Team-mate, 21-year-old Dan Cooper was having an exceptional weekend and set the third fastest time in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning. Dropping back to sixth in the second session the youngster secured his best qualifying position to date in the Supersport class.

Westy gained a good start and made two positions up by the end of the opening lap, Cooper got boxed into the first corner and fell back through the field. An incident on the second lap saw the safety car deployed for two laps, the race fully got underway on lap five and the riders were eager to secure two good results.

Westy worked hard to get through the pack and was locked in a tight battle with Championship rivals Ian Lowry and Chris Martin. Riding consistently fast he was able to fend off the attacks from the chasing riders and secure a fantastic fifth place. Cooper was struggling with injuries to his elbows but still battled through to eighth.

Cooper said “I’m slightly disappointed with the result I got today as I’d been running well all weekend. I’ve got some problems with my elbows all weekend and at half race distance I could barely hold on to the bike and therefore I was unable to make any progress. I do feel that we’ve made some big breakthroughs this weekend and once again the Centurion Team worked extremely hard to help me get everything right. I’m hoping to be fully fit by Brands and finish the season on a high note.”

James Westmoreland had been running in a good position throughout the weekend despite the inconsistent weather conditions, which played havoc through all the practice and qualifying sessions. He was looking all set for a front row start in the final qualifying session and was just bettered by Ian Lowry and Glen Richards in the closing stages, qualifying in fifth position the youngster was eager for a good result.

Dan Cooper had been riding a new bike all weekend and was trying to adjust to the new machine and find a comfortable set up for the 16-lap race. Struggling through all the sessions Cooper could only manage to qualify in 18th position on the grid.

As they sat on the grid it was confirmed that Marty Nutt would take no further part in the race and Honda’s Steve Brogan went out of the race on the opening lap. Both Centurion riders got good starts with Westy lying in sixth at the end of the opening lap and Cooper making an incredible lunge through the pack and was already sitting in 12th position.

Westy was battling with Rob Frost in the early stages of the race and was soon chasing down James Webb who he was unable to make a move on and had to settle for sixth position overall. Cooper was picking off riders on every lap and was surging through the fierce field. He made strong passes on Ben Wylie, Sam Owens and Ian Hutchinson and was left fighting with the wild Rob Frost. Cautiously making a move on him on the penultimate lap to secure him a very strong seventh place and equalling his best result of the season so far.

Westy commented “I’m pretty pleased with the result I got today is more solid Championship points in the bag. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get away with the front runners and put up more of a fight but I still got sixth so can’t complain too much. I got stuck behind James Webb and was struggling to find a good safe place to pass him. I’m looking forward to Knockhill in a couple of week’s time.”

Cooper added “It was a whole new experience for me this weekend, as I had a new bike, which I love but it took a little getting used to and setting up. My mechanics worked really hard through the weekend and by the time the race came I was feeling pretty confident. I rode a very hard and solid race and I knew I could do ok if I got a good start, thankfully I did and worked my way through the pack. I just need to work on my qualifying position now as if I get that sorted the results will be a bit easier to obtain.”

2008 Races

Round 8 - 8th - 10th August - Knockhill, Fife
Round 9 - 23rd - 25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10 - 12th - 14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11 - 26th - 28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12 - 10th - 12th October, Brands Hatch, Kent

For pictures please contact carlyrathmell@yahoo.co.uk

Young Westmoreland who celebrates his 20th Birthday next week gained an early Birthday present at the super fast Norfolk track. Running consistently strong throughout the weekend it was looking likely that Westy would be able to get on the podium. Not even half way through the season and the youngster has got to grips with his Honda 600 and is now eager to get similar results at the remaining rounds of the series.
 
Westy qualified in a healthy fifth position and missed second qualifying late in the afternoon on Saturday due to the heavy rain, the team opted out as the circuit was un-ride-able and no-one would improve on the dry qualifying times that were set in the morning. His team-mate Dan Cooper could only manage to qualify in 18th place in the fiercely competitive series.
 
Westy gained a fantastic start and was away with the leading pack, Glen Richards, Steve Plater and Hudson Kennaugh. As they bridged a huge gap on the rest of the field Westy was able to stay with the front runners and made a clean pass on Kennaugh the South African on lap 12 at the bottom of the fast Revett Straight into the Esses.

It was perfect timing from Westy as the race was red flagged just one lap later after an accident at Russell Corner.
 
