Race one
David Shoubridge put in another stellar performance on the Rich Energy Ducati Panigale V2 during the weekend’s opening Ducati Cup race on Saturday. A wet qualifying earlier in the day saw Shoubridge claim pole, and he made the most of that grid position to lead for the entirety of the ten-lap race at Snetteron, posting multiple fastest laps, and taking the flag with a comfortable eight second margin.
Tom Tunstall (Motorcycle Race Parts) took another second place, his result more impressive considering he had qualified for the race down in tenth position. Tunstall had climbed all the way top fourth on his opening lap. On Lap Six Tunstall passed Phillip Atkinson (Q-Oil Treatments / Unique Motorsport) to take second place, with the riders going on to cross the line in those same positions.
Adon Davie (JDF Racing) was forced to retire from fourth on the very last lap, with Mark Bridger taking that position ahead of Davie’s teammate Max Lofthouse in fifth.
Matthew Jones (Dragon Racing), Olly Savage (R Racing), and Michael Tustin (AH Performance / Breckland Utility Solutions) took sixth, seventh and eighth. And Team Aramex / ULS teammates Bob Collins and Lee Devenport completed the top ten, with Collins’ result another impressive one considering he’d started his race from 30th position.
After crashing out in qualifying, Blaze Baker (Trackdemons Racing Powered by HMY) did not take part in the race, but the South African maintains his third place in the Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup championship behind Shoubridge and Tunstall.
David Shoubridge (Rich Energy Ducati #86) – 1st
“Win number eight! What a chaotic race from the start. We had wet knee sliders on from the previous session in qualifying and I only took them out with moments to go and forgot to put the dry ones on. I was running up and down the grid to get some sliders. Big thanks to the Buildbase Suzuki boys because they found me a knee slider with just moments to go. I ran up to the 30 second board and I think my dad was just about to push the bike of the grid! So, a chaotic start but got my head down and tried to find some pace. The bike setup didn’t feel too great, and the conditions were a bit sketchy. The track was a bit green, and not a lot of grip in places. But we stuck our head down, tried to manage the gap, and did the best we could. Number one, well chuffed with that.”
Tom Tunstall (Motorcycle Race Parts #21) – 2nd
“It’s been a strange weekend for obvious reasons. I’ve got no track time, no information for Snetterton. It’s a tricky little circuit and track time has been limited and the weather has thrown a spanner in the works. It’s the first proper dry time and I was back in tenth. It was a bit sketchy, but I just tried to chip my way through, and be patient to find a rhythm. I’ve had quite a few second places this year and that one was a little more hard fought for, so I’m pleased. It’ll be nice to have a dry race tomorrow and see what we can do from there. But to be honest if you’d offered me a second place about an hour ago, I would have taken it, so I’m happy with that result.”
Phillip Atkinson (Q-Oil Treatments / Unique Motorsport #7) – 3rd
“Yeah, I nearly missed the grid. Bit of a strange one, I’ve never done that before. Luckily, they gave us a little bit of warning and said it’s a one off and don’t ever do it again. So that was a bit close. I haven’t ridden in the dry all weekend and haven’t ridden a Ducati at Snetterton for a number of years. In the warm-up it felt strange, and I thought maybe I wasn’t up to speed. In the race I could see David was going to go away and I knew Tom was coming. I tried to stay with him as best I could, but I just didn’t have a setting that felt right for now. So, we’ll make some changes for tomorrow and maybe go a little bit better in the dry and hopefully be a bit closer to the win.”
Race two
In a rerun of yesterday’s Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup race, Shoubridge once again led from pole to flag on the Rich Energy Ducati Panigale V2 to take his ninth win of the season.
Shoubridge was once again joined on the podium by Tunstall and Atkinson, who finished second and third respectively. Tunstall had dropped down the order to fourth in the early stages, but climbed back through the pack, while Atkinson won the battle for third to beat Davie and Tustin to the final podium position.
Lofthouse crossed the line in sixth, while Baker, who was absent in yesterday’s race, took seventh after initially lining up on the grid all the way down in 30th.
Jones and Savage finished eighth and ninth respectively, with Collins scoring a consecutive top ten finish.
Shoubridge has now opened a 23-point advantage at the top of the championship standings with a total of 245 points. Tunstall sits in second with 222 points, and Baker third with 131.
Action resumes later this month when the penultimate Ducati Cup round takes place at Oulton Park (23-25 September).
David Shoubridge (Rich Energy Ducati #86) – 1st
“It’s nice to get back to the front and open up a bit of a lead in front of the championship. It’s pretty sad when you’re going home and dropping points, but we’ve got everything to be happy about coming away from this weekend. The bike’s feeling really good. Ultimately my team have put together such a good bike, we just keep building and building and going better and better each time. Long may it continue. We’ve got two rounds left, four races to go, and it’s in our hands. We’ve got one finger on the championship trophy now and hopefully we’ll have our hand on it by the last round.”
Tom Tunstall (Motorcycle Race Parts #21) – 2nd
“A bit scrappy again. I gave myself a bit more work to do at the start. I was trying to make a change from yesterday but didn’t want to make a big jump because we were just into what was an eight-lap race. I’m certainly not going to say I gave Shouey a run for his money today, but I think if we were with him, we might have had a chance. There’s still more to come from me and the Ducati around here, I certainly don’t feel I’ve got the most out of it. Looking at the calendar Cadwell and Snetterton are my weakest rounds. It seems odd to say but I’m glad we got through them with a bunch of second places, so I’m happy enough with that. I’m enjoying riding the bike. We’ll make the most of the last four races and see what we can do.”
Phillip Atkinson (Q-Oil Treatments / Unique Motorsport #7) – 3rd
“That was a bit difficult, trying to get past that little kid [Davie]. He’s so quick out the turns and so late on the brakes, I pretty much knew if I couldn’t get past him, I was done. I got held up with him a little bit but to be fair he defended really well on the last lap. But he just over defended slightly so I got him up on the inside on the last corner and made it to the line. Thanks to Unique Motorsport, Q-Oil Treatments, and everyone else who helps out
