Race 1
Josh Day rode a “clever” race on Saturday at Snetteron, biding his time to pass Elliot Pinson on the last lap to take the win, his sixth Ducati Cup victory of the season.
Rich Energy’s David Shoubridge initially led the race, before being passed after a couple of laps by Pinson (CymCirrus Motorsport) and Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team) after suffering technical issues. And while a podium finish looked to be on the cards as the race progressed, disaster struck for Shoubridge when he was forced to retire from third.
Day and Pinson both posted impressive lap-times throughout the race with Pinson setting a new lap record with the Panigale V2 with a time of 1:52.872s on Lap 4. As the race entered its final stages it was clear there would be a battle for the first between Pinson and Day, whilst behind them Craig Neve (CN racing) and Chris Walker (4T2 Racing) were also set up for a thrilling battle for the final podium position.
On the last lap Day was able to pass Pinson on the back straight on the final lap, going on to take the chequered flag with a 0.173s advantage. And with Neve crashing out on the last lap, Walker cemented his third-place finish.
John McGuinness (Blue Earth Construction) had yet another strong race taking fourth, with Sam Cox (Sam Cox Racing) and Carl Stevens (Freeman Harris Solicitors Ducati) rounding out the top six finishers.
Josh Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team #1) – 1st
“We had a plan literally from Elliot’s pace yesterday, in pit lane and qualifying we had a plan. We knew he wasn’t going to go anywhere and I didn’t have the pace to go from him. Steady away at the start, he came through, passed Shoey. I went with both of them thought I can’t let him get away. Our plan was to follow him as long as we could, if he [Pinson] was there, and get him on the last lap because we knew our bike was fast on the back straight. He had a real busy gear pattern, and I don’t know what gearing he’s running but he seems to be up and down the box, twice as much as me. So, at the end of ten-lap race around here, you’re going to get tired and start missing gears. Bit of a clever race really and over the moon to obviously get P1 again. It was probably good for the fans. Brilliant. Well done to Elliot and Chris. Shame about Shouey but he’ll be back tomorrow if he can get his bike sorted. Thanks very much to all my guys.”
Elliot Pinson (CymCirrus Motorsport #75) – 2nd
“I felt a lot more confident here than at Cadwell because it’s a track I’m a lot more confident with. I’ve done a lot more laps around here than at Cadwell, and on that bike as well. I knew I had a lot more pace here than what I showed in qualifying yesterday, but it was a really good race. I got to the front and tried to make a break for it, but Josh wasn’t letting me go anywhere, he was right with me the whole way. I sort of knew the move was coming on the last lap but there wasn’t really much I could do about it, my quick shifter was being a bit dodgy. All in all, it was still a really good race. Fair play to Josh, we did some mega times. Can’t wait for Race 2 tomorrow.”
Chris Walker (4T2 Racing #9) – 3rd
“I was obviously lucky because of Shoubridge going out. That was a real shame because he’s been flying this weekend and it’s a shame for him not to get a chance to dice with the big boys. Like I said on the line, you’ve got to be in it to win it and to be gifted a third was pretty special. I had a real good dice with Neve all race which kept me on my toes. I figured it would be tough weekend coming here because the young guys have got such a modern style where they’re hanging off the bike, knee down, elbow down, almost scraping the helmet. It works well at these modern long corner circuits, so I had a bit of an advantage at Cadwell with my old school style on an old school track. Here it’s been tough, so I’m over the moon to have scraped a podium.”
Race 2
A beautiful Sunday morning at Snetterton saw Pinson line up in pole following the new lap record he set yesterday. And in a repeat of yesterday’s race, the trio at the front gapping the rest of the pack was once again made up of Day, Pinson and Shoubridge.
Day and Pinson, both on a Panigale V2, started to edge away from Shoubridge on his 959 Panigale towards the latter stages with Day setting a new lap record of 1:52.677s on Lap 8. And the thrilling battle between Day and Pinson came down to the wire, with Day taking his second double victory of the season by just four thousandths of a second.
Shoubridge put the pain of retiring from yesterday’s race behind him with a well-deserved podium finish. Further down the road, Neve was able to get the better of Walker for fourth, with Max Lofthouse (JDF Racing) taking sixth.
Josh Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team #1) – 1st
“To be fair we had a couple of little planned scenarios in our head before because obviously Elliot’s on really good pace and Shouey’s not far behind either. We knew that one of Elliot’s strategies was probably to back us up, I let him in front on one lap and he was straight into a ’54. So, it’s good that he’s learning stuff like that because he is a little bit younger, I’ve got a few more years on me than him.
