Dominant Brown takes hat-trick of wins in the Ducati TriOptions Cup at Donington
Robbie Brown takes hat-trick of victories at Donington Park and leads championship after remarkable performance
Hobbs loses championship lead with two DNF’s and a 7th place
Nutt moves into second place in the championship
James Egan rides from 19th to 9th in Superstock 1000
Robbie Brown took his first victory at Donington Park since clinching the Ducati 848 Challenge at the same venue back in 2012 following it up with a further two wins over the weekend. The former champion rode faultlessly all weekend to put himself in the mix as a title contender.
For championship leader and title holder Dennis Hobbs it was a disastrous weekend with two DNF’s in the first two races and a 7th in the final race of the day. The race 1 crash had a knock on effect with a technical fault only allowing Hobbs to complete a few laps in race 2 before having to pull in to the pit lane.
Leon Morris finished the weekend third in the championship with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th to move him ahead of team mate Dennis Hobbs.
Race 1
The race was a re-run of the postponed contest from Oulton Park three weeks ago where proceedings were disrupted by a large-scale contamination of the track surface. Brown undoubtedly made the most of the opportunity to get an extra race at one of his favourite circuits
Brown took victory by 2.428s from pole sitter Leon Morris, unfortunately for the Carl Cox Motorsport/ P&H Motorcycles team, Morris’ team-mate Dennis Hobbs took a tumble at the Esses from fourth place. It was a dominant victory for Brown who set several consecutive Ducati lap records around the historic Donington Park circuit on the Boast Plumbing machine. Marty Nutt was 5.8s behind Morris in third.
It was a close battle in the bottom half of the top ten, with Aaron Brown grabbing an impressive fourth spot ahead of former champion Darren Fry and the #94 bike of Greg Gilfillan. Phil Atkinson was just 0.3s away from stealing sixth over the line, as he ultimately he had to settle for seventh ahead of Cheetham, Lees and Ferns who rounded out the top ten.
Race 2
Robbie Brown made it a double win securing victory in the second Ducati TriOptions Race of the day for Boast Plumbing. The #43 rider didn’t get the strongest starts but soon recovered to take second place with sights firmly set on pole-sitter Rob Guiver.
By lap two, the Hyside Motorcycles rider soon had to settle into second place unable to mount a challenge for the lead. In the closing stages Guiver had to fight off a late surge from Leon Morris on the Carl Cox Motorsport/P&H bike as Morris made a last corner, last gasp lunge to try and take second, but ran wide on the exit allowing Guiver to sweep back through to take second bringing the race to a thrilling conclusion
Race 3
Robbie Brown was again in imperious form as he secured a hat trick of victories and also the championship lead. Brown could have not made a worse start from pole as he exited Redgate in 7th place. It was Morris who most benefited leading the chasing pack, however Brown soon made amends and was back up to 2nd by the end of the lap. By Lap 3 Brown had gone into the lead, followed by Nutt, Morris and Fry and was already putting in consecutive best laps to open a gap of nearly 3 seconds. For title holder it was proving to be a bad weekend as he struggled back in 7th place while his rivals accumulated championship points in front of him. Morris who was struggling to hold on to Brown ran on at the Esses and dropped back to fourth allowing Nutt and Guiver to take second and third.
Brown finished a remarkable weekend with a hat-trick of wins and as a new championship leader. The Ducati TriOptions Cup returns at Knockhill on July 3/4/5 for round 4.
Robbie Brown “I would have not expected to come out of this weekend with three wins and the championship leader. To be honest I wasn’t thinking about the championship, just to take every weekend as it comes. I’m amazed, I didn’t think I had the speed, even in the last race I was pushing but still felt like I had a bit left.”
Rob Guiver “After the earlier shenanigans of the weekend I am pleased with that. I was thrown out of the seat early on in the race and was a bit worried about the tyre so nursed it round a bit. I was a bit gutted because I felt I could run with the front runners but happy with the podium.”
Marty Nutt “I expected Robbie to be in the mix this weekend but I didn’t expect him to be that strong. There is one of a half a dozen of us who can win races and I have always included Robbie in that. The performance of Robbie was amazing he was in a different league. Pleased I dug in and got that second and kept the championship alive. I am pleased with the weekend, it’s all about podiums, podiums, podiums and mostly I achieved this.”
Leon Morris “I’m not too worried I’m not leading the championship, I concentrated on that last year and lost it. I am really just looking at race by race and trying to get the best result I can. Even though I didn’t make the podium in the last race I am pleased with the weekend overall. I struggled with brakes over the weekend and went on to gravel at the Esses in the last race. Robbie rode faultlessly so I don’t think anyone would have beaten him this weekend.”
In Superstock 1000 the MWR Motorsports rider James Egan had an impressive ride. After qualifying in 19th place, the South African managed to finish in the top ten in ninth place. In tricky conditions which saw spots of rain falling during the race, Egan made the most of the safety car to move from 13th to 9th in the closing stages.
James Egan said “I am getting a little frustrated with lack of track time we have on a Superstock weekend, obviously having a new bike and a new set-up we always find ourselves needing an extra couple of sessions to try more things. It would be ideal if we could do qualifying now (instead of it being the race). But coming from 19th to 9th shows the bike is working well and has good race pace especially towards the end of the race. We are planning some tests later and we have some good ideas of what we need and then we can put to bed the set-up”