Podiums in the Park for Triumph National Sportbike Riders at Cadwell
The National Sportbike Championship made its first ever visit to Cadwell Park this Bank Holiday weekend and the unique Lincolnshire circuit hosted an incredible race with Triumph riders Richard Cooper and Thomas Strudwick finishing in second and third, respectively. With 11 races now run from the season’s 15, Cooper is just 4.5 points back from the championship lead.
The twisty 2.19 mile circuit is a tricky track to master in any conditions especially with all the riders learning these new Sportbike machines around it. To make things more complicated, the weekend started in wet conditions for Free Practice 1 and with conditions predicted to improve as the weekend progressed, many of the championship protagonists chose to sit out the first session. Riders were greeted with a drying track for Free Practice 2 and it was Richard Cooper who set the pace on his Triumph Daytona 660 by a huge 2.338 seconds.
Qualifying would be a completely dry session and the first time the National Sportbike riders were able to really push their machines to the limit at the track made famous by The Mountain. The experienced Cooper continued his form but missed out on pole position by a mere 0.040 seconds to Ash Barnes. Triumph riders covered three of the top four positions on the grid, with Thomas Strudwick and Rhys Stephenson following in third and fourth, respectively.
With just one race to be held at this round, the riders only had Monday’s 12-lap encounter to battle for glory. With a dry track and a packed crowd, the lights went out and Cooper grabbed the holeshot and was quickly followed by fellow Daytona 660 riders, Strudwick and the #76 Rhys Stephenson. Unfortunately, Stephenson crashed out unhurt at the top of The Mountain on lap two, creating a red flag situation and the need for a restart.
After a short delay, the grid lined up again in their qualifying positions for a ten-lap race. It was Triumph riders Thomas Strudwick and Cooper who got away at the front. The #47 of Cooper soon took the lead as the top five gapped the chasing field. At the halfway stage, Edoardo Colombi and Strudwick were exchanging positions until the Italian made his move stick and he set about chasing down Cooper. With a lap to go, Colombi made the pass on the #47 Triumph and held it to the chequered flag with Strudwick rounding out the podium positions.
Colombi extends his championship lead to 4.5 points over Cooper with four races still to run. Strudwick’s sixth visit to the podium this season moves him to third overall in the championship.
For the MIH Solutions Macadam Triumph Racing team, Aaron Silvester had a solid ride to fifth while teammate Jayden Martin battled hard for eighth. Katie Hand’s weekend was cut short after a highside during Free Practice 1 in the tricky wet conditions left her with a broken collarbone.
The 2024 National Sportbike Championship returns to action at Oulton Park on September 13-15th.
Richard Cooper #47 - 2nd place: "I rode at a pace that I thought was going to be good enough to win the race and the Daytona 660 was performing great, the PHR team did a fantastic job. For Eduardo to pass me with a lap to go took me by surprise. Fair play to him, he's learned the track very quickly. Cadwell was one event I thought I'd have in the bag, so I take my hat off to him for beating me round here."
Thomas Strudwick #25 - 3rd place: "I knew I could get off the line pretty well and I had a really good start. I knew Cooper would have really good pace and I tried to stay with him as much as possible. I started to make a few mistakes towards the end and it was difficult to stay with them right to the final laps. But I'm happy to get another podium and get through Cadwell Park which is not one of my favourites."
National Sportbike Championship Round 7 - Cadwell Park
Race result
1st Edoardo Colombi (Aprilia)
2nd Richard Cooper (PHR Performance Triumph)
3rd Thomas Strudwick (TS Racing Triumph)
5th Aaron Silvester (MIH Solutions Macadam Triumph Racing)
8th Jayden Martin (MIH Solutions Macadam Triumph Racing)
DNS Katie Hand (MIH Solutions Macadam Triumph Racing)
National Sportbike Championship after Race 11 of 15
1st Edoardo Colombi - 222.5
2nd Richard Cooper (Triumph) - 218
3rd Thomas Strudwick (Triumph) - 173
4th Ash Barnes (Yamaha) - 171
5th Aaron Silvester (Triumph) - 120
9th Jayden Martin (Triumph) - 69
27th Katie Hand (Triumph) - 6