It was a mega race, and I couldn’t shake him like I could. I thought I pretty much had it on the last lap and came up the inside, then I tried up the inside. Again, probably just a little bit of lack of experience. He rushed into the last corner, and he had a little moment, I think he was on a front from qualifying. He had a little slide, and it just gave me better drive up the straight. I celebrated too early to be honest. His gearing is really strong. I gave it the little fist pump and he started creeping up beside me. I thought that could have been it, Sean Emmett style!
Fair play to Elliot. Massive thanks to my team. Good job to Shouey getting back on the podium, obviously he’s had another rough weekend. Walker, McGuinness, Craig Neve and a few other boys at the back, they’ve been strong this weekend. Two days break and then off to Silverstone, see what we can do there.”
Elliot Pinson (CymCirrus Motorsport #75) – 2nd
“It was a really close race between me and Josh. There were a couple of moves back and forth in the race and on the penultimate lap I had a couple of moments coming out of the Bomb Hole and the last corner which gave Josh a bit of gap going on to the last lap.
I just gave it absolutely everything, probably should have crashed about ten times on that final lap. Managed to catch up with him, did the biggest dive bomb I’ve ever seen at the end of the back straight. Came to final corner, basically tucked the front and crashed, and came back. Josh came round the outside of me, and then there was nothing in it to the line. Well done to Josh and Shouey.”
David Shoubridge (Rich Energy #86) – 3rd
“It was a tough race. Early on it felt like I had the pace to carry on, it was the fastest I’ve been. I think it was Elliot who was out at front holding Josh up a little bit. As a result, it was backing up into my path and just on the lap that I decided to be a bit more careful to manage the tyre on the longer race today, dropping of a tenth or two not to get caught up in their trouble and that happened to be the lap that they decided to get the nail down. I think Josh got back in front and dragged Elliot along a bit, by that time I didn’t really have the pace to go with them to be fair. Great race for them boys, the times have been blistering. What a morning to be riding motorbikes, I’m buzzing. I just want to say a big thanks to Rich Energy, all of my sponsors. They’ve been a great help to get me here and it’s nice to repay them with a podium so thanks a lot.”
Race 1
Josh Day rode a “clever” race on Saturday at Snetteron, biding his time to pass Elliot Pinson on the last lap to take the win, his sixth Ducati Cup victory of the season.
Rich Energy’s David Shoubridge initially led the race, before being passed after a couple of laps by Pinson (CymCirrus Motorsport) and Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team) after suffering technical issues. And while a podium finish looked to be on the cards as the race progressed, disaster struck for Shoubridge when he was forced to retire from third.
Day and Pinson both posted impressive lap-times throughout the race with Pinson setting a new lap record with the Panigale V2 with a time of 1:52.872s on Lap 4. As the race entered its final stages it was clear there would be a battle for the first between Pinson and Day, whilst behind them Craig Neve (CN racing) and Chris Walker (4T2 Racing) were also set up for a thrilling battle for the final podium position.
On the last lap Day was able to pass Pinson on the back straight on the final lap, going on to take the chequered flag with a 0.173s advantage. And with Neve crashing out on the last lap, Walker cemented his third-place finish.
John McGuinness (Blue Earth Construction) had yet another strong race taking fourth, with Sam Cox (Sam Cox Racing) and Carl Stevens (Freeman Harris Solicitors Ducati) rounding out the top six finishers.
Josh Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team #1) – 1st
“We had a plan literally from Elliot’s pace yesterday, in pit lane and qualifying we had a plan. We knew he wasn’t going to go anywhere and I didn’t have the pace to go from him. Steady away at the start, he came through, passed Shoey. I went with both of them thought I can’t let him get away. Our plan was to follow him as long as we could, if he [Pinson] was there, and get him on the last lap because we knew our bike was fast on the back straight. He had a real busy gear pattern, and I don’t know what gearing he’s running but he seems to be up and down the box, twice as much as me. So, at the end of ten-lap race around here, you’re going to get tired and start missing gears. Bit of a clever race really and over the moon to obviously get P1 again. It was probably good for the fans. Brilliant. Well done to Elliot and Chris. Shame about Shouey but he’ll be back tomorrow if he can get his bike sorted. Thanks very much to all my guys.”
Elliot Pinson (CymCirrus Motorsport #75) – 2nd
“I felt a lot more confident here than at Cadwell because it’s a track I’m a lot more confident with. I’ve done a lot more laps around here than at Cadwell, and on that bike as well. I knew I had a lot more pace here than what I showed in qualifying yesterday, but it was a really good race. I got to the front and tried to make a break for it, but Josh wasn’t letting me go anywhere, he was right with me the whole way. I sort of knew the move was coming on the last lap but there wasn’t really much I could do about it, my quick shifter was being a bit dodgy. All in all, it was still a really good race. Fair play to Josh, we did some mega times. Can’t wait for Race 2 tomorrow.”
