SPORTBIKE PODIUMS FOR TRIUMPH AT DONINGTON PARK

Donington Park played host to the third and fourth races of the inaugural National Sportbike championship on May 17-19 and saw Triumph riders occupy three of the six available podium places. 

Utilising the recently-released and potent Daytona 660, the new Championship offers an alternative pathway for racers to progress their careers with Triumph Racing, from Sportbike through Supersport to Moto2™. Along with the 765 Street Triple-based machines in the British Supersport ranks, the Sportbike class provided fans with further opportunities to hear the distinctive sound of the Hinckley triples around the sweeping tarmac rollercoaster of the Leicestershire circuit.

Qualifying 

Leading the charge for Triumph in qualifying was Richard Cooper who continued his strong start to the season on his PHR Performance machine in second place. Flying the flag for the MIH Macadam Triumph Racing team a mere 0.041 seconds behind Cooper was Aaron Silvester, with Jayden Martin and Katie Hand in 10th and 19th respectively.

Race 1

After a clean sweep of the first two races by championship rival Edoardo Colombi, Cooper was keen to make amends and convert his second place grid position into first. When the lights went out, the #47 machine was aggressive off the start but it was Colombi who maintained his position. One place behind Richard, Aaron was looking strong to convert his front row starting position into a second podium this season. But elation soon turned to heartbreak as, at the end of the first lap, the #34 Daytona 660 crashed out unhurt at the Melbourne Loop from third position.

With Cooper pushing hard to chase down the leader, Martin and Hand were soon improving on their qualifying positions and working up the order across the 12 lap encounter. When the chequered flag came out for the close of Saturday’s race, it was another valiant second place for Cooper to make it three from three with Martin coming home seventh and Hand in 14th.

Race 2

Held in gloriously hot conditions, Sunday’s race was almost a carbon copy for Richard Cooper. Looking for his first win of the season and for the Triumph Daytona 660, when the lights went out it was clear Cooper was on a mission. Visibly riding more aggressively to keep on the back wheel of Colombi, he in turn was being hunted down by Thomas Strudwick on his TS Racing Triumph. 

While Cooper was able to improve his speed from the previous day by over half a second a lap, it wasn’t enough to snatch the win from Colombi. Strudwick made it two Triumphs on the podium, crossing the finish line 1.6 seconds down from Cooper.

Further down the order, Aaron Silvester had a solid ride making up places from his starting position to lead a trio of Triumphs that included teammate Martin who grabbed eighth. In what is becoming a trademark for Katie Hand by significantly increasing her pace in every session, she managed to lap over one second faster than Saturday’s race to bring it home in 13th.

Richard Cooper #47: "I’m pretty happy with what we accomplished this weekend. After Saturday’s race we really looked closely at the data and was surprised by how much more we could extract from the Daytona 660 to go even faster in race two. Although our race pace wasn’t enough to win the race, it was a fair chunk faster and we nearly halved the gap from the previous day. We keep pushing!”

Aaron Silvester #34: “Lots of positives to take from this weekend, although the results were mixed and I was also carrying a shoulder injury from Friday practice. I was happy to qualify in third and just 0.04 from Cooper, but unfortunately a strange crash in race one meant I wasn't able to challenge for the podium. In race two I finished in a comfortable sixth position to collect some points. I’m looking forward to the next four weeks to make some progress before heading up to Knockhill.”

Jayden Martin #85: “This weekend I have had some very successful results with seventh in the first race and eighth in the second. We have made some big improvements with the Triumph Daytona 660 this weekend and I am very happy with the outcome of moving up to eighth in the championship. I can't wait to get to Scotland and get racing again!”

Katie Hand #66: "I’ve had a great weekend at Donington on the Daytona 660. Both races were successful, scoring two points in race one and three points in race two. I was faster each time I went out, so I’m really happy with my progress so far and can’t thank the team enough for creating such a good set up. Knockhill can’t come soon enough!”


National Sportbike Championship Round 2 - Donington Park

Race 1

1st Edoardo Colombi

2nd Richard Cooper (PHR Performance Triumph)

3rd Ash Barnes

7th Jayden Martin (MIH Macadam Triumph Racing)

14th Katie Hand (MIH Macadam Triumph Racing)

DNF Aaron Silvester (MIH Macadam Triumph Racing)

 

Race 2

1st Edoardo Colombi

2nd Richard Cooper (PHR Performance Triumph)

3rd Thomas Strudwick (Triumph)

6th Aaron Silvester (MIH Macadam Triumph Racing)

8th Jayden Martin (MIH Macadam Triumph Racing)

13th Katie Hand (MIH Macadam Triumph Racing)

 

National Sportbike Championship after Round 2 of 10

1st Edoardo Colombi - 87.5

2nd Richard Cooper (Triumph) - 77

3rd Ash Barnes - 64

8th Jayden Martin (Triumph) - 28

10th Aaron Silvester (Triumph) - 24

19th Katie Hand (Triumph) - 6

 

The 2024 National Sportbike Championships returns to action at Knockhill on June 14-16.