Solid points for Oxford Tag Triumph

With a completely new circuit layout to master at the notoriously fast Snetterton circuit, Oxford Tag Triumph arrived determined to strengthen their position in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship.

Friday's practice sessions went well, with Billy McConnell ending the first session third fastest with seventeen-year-old Shaun Winfield topping the timesheets for the Cup entrants.

Paul Young and Christian Iddon improved on their times in the second session and really upped the pace in qualifying with McConnell 5th, Youngy 8th, Iddon 11th and Winfield 21st and a close 3rd in Cup.

Throughout the weekend, various changes were made to the Daytona 675 machines with the work centering on achieving a good feeling from the front end of the bike. Gearing was another area that had created a headache for the technicians and data engineers - the varying corners of the cleverly designed new circuit layout making it difficult to achieve a perfect gearing set-up.

Billy McConnell

Race one saw McConnell and Youngy get away well with the leading pack before slipping down the order as tyre wear became issue, each rider doing well to maintain their qualifying positions and finish 5th, 8th and 11th respectively. Winfield was unfortunate to suffer with clutch slip and retired from the race on lap seven while fighting for the lead with John Simpson.

More changes were made following a little experimentation with gearing and suspension set-up, some working a little better than others. McConnell had been running in fourth place dicing with Sam Warren but, pushing the front just a little too hard into the Montreal hairpin, came off and remounted to finish in 13th.

Winfield at Snetterton

Youngy kept his composure throughout the race to cross the line in ninth place scoring valuable championship points, while Iddon suffered the same front end woes as his team mate, losing the front and crashing while pushing hard at Corams, forcing the likeable Derbyshire rider out of the race but thankfully without injury.

In the Cup Championship, Winfield pulled out an early lead but was caught mid-race by a Simpson and Matthew Hoyle. Pushing as hard as he could to hang on to third place, Winfield was pipped across the line by David Paton and forced off the podium, making this only the second meeting this year where the young rider has gone home without any silverware - expect this to be resolved at Oulton Park...

Paul Young

Paul Young #96

"I guess you could say it was a weekend of damage limitation really. We struggled to get the bike steering the way it needs to round here and couldn't really find enough front grip. Everything we tried to improve the bike in the fast corners made it worse in the slower corners. I guess I failed to do my job in terms of getting the bike set-up so I just put my priorities on not failing at my job of scoring some points and moving on to the next meeting with the aim of running back at the front."

Christian Iddon

Christian Iddon #21

"Not the best weekend to be fair, we struggled with the front end set-up and with the gear ratios. The first race wasn't so bad but because of the feeling I had from the front end I had to ride the bike from the rear so when the tyre went off I struggled. On the bright side I scored points in the first race but I'm gutted that I made the mistake in the second and crashed out of a top ten placing. I don't want to make excuses, but being taken out at Mallory's Race of the Year last weekend has left me bashed up and having to build a new bike ready for this weekend has put us on the back foot a little. We can only look forward though and going to Oulton Park, I'm confident we can get the results we deserve there."

Rob Winfield, Oxford Tag Triumph Team Principal

"It's been a difficult weekend, really. Everyone has been trying different things to find the ideal set-up and it seems we haven't got it right this meeting, despite our very best efforts.
We've got a fortnight until Oulton Park to improve the package and we'll be seeking out a few more horsepower to make sure we can remain competitive with the four-cylinder Japanese bikes.
Billy and Youngy are within a point of each other and within a point of third in the championship so we're still in with a shout. Christian's been unfortunate to crash and Shaun's now got quite a challenge on his hands to bridge the gap back to the front of the Cup Championship - but there's still 12 races left so plenty to play for. The next few circuits should really suit our bike, so I'm sure we're ready for a good run and the chance to get back on the top step of both podiums."

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship

Round 6

Race 1 (10 laps):

1 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 18:46.382s
2 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +7.666s
3 Luke Mossey (Triumph) +10.841s
4 Lee Johnston (Honda) +15.669s
5 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) +17.738
6 Sam Warren (Yamaha) +20.526s
7 Allann Jon Venter (Triumph) +20.667
8 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) + 22.454
9 Matthew Whitman (Triumph) +22.630
10 Gary Johnson (Honda) +25.154

11 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) +25.972s
DNF Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph)

Race 2 (15 laps)

1 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 28:11.261s
2 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +8.699s
3 Luke Mossey (Triumph) +12.535s
4 Sam Warren (Yamaha) +13.193s
5 Dan Cooper (Triumph) +17.188
6 Allann Jon Venter (Triumph) +20.799
7 Matthew Whitman (Triumph) +27.592
8 Lee Johnston (Honda) +29.802s
9 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) + 30.582
10 Jesse Trayler (Kawasaki) +34.256

13 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) + 41.417
17 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) + 59.642
DNF Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph)

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship points after round 6 of 12:

1 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 248
2 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 199
3 Sam Warren (Yamaha) 113
4 Paul Young (Oxford Tag Triumph) 112
5 Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) 111
6 Luke Mossey (Triumph) 111
7 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) 99
8 Dan Cooper (Triumph) 96
9 Steve Plater (Honda) 80
10 Lee Johnston (Honda) 70

16 Christian Iddon (Oxford Tag Triumph) 34

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup Championship
Round 6

Race 1 (10 laps)

1 John Simpson (Triumph)
2 Matthew Hoyle (Kawasaki)
3 Adam Blacklock (Yamaha)

DNF Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph)

Race 2 (15 laps)

1 John Simpson (Triumph)
2 Matthew Hoyle (Kawasaki)
3 David Paton (Yamaha)

4 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph)

Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup Championship
points after 6 rounds of 12:

1 John Simpson (Triumph) 199
2 David Paton (Yamaha) 163
3 Sam Hornsey (Triumph) 145
4 Ben Padgett (Honda) 141
5 Shaun Winfield (Oxford Tag Triumph) 130
6 Matthew Hoyle (Kawasaki) 100
7 Jonny Buckley (Yamaha) 82
8 Adam Blacklock (Yamaha) 54
9 Jody Lees (Honda) 52
10 Scott Kelly (Yamaha) 38

The next outing for the Oxford Tag Triumph team will be at Oulton Park, Cheshire for the next round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship over the weekend of the 16th-17th of July.

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