Chris Walker (4T2 Racing #9) – 3rd
“I was obviously lucky because of Shoubridge going out. That was a real shame because he’s been flying this weekend and it’s a shame for him not to get a chance to dice with the big boys. Like I said on the line, you’ve got to be in it to win it and to be gifted a third was pretty special. I had a real good dice with Neve all race which kept me on my toes. I figured it would be tough weekend coming here because the young guys have got such a modern style where they’re hanging off the bike, knee down, elbow down, almost scraping the helmet. It works well at these modern long corner circuits, so I had a bit of an advantage at Cadwell with my old school style on an old school track. Here it’s been tough, so I’m over the moon to have scraped a podium.”
Race 2
A beautiful Sunday morning at Snetterton saw Pinson line up in pole following the new lap record he set yesterday. And in a repeat of yesterday’s race, the trio at the front gapping the rest of the pack was once again made up of Day, Pinson and Shoubridge.
Day and Pinson, both on a Panigale V2, started to edge away from Shoubridge on his 959 Panigale towards the latter stages with Day setting a new lap record of 1:52.677s on Lap 8. And the thrilling battle between Day and Pinson came down to the wire, with Day taking his second double victory of the season by just four thousandths of a second.
Shoubridge put the pain of retiring from yesterday’s race behind him with a well-deserved podium finish. Further down the road, Neve was able to get the better of Walker for fourth, with Max Lofthouse (JDF Racing) taking sixth.
Josh Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team #1) – 1st
“To be fair we had a couple of little planned scenarios in our head before because obviously Elliot’s on really good pace and Shouey’s not far behind either. We knew that one of Elliot’s strategies was probably to back us up, I let him in front on one lap and he was straight into a ’54. So, it’s good that he’s learning stuff like that because he is a little bit younger, I’ve got a few more years on me than him.
It was a mega race, and I couldn’t shake him like I could. I thought I pretty much had it on the last lap and came up the inside, then I tried up the inside. Again, probably just a little bit of lack of experience. He rushed into the last corner, and he had a little moment, I think he was on a front from qualifying. He had a little slide, and it just gave me better drive up the straight. I celebrated too early to be honest. His gearing is really strong. I gave it the little fist pump and he started creeping up beside me. I thought that could have been it, Sean Emmett style!
Fair play to Elliot. Massive thanks to my team. Good job to Shouey getting back on the podium, obviously he’s had another rough weekend. Walker, McGuinness, Craig Neve and a few other boys at the back, they’ve been strong this weekend. Two days break and then off to Silverstone, see what we can do there.”
Elliot Pinson (CymCirrus Motorsport #75) – 2nd
“It was a really close race between me and Josh. There were a couple of moves back and forth in the race and on the penultimate lap I had a couple of moments coming out of the Bomb Hole and the last corner which gave Josh a bit of gap going on to the last lap.
I just gave it absolutely everything, probably should have crashed about ten times on that final lap. Managed to catch up with him, did the biggest dive bomb I’ve ever seen at the end of the back straight. Came to final corner, basically tucked the front and crashed, and came back. Josh came round the outside of me, and then there was nothing in it to the line. Well done to Josh and Shouey.”
David Shoubridge (Rich Energy #86) – 3rd
“It was a tough race. Early on it felt like I had the pace to carry on, it was the fastest I’ve been. I think it was Elliot who was out at front holding Josh up a little bit. As a result, it was backing up into my path and just on the lap that I decided to be a bit more careful to manage the tyre on the longer race today, dropping of a tenth or two not to get caught up in their trouble and that happened to be the lap that they decided to get the nail down. I think Josh got back in front and dragged Elliot along a bit, by that time I didn’t really have the pace to go with them to be fair. Great race for them boys, the times have been blistering. What a morning to be riding motorbikes, I’m buzzing. I just want to say a big thanks to Rich Energy, all of my sponsors. They’ve been a great help to get me here and it’s nice to repay them with a podium so thanks a lot.”
Steve Plater – Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup Ambassador
“What another great race, the TriOptions Cup producing some fabulous racing and some great times. 52.6, a new lap record, that’s very high up on the Supersport grid. Good to see our youngster Elliot Pinson pushing our champion all the way, doing a fabulous job and that boy is going to have a big, big future. Shoubridge finishes third, doing a fabulous job and he’s been on the spanners all night getting his bike prepped from his breakdown yesterday. And the rest of the field, some good battles all the way down. Good to see The Stalker up there again pushing very hard and young Craig Neve pushing him and beating him for fourth place. Looking forward to the big one next week – Silverstone.”
