The Triumph factory Supersport team, Smiths Triumph, increased their advantage in the 2014 Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Cadwell Park this bank holiday.
Billy McConnell and Graeme Gowland lined up in second and third on the front row for Sunday’s 12-lap ‘Sprint’ race which turned out to be a four-way fight for the win between the duo and fellow Triumph riders Luke Stapleford and Luke Mossey. Positions continued to change hands throughout the race but in the final laps it came down to a straight fight between McConnell and Gowland.
They continued to swap places and crossed the line almost together with the transponders showing Gowland the winner. However, the decision ultimately went to a photo finish and Adelaide’s McConnell was given the win by just 0.001 seconds, the closest finish in British Supersport history.
Both riders were on the front row for Monday’s ‘Feature’ race although poor weather conditions meant it was cut to 14 laps. Main title rival Alastair Seeley was one of many riders to fall foul of the conditions but both McConnell, who had to have his clutch repaired just minutes before the race got underway, and Gowland put in two faultless rides to bring the factory-supported Triumph Daytona 675R home in second and third places respectively.
The weekend’s results have seen McConnell move to the top of the Championship table with a lead of eight points over Gowland with a further 38 points back to third place Seeley.
Other Daytona 675R racing teams also performed well at the Lincolnshire circuit with Luke Stapleford of Profile Racing taking fifth and fourth during the weekend’s Supersport races while T3 Racing’s Luke Jones scored more valuable championship points on Sunday crossing the line in fifth but failed to go the distance on Monday’s wet race.
In the National Superstock 600 race Team Haribo Starmix, the only Triumph racing team in the series, saw their ‘number one’ Charlie King take a well-earned eleventh place finish in Monday’s 11 lap race. This result added five points to King’s championship points tally.
R&G TriStar Triple Challenge Two races over a wet bank holiday weekend saw Freddy Pett take the opportunity to extend his championship lead with two emphatic wins which boosted his tally to 155.5 points for the season. Pett now lies 31.5 points clear with three meetings to go.
In the R&G TriStar Triple Challenge Cup Sam Thompson once again showed his dominance over the rest of the Cup runners to secure his seventh and eighth win in a row.
via Triumph