A delighted Westy commented “I’m so pleased that I managed to get onto the podium, not just for myself but for the whole Centurion Racing Team who have worked so hard and kept their faith in me for the last couple of years and it’s nice to be able to repay them. I was running well all weekend and I knew if I got a good start I could run with the front runners and push for a podium. I hope this won’t be a one off and that I can continue running at this end of the pack at the future races. I’d just like to say a big thanks to all the people that have helped me get here.”
 
Dan Cooper could only salvage 16th place from 18th place on the grid. He got blocked into the first corner and struggled to stay with the riders in front of him, battling hard the youngster was unable to break into a points scoring positions. A disappointed Cooper said “I’m gutted not to have scored any points this weekend I just couldn’t

seem to stay with the guys in front of me down the long

back straight. I know the team have worked really hard and

I wish I could have brought it home in a better position

for the team. I would like to congratulate Westy on his

first podium, he did a great job. I would also like to wish

Midge Smart a speedy recovery as his crash was the cause of

the red flag and I narrowly missed hitting him after he

crashed. Hopefully I can turn things around at Mallory in a

couple of weeks time.”
 
The next race is at Mallory Park, 27th - 29th June.

Having already qualified at the beginning of April, before the race was abandoned due to heavy snow, the Centurion duo had put their Honda’s in 12th, Westy and 20th, Cooper on the grid. The race initially was the opening round of the Championship and the two were struggling to get to grips with their new Pirelli tyres and therefore were unable to place themselves higher on the starting grid.

In the two hot practice sessions on Saturday they were flying and were setting some extremely fast lap times with Westy setting the third quickest time in the second practice session and Cooper in sixth, it was looking likely that they would be able to make the best of their low qualifying positions.

In an action packed race, which saw the safety car deployed on two occasions they were able to make the most of the 18-lap battle and score two solid results for the Centurion Racing team. The safety car was despatched on the first lap after two separate crashes involving various riders at Paddock Hill and also Druids corner. The riders lined up in formation waiting for the lights on the car to be turned off. 

The race got underway again on lap three and Westy was through to 12th on lap four and Cooper had slipped back to 18th place. Westy was making huge progress through the pack and was up to seventh by lap nine with Cooper in 17th position. The safety car was once again called out on lap 11 when Chris Martin and Aaron Walker crashed out in two different  incidents. Cooper was making the most of the falling riders in front of him and he was eagerly pushing his way through the pack and getting up to 13th by lap 14 and was eyeing up a top ten finish. He was locked in a tight battle with Andy Weymouth and Paul Young for ninth place and only 0.2 split the trio as they reached the chequered flag where he gained 11th. Westy pushed hard and made some unbelievable passing manoeuvres around the outside of Clearways and the outside of Paddock Hill, both times pulling the moves off and making tidy passes on Craig Fitzpatrick and BJ Toal, sealing him a well earned fourth position.

James Westmoreland was delighted with his result saying “I’m so pleased for the team that we have managed to achieve what we did today. It’s been a long time coming, I gained a fourth place last year at Thruxton and it’s a really nice feeling being there again. I’m eager for these results to carry on for the rest of the season and there should be no reasons why I can’t make that happen. I love Donington Park and it would be good to be fighting at the front end again there. I really enjoyed the scrap and thanks again to all the guys at Centurion Racing for working so hard.”

Dan Cooper commented “Considering my poor qualifying position it’s great to be pushing with the boys and fighting for a top ten position. We’d not had much track time when we came here in April and it was taking me a little while to get used to the new tyres and dusting up on my riding skills again. I was running really well in practice here and it was a shame we’d already qualified as I think I would have got an even better result if I’d not started from 20th on the grid. I’m really pleased for the team as they’ve all been working really hard and it would be good to continue this into the next races.”

General Manager/Team Owner Paul Rees said “Westy and Dan pushed hard this weekend knowing that they had to salvage a result from the qualifying positions they attained in April.  Some good clean ’scraps’ were had on the track as they moved there way through the pack. Exciting to watch them both out there and there will be many more of those results coming our way with the new improvements to the bikes that the engineers are working so hard at.  Gary Stubbington (Race Manager) and myself would like to thank all the support and messages received from the people who follow us as a team, and this is what it is all about, team work. Congratulations to all”.
Race Result

