Ducati Trioptions Cup Round 6 - Thruxton

Strong TriOptions grid again at Thruxton even after some mechanical problems with some riders and of course two riders injured at during the warm-up lap crash Brands.

Good to see Nick Ford running around in the paddock and great to hear Rob Guiver on the road to recovery after his operations.The Brands incident has been under investigation since and MSV-R concluded with points penalty for one rider involved.

Every class suffers with tyre wear with the Thruxton circuit being very abrasive and with the Ducati riders only allowed four new Pirelli tyres per round they had to be very careful during qualifying not to waste laps.

Circuit walk Friday evening with most of the entry revealed at least six riders not even seen the fast flowing track before, hard to find the correct line with the old airfield circuit being so wide.

Levi Day Pole and team mate Jon Railton very close 2nd (0.050) behind, being very smart they both went out on new tyres together. Knowing they only had two fast laps before the rear tyre started losing grip they pushed each other first 5 mins of the session, achieved their positions and sat the remaining 15 mins in pit lane.

Collier, Neary, Atkinson and the ever improving Pitchers qualified in this order behind lapping the full session with Sam Middlemas fastest 998.

Race-1 and the story continued from the last race at Brands, Neary pushing Collier all race with the whole grid on new rubber. Neary managed fastest lap again and Pole for race-2 but Collier under control with a little in hand. Pole man Levi Day in filling the last podium spot and Sam Middlemas top 899 rider on his borrowed machine.

Race-2 some of the guys didn’t have any new rear tyres and this helped make the TriOptions race arguably best race on Sunday. Levi Day got the holeshot closely chased by Neary, Collier and Atkinson. Collier soon made his way to the front once again under serious pressure from Neary desperate for his first 2017 race win.

Collier outbraked himself and missed the chicane gaining not a place but clearly distance on the road from Neary. He led on the road with the chequered flag being waved but received 0.5 penalty demoting him to 3rd and giving Neary his first win of the season and Levi Day 2nd.Railton rode great race after terrible start through to 4th also smashing the lap record along the way. Taryn Skinner managed to hold off Sam Middlemas for best 899.

Great race but of course over shadowed by the sad loss of Mark Fincham earlier during the day. Massive loss to family friends and the True Heroes Racing Team. RIP