Collier wins his second double of the season at Snetterton
Double podiums from Collier, Guiver and Day
Collier extends his Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup championship lead
Joe Collier continued his dominant form over his rivals with another double win in the Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup at a sun drenched Snetterton circuit. Despite claiming his fourth consecutive win, the Boast Plumbing rider was pushed throughout the weekend by his nearest challenger Rob Guiver.
Race 1
It was Levi Day (Boast Plumbing) who claimed the holeshot from third on the grid to hold a brief lead from Joe Collier (Boast Plumbing) as the riders headed into Riches. Despite a front row grid position, Rob Guiver (Ducati Hyside / Romford Racing) suffered clutch issues resulting in a poor start and dropping back several places allowing Sean Neary (Zoek Racing Team) to move up from 4th to 3rd.
By half race distance Collier was leading ahead of Neary, while Guiver had moved up through the field and passed Day to take 3rd. Guiver then went on to pass Neary and hunt down Collier.
On Lap 9 Collier set a new lap record with a time of 1:53.750 and finally crossed the chequered flag to take his 3rd Ducati Cup win in a row, with Guiver and Day in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Louis Dawson (Ducati Wolverhampton) was the top 899 finisher in 11th place.
Race 2
The start of race 2 was a repeat of race 1 with Day again making the best start leading into the first turn briefly before Collier took to the front. Guiver was then immediately into second, determined to take the race to Collier and soon passed the championship leader to lead.
It soon became obvious that the battle would be between these two as the chasing pack of Day, Neary and Highsparks Motorsport teammates Phil Atkinson and Mark Cheetham could only watch as they pulled away. Despite Guiver leading and trying to pull a gap, Collier was having none of it and set a fastest lap of the race, Guiver straight away responded with his own fastest lap.
The battle for the win was nicely set up at half distance for a thrilling climax. Unfortunately, AOR/A13 Steel’s Ieva Baublyte suffered a blown engine, leaving oil on the track which saw the red flag come out, bringing the race to a premature end and a second win of the weekend for Collier. Guiver had to settle for 2nd and Levi Day 3rd with Ducati Wolverhampton’s Louis Dawson claiming top 899 finisher for the second time of the weekend.
Joe Collier (Boast Plumbing #4) – Race 1 1st, Race 2 1st
“It was a good race. Unfortunately, I dropped back to 2nd on the first lap. We reeled the cloth and it was completely different to the feeling we’d had so it took a couple of laps to get used to. And Rob had got really good pace and I was behind Rob and didn’t see any need to make any rash moves so early on in the race. So, I sat behind Rob and then I felt we could make a break so I went for it. Luckily, I went at that time because the red flag came out on the next lap. So, if I left it any later it might not have been the win. All in all, a mega weekend.”
Rob Guiver (Ducati Hyside / Romford Racing #13) – Race 1 2nd, Race 2 2nd
“I was gutted to lose Race 2 in that way, I had been waiting for so long to finally have a race with Joe and it was set up perfectly and unfortunately the red flag ruined it. We have had a good weekend so I can’t complain, we had a lot of problems at Oulton Park which we have sorted out. To be honest I had to question if I had the confidence to ride fast again because I had three really big crashes that played on my mind quite a bit. So, to come here and be as strong as I was and have two good podiums as we head to Brands, hopefully me and Joe can finally have that race that has been brewing.”
Levi Day (Boast Plumbing #57) – Race 1 3rd, Race 2 3rd
“That was good. It’s been hot all day but thankfully I’m a bit used to that! It’s been nice, the last 3 races have been 3 podiums so hopefully we can get the ball rolling and find that little edge to get with Joe and Guiver at the front there. We’re chipping away. From the start of the season to where we are now we’ve made some big improvement so just keep that happening for Brands Hatch in a few weeks’ time and get it rolling!”