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 18:44.449
2 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +5.411
3 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) +7.342
4 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) +7.647
5 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) +7.813
6 Jimmy Hill (Triumph) +14.898
7 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) +16.195
8 Luke Stapleford (Kawasaki) +17.280
9 Josh Day (Triumph) + 18.640
10 Gary Johnson (Honda) +19.055

18 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) +45.900

Race 2
(2 part race - restarted after first part red-flagged at 9 laps.
Only 4 laps of 7 completed in the restart before second red flag.)

1 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 6:15.449
2 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) +0.128
3 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) +1.148
4 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +3.210
5 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) +3.798
6 Jimmy Hill (Triumph) +14.898
7 Pauli Pekkanen (Triumph) + 1 lap
8 Luke Stapleford (Kawasaki) + 1 lap
9 Allann Jon Venter (Triumph) + 1 lap
10 Gary Johnson (Honda) + 1 lap

DNS Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph)

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship
points after round 10 of 12:

1 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 391
2 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 355
3 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) 200
4 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) 181
5 Sam Warren (Yamaha) 151
6 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) 139
7 Luke Mossey (Triumph) 130
8 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) 116
9 Dan Cooper (Triumph) 115
10 Allan Jon Venter (Triumph) 101

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup Championship
points after 10 rounds of 12:

1 John Simpson (Triumph) 294
2 David Paton (Yamaha) 254
3 Sam Hornsey (Triumph) 219
4 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) 199
5 Ben Padgett (Honda) 167
6 Anthony Rogers (Yamaha) 115
7 Adam Blacklock (Yamaha) 114
8 Matthew Hoyle (Kawasaki) 111
9 Jody Lees (Honda) 101
10 Jonny Buckley (Yamaha) 93

The next outing for the Oxford Tag Triumph team will be at Silverstone, Northamptonshire for the next and penultimate round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship over the weekend of the 23rd-25th 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 <http://www.tagtriumph.co.uk/> < http://www.tagtriumph.co.uk <

Photo Credit: Steve Gough