GUIVER DOMINATES AT BRANDS HATCH WITH DOUBLE WIN
Disastrous weekend for Robbie Brown sees title defence hitNeary and Atkinson equal on points behind Guiver
Rob Guiver was in a class of his own as he secured wins in both races in the Ducati TriOptions Cup. The conditions of the two races could not have been more different but Guiver was able to dominate both races and take a championship lead after two rounds.
Race 1It was declared a wet race before the start despite only a few spots of rain but rain was expected as the race progressed. Despite this, nearly all the field ran with dry tyres and for much of the race this seemed the right choice.
Robbie Brown, pole setter and championship leader did not feature long as a broken gear lever put him out of contention early in the race. It was soon apparent within a few laps that this was set up to be a four horse race. It was Leon Morris (Carl Cox Motorsport / P&H Motorcycles) that took the early lead from Sean Neary (Zoek Racing) and Phil Atkinson (Highsparks Motorsport), but soon Neary found himself at the front passing Atkinson into Paddock hill. Soon it was Morris and Neary that were setting the pace with Atkinson and Guiver settling into their own battle as they gave chase to the leading two. The rain, by lap four was already beginning to get heavier and it was Guiver who seemed to react quickest to the deteriorating conditions taking the lead on lap eight.
Guiver was to hold this position for the remainder of the race and with the help of backmarkers coming into play Guiver was able to build a lead of 1.129 seconds. However with the rain becoming heavier, the Esssex rider had no alternative but to sit behind some of the backmarkers as going off the racing line was not an option. Neary closed the gap to 0.712 by the time he crossed the line but by then had settled for 2nd with Leon Morris taking the final podium step.
Atkinson was unable to catch Morris, finishing over two seconds behind Jonathon Railton (Boast Plumbing) a distant fifth. Ducati Wolverhampton’s Louis Dawson had one of his best finishes in sixth and Jon Waghorn (JW Smart Services / Laguna Motorcycles) continued his good form with an eighth.
Race 2Dry and bright conditions welcomed the riders to the grid for race 2 with yesterday’s winner Rob Guiver on pole, sharing the front row with Morris and Neary. Championship contender Robbie Brown who failed to finish race 1 had to settle for a fourth row start.
Guiver held his lead off the line and was to quickly settling into a rhythm. It soon became clear that Guiver would take some beating as he gradually began to ease ahead of his rivals. The focus of attention soon switched to the battle for second as Atkinson and Morris traded places throughout the race.
Meanwhile Guiver had stretched his lead to 3.66 seconds as he closed in on backmarkers, however this was not to change the outcome and the Essex man crossed the line to claim a comfortable win and a dominant double.
Rob GuiverThat was a perfect race, got a good start, led from the front. I took my time to start with, it was +0 for quite a while and I was quite defensive to start with, but got into a rhythm and controlled the race. I caught some backmarkers in the wrong places but it was the same for the other guys so by the end of the race I knew I had it in the bag and it was just a question of making no mistakes and controlling the tyres.
Leon Morris“If you can’t win it then you just hope you can be part of a real good battle. Rob Guiver was on fire today and I don’t think anyone could have lived with him. Atkinson and I had got in our own little battle which would have helped him a little, but he didn’t miss a beat today so it was just a battle for second. We had a cracking battle for second, the amount of passes we had it was a real good end to the weekend after the big crash on Friday.”
Phil Atkinson“Today was better but I just couldn’t stat with Rob today every lap he was just inching away, but he is really good around here so back on the podium again. Yesterday was a bit unlucky with some backmarkers but good to be back where I should be and hopefully the results have not had too much damage to the championship.”
Championship points:
Rob Guiver 79ptsSean Neary 65ptsPhil Atkinson 65ptsLeon Morris 63ptsJonathan Railton 44ptsRobbie Brown 39ptsThe third round of the Ducati TriOptions Cup takes place during the British round of World Superbikes at Donington Park from the 27-29 May
