Third back-to-back Ducati Cup title for Josh Day
• Day scores his second double win of the season
• 10 wins from 14 races for Day
After winning both races at Oulton Park, Josh Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team) secured his third back-to-back Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup championship.
Race 1
Josh Day claimed his ninth Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup win of the season on Saturday, to further extend his championship lead as he looked to secure his third title on the bounce at Oulton Park.
Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team) led for the entire race to claim another win in dominant fashion. Behind him the battle was on for the remaining podium positions with Chris Walker (4T2 Racing) and David Shoubridge (Rich Energy Ducati) once again entertaining race fans with more close racing.
Shoubridge got the better of Walker once a third of the race had been run, only for Craig Neve (CN Racing) to then pile pressure for the final podium position, with the riders swapping positions in the final laps.
Walker went on to win the battle for third behind Shoubridge, with Neve finishing just 0.353s behind in fourth.
Dragon Racing’s David Jones crossed the line in fifth, with Freeman Harris Solicitors Ducati rider Carl Stevens completing the top six finishers.
Race 2
Day lined up in pole and although Shoubridge led the pack into Old Hall it wasn’t long before Day was back out in front. The duo soon pulled a gap and were already two seconds clear of Walker, Neve and Jones by Lap 3. Day allowed Shoubridge past to lead with their gap at the front extending further, until Day retook the lead on Lap 7.
But the race ended prematurely after Jacque Foley (JF76 Racing) crashed out, bringing out the red flag. Day took his third consecutive race win, and with it his third consecutive Ducati Cup championship with the Host-it.co.uk Racing Team.
Shoubridge crossed the line just 0.355s later for second, with Neve claiming the final podium position ahead of Walker and Jones who finished their races in fourth and fifth respectively.
Walker remains second in the championship, while Shoubridge is fourth and fired up for more battles with Walker and that elusive race win at Brands Hatch. Sadly the weekend ended in disaster for Elliot Pinson (CymCirrus Motorsport) after he suffered a broken right radius when he crashed out on Friday currently leaving him unable to defend his third-place championship position.
Championship standings
1. Josh Day – 293 points
2. Chris Walker – 217 points
3. Elliot Pinson – 199 points
4. David Shoubridge – 185 points
5. Craig Neve – 130 points
6. John McGuinness – 130 points
Josh Day (Host-it.co.uk Racing Team #1) – Race 2, 1st
Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup champion – 2019, 2021 & 2021
“It’s a bit of a weight off the shoulders. And it’s nice to win the championship with a win because the last couple of years to win I’ve had to ride a bit defensive at the end of the year. But we had a different attitude this weekend.
In the race I knew I wanted to get away and be in the ‘40s, and I did to be fair. But it’s weird, you can see the shadows that someone was there. And I thought I don’t need to be caught up in a Shouey-Walker battle. So I pulled over out the first chicane and let Shouey post but I didn’t know it was just Shouey and we had quite a bit of a gap behind us, three seconds. I followed him and I could see he really wanted to win, he was riding really hard and leaving darkies everywhere, it was mint to watch, he really wanted it.
I thought I’d wait until the last couple of make and then make a move because I wanted to win the title with a win, and I looked at the pit board and saw four laps to go and I thought that’s three quarters distance, I better get in front now. And he made a mistake out onto the back straight, so I passed him and got straight back into the 40.7 and crossed the line. I was quarter of a second up so it was going to be a mid 40 again, I gapped hum a couple of tenths, not a lot, and then the red flag came out so it was a good job I did it. But well done Shouey because he’s been riding awesome this weekend.
Once again, massive thank you to all my team, my brother, my dad, the missus, the littlun, and friends that come, they all give up so much time for it. Andrew is not here this weekend, the main man at Host-it, without him I wouldn’t be here. Three years ago I had nothing, we’ve now won three of these championships back to back. Hopefully that won’t get beaten for a while and we can go to Brands with another mindset of trying to win a couple more races and go all out, we’ve got nothing to lose now!”
David Shoubridge (Rich Energy Ducati #86) – Race 2, 2nd
“We will keep plugging away, That was a tough pill to swallow. I felt like we really had some pace. We changed the gearing, and it seemed a lot better on that race, it was pulling me out the corners a lot better. Early on I felt either Josh was slowing it up or I was going a lot quicker. One way or another it was all in contention. I really, really want to push for this win now. It’s like the monkey on my back all season, I’ve been the podium guy or top four certainly. It’s about time I got a long-looming win, I thought it was coming today. It’s a bit of a shame, I obviously led the race for a lot of it and I could see in the shadow of the sun that Josh was coming for us. Bitter pill to swallow when the red flag came out, I knew it was past two thirds distance and the spoils went to the three-time champ. Not a bad person to be rucking with and I got the fast lap of the race and by far smashed my personal best record on the old four-year-old 959 so we’re going pretty well. We will try again back at our home circuit at Brands and try and get that win that we keep stretching for. Thanks to everybody, Rich Energy, my sponsors, wouldn’t be here without you so thank you very much. Look forward to the next round!”
Craig Neve (CN Racing #2) – Race 2, 3rd
“Mega. To be fair we’ve not been too bad this weekend. We’ve been fastish in all sessions and I just felt I really deserved something today. The boys have worked hard all weekend and the bike’s been good all the time. It’s a tough field at the front and I really struggled with Chris Walker to be fair. I had to learn from my mistakes yesterday, made one pass, made it stick and just tried to get my head down and do my own race, but the front two boys were away. Well done to Josh on the championship.”
