WSS'09 Final Round: Portimão, race day

Monday, October 26, 2009

Garry McCoy gave his ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing squad its second podium finish of the season to end the 2009 Supersport World Championship on a high at the magnificent Portimao circuit in Portugal.

The Australian was in outstanding form all weekend and made a fantastic start to slot his Daytona 675 into fifth place at the end of the first lap.

As pole sitter Eugene Laverty and former world champion Kenan Sofuoglu edged away, McCoy and the Triumph hogged the majority of the TV coverage as they engaged in a race-long battle with champion-elect Cal Crutchlow for the final podium slot.

Two years of never ending development work for McCoy and the BE1 squad were rewarded as the Triumph powered past Crutchlow’s Yamaha along the long Portimao straight to move into third on lap eight out of 20. The former 500cc Grand Prix and world superbike race winner was able to confirm the Triumph’s credentials as one of the leading machines in the championship to hold on to third place and equal his result from Donington Park back in June.

Team-mate Chaz Davies also gave a strong showing on just his third ride on the BE1 prepared Daytona 675. Despite struggling to find a perfect set-up throughout the weekend, the young Welshman improved in each session and was able to force his way from 14th on the grid to seventh by the chequered flag.

After 14 rounds of action, McCoy ended the season eighth in the standings, despite several doses of bad luck that saw him fail to show his full potential in five of the races. In addition to the two podium finishes, the team also scored one fourth place (Davies at Imola) and a fifth and sixth for McCoy in what was a very successful debut season for BE1 Racing as Triumph’s official world championship entry.

Garry said of his 3rd placing, "I'm really happy to have ended the season in style, with a second podium result in the team's young history.
We did a great job this weekend, the bike was just perfect so I could give 100%. I got a good start and I was fifth at the end of the first lap, and I kept that position into the fourth, when Lascorz, who was in front of me, crashed. I then overtook Crutchlow after three more laps. He was really close behind me for a while then I opened a gap between the two of us of about two seconds and kept it until the chequered flag.
I want to thank the entire team for a great job done this season. We got better everytime and we did all this together despite the fact that not some many people thought that was possible".
 
Chaz Davies on finishing 7th commented "I'm really grateful to Giuliano who gave me the opportunity to race in World Supersport. I rode only three races but I believe I did well although I know I can definitely improve, especially in qualifying practice.
I got a good start today, I engaged in a nice duel with Foret and overtook Veneman by the end and finished seventh".
 
And finally team manager Giuliani Rovelli added, "It was a fantastic way of ending the season: with a podium. We worked hard, we improved the bike so much that we got twice on the podium and scored many great results as well. I have to thank Garry McCoy who proved that the entire squad lead by Lucio Nicastro did a marvellous job.
I'm also happy with Chaz Davies' performance who scored two great results without even knowing the tracks but did very well on his Triumph Daytona 675.
These results repay us for the efforts we have made and motivates Triumph to continue and hopefully you'll se us again in 2010, when we should set even higher goals".

Race Standings:
 
1  50 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 35'17.044 (156,173 kph)
2  54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 3.443
3  24 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 13.874
4  35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 15.144
5   8 Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 16.608
6  51 Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 20.008
7  23 Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 22.007
8  99 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 22.034
9  77 Veneman B. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 23.031
10 117 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 24.002
11   1 Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 31.794
12  36 Cardenas M. (COL) Honda CBR600RR 31.811
13  21 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 32.218
14  25 Laverty M. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 33.196
15 101 Coghlan K. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1'02.386