Hudson Kennaugh           Yamaha

Glen Richards                 Triumph

Steve Brogan                  Honda

James Westmoreland      Centurion Racing Honda

BJ Toal                          Yamaha

Craig Fitzpatrick              Yamaha

Ian Hutchinson               Yamaha

Marty Nutt                      Yamaha

Andy Weymouth             Yamaha

Paul Young                    Triumph

Dan Cooper                   Centurion Racing Honda

Championship Positions

1          Richards              65

2          Kennaugh            58

3          Brogan                52

9th        Westmoreland     19

12th      Cooper               14
-END-

2008 Races  (see calendar or above rounds for further info)

Round 4 -        24th - 26th May - Donington Park, Leics

Round 5 -        13th - 15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk

Round 6 -        27th - 29th June - Mallory Park

Round 7 -        18th - 20th July - Oulton Park, Cheshire

Round 8 -        8th - 10th August - Knockhill, Fife

Round 9 -        23rd - 25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs

Round 10 -      12th - 14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire

Round 11 -      26th - 28th September, Silverstone, Northants

Round 12 -      10th - 12th October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent
-END-
 
Carly Rathmell
Freelance Sports PR 

Cooper from Stroud, looked exceptionally good all weekend and despite his off in qualifying he was keen to get a good result after his disappointment at Thruxton. Seventh place at Oulton has seen him leap to 12th in the overall Championship positions. After completing qualifying he ended up in 14th place on the grid and was left with a lot of work to do if he were to gain a top ten finish. The race was red flagged on lap three after an accident at Druids and was re-started as a 12-lap race. Cooper got a great start and was up to 10th after the first lap. Fighting his way past Ian Hutchinson and Craig Fitzpatrick he was eager to chase down the 2007 R6 Cup Winner Toal, only 0.14 separated the pair as they crossed the line.

Commenting the youngster said “I’m really thrilled to have got seventh place. It was a really tough race but I just got my head down and got on with the job in hand. My shoulders were killing me at the end of the race but I was having a good scrap with BJ Toal and I’m sure I’ll be feeling a little second hand tomorrow. It was quite a big crash in qualifying and both my shoulders took a bit of a battering but hopefully they will be feeling a little better by the time that we get to Brands. I would like to thank all the Centurion team for working so hard this weekend and I’m delighted I could get the result that I did for them. We go to Brands this coming weekend and I’m eager to try and get a similar result.”

General Manager Paul Rees, was delighted with the results commenting, “Especially after the engine problems we had.  The engineers worked extremely hard and fast to enable the bikes to be on the circuits both at Thruxton and here at Oulton.  Dan had to grit his teeth and ride through the pain in order to gain such an important position at this stage of the competition.  It was a shame Westy out-braked himself at Knickerbrook though, as he was riding strong and this obviously lost him time and places. He did well to come in at eleventh position and gain some points.  However, a good weekend was had and we are looking forward to the short visit back to Brands Hatch this coming weekend. The Centurion teamwork in the paddock was again exceptional, so a huge thanks go to the whole team for their efforts.”

Tickets, for the weekend and race day will be valid for the re-scheduled meet, so hold on to them.  All grid positions will remain the same, as well as the racing programme.  See below for full details …

PRESS RELEASE :  Brands Hatch organisers

Extensive snowfalls at Brands Hatch this morning have caused the opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike championship to be abandoned.   At 11.15am Sunday morning Jonathan Palmer, Chief Executive of MotorSport Vision, the owner of Brands Hatch, announced that following a review of circuit conditions and the latest forecast, the meeting would be cancelled for the day.

“It is bitterly disappointing for all the fans who have come and of course for all the teams and organisations including the Brands Hatch team who have put so much into this weekend”, said Palmer.  “Apart from the inability to put on the great show fans expect from BSB, safety is our number one priority and this must not be compromised”.

“I have been very eager however to see if we could find a way not to just cancel, but postpone the first Brands Hatch event.   Fortunately a major benefit of MSV now running BSB is that following a review of our calendar, I am delighted to be able to immediately announce that we have rescheduled this meeting which will now take place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit on 10/11 May.”

“All race day, weekend and grandstand tickets for today’s event will be valid for the new date with no extra charge.   The grids for all of the races within the BSB programme will be as set yesterday, 5 April.   The 10/11 May date was scheduled to be a BMCRC meeting and some races from this will be incorporated into the BSB event.”

“I am so sorry that so many people have had a frustrating day of uncertainty but can assure everyone we have done everything possible to minimise the disruption of such extreme weather in April.”

Jonathan Palmer
Brands Hatch Sunday 6 April 2008

Practice day looks set to be a good one … especially after the limited track time due to weather.  Although the weather is set to turn, making life a little interesting.

But today, the sun is out and is should be a goodun!