Despite glorious weather conditions, the 2013 Isle of Man TT races ended on somewhat of a damp note for Stroud's Dan Cooper and the Cornish-based Centurion Racing Team when the former 125cc British Champion was forced to retire because of his existing shoulder injury at the end of the second lap of Friday's Pokerstars Senior TT race.

After the initial race was red flagged due to a racing incident on Bray Hill, a full six-lap restart took place at 4.30pm and a fine start on the Centurion Racing Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade saw Dan lap at 123.637mph, just short of his personal best lap set earlier in the week in the Dainese Superbike TT race, and slot into an encouraging 19th place.

However, the shoulder injury he suffered on the last lap of Saturday's race, whereby the 26-year-old dislocated it following a huge moment which meant he had to stop and pop it back into joint, began to affect him and fearing another such issue, he thought it wise to pull in and retire having slipped back to 31st place.


Despite the disappointment, it was a very successful week for Dan and the Centurion Team as after competing in five races during the course of the week, 'Ferret' took a best finish of 10th and a silver replica in the first Monster Energy Supersport TT before recording a 15th place in the Royal London 360 Superstock TT and 29th in the Dainese Superbike TT where two bronze replicas were added to the collection.

Paul Rees:

"It's disappointing to have ended the week with a second retirement and although Dan started the Senior TT in an excellent fashion, he did the right thing and pulled in after sensing problems in his shoulder once more. He did the right thing as no-one wanted him to suffer another dislocation and further discomfort. Overall, we're very pleased with the two weeks here on the Isle of Man and I'm over the moon not only with the results and lap speeds he's produced but also with the entire team effort. We're all very enthusiastic and are already looking forward to returning to the TT in 2014."

Throughout the event, Centurion Racing continued to show their support for Help for Heroes, their chosen charity, by displaying H4H logos on the bikes and team attire. Team Principal Paul Rees, who spent 20 years in Her Majesty's Royal Marine Commandos, was given permission to have the bikes carry the H4H logos in order to encourage the public to be more aware of this charity that supports our Armed Forces, many of whom are making daily sacrifices in Afghanistan.


Centurion Racing would specially like to thank Arai, FTR, GPR Racewear, Dunlop, RichArt, R2 Logo Print & Embroidery, Akrapovic, SW Commercials, 2K Coachworks, Fuchs Silkolene and Daytona for personally supporting Dan, and all our friends and followers.


Picture by Mark Walters.

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