Stroud's Dan Cooper and the Cornwall-based Centurion Racing team enjoyed an excellent first day of racing at the Vauxhall International North West 200 road races on Thursday where the 25-year-old rider took an excellent eighth place in the opening Ballymoney Borough Council Supersport race on the Centurion Racing Triumph Daytona 675R.

After solid performances in qualifying, Thursday's race saw difficult, wet conditions but Cooper worked his way steadily through the pack and after starting from 18th on the grid, he was duly rewarded with eighth place at the end of the five laps, a superb result in just his second, and the team's first appearance on the 8.9-mile Antrim coast circuit.

With conditions improving into the evening, Cooper then took out the Centurion Racing Honda Fireblade Superstock machine and with the sun shining, the circuit ended up being 90% dry. Starting from the second wave of riders, the former 125cc British Champion found himself battling with BSB stars Josh Brookes and Simon Andrews as well as Brian McCormack, who he enjoyed a good battle with at last year's Ulster Grand Prix, and at the end of the six laps he took a fine 15th place.


Dan Cooper:

"It's been nice to get racing again and to get the results has been really pleasing, particularly as everyone else has had plenty of track time at the British Championship rounds. It's only my second time here and first on a 1000cc bike but the circuit's coming to me all the time and eighth in the Supersport race, ahead of some top class road racers, was really pleasing especially as I had a bit of a visor problem and the gearing wasn't quite right. The weather hasn't been the greatest so it made conditions hard to judge but it improved all the time and it's been a good first day."

Paul Rees, Team Principal:

"It's our first venture here and we're all over the moon with Dan's results today. As always, Dan rode both professionally and maturely and whilst we felt confident he'd get a good result in the Supersport race, to get eighth was superb. The lap times on the Superstock bike were good and getting better all the time so it was a strong 15th place. The team have worked really, really hard not only these last few days but also over the last few weeks and that's shown in Dan's performances. We're looking forward to Saturday now and have our fingers crossed for some good weather!"


Live coverage is available online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sportni and on BBC Radio Ulster 92-95FM and 1341MW. Viewers can also tune into BBC Northern Ireland (Sky Channel 953) for the preview programme tonight at 22.35 with the hour long highlights programmes being screened on Sunday May 19th May at 22.25 and Monday 20th May at 22.35.

As in previous seasons, Centurion Racing will continue 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 Silkolene Oils, Arai, FTR, GPR Racewear, Dunlop, RichArt, R2 Logo Print & Embroidery, Akrapovic, SW Commercials, 2K Coachworks and Daytona for personally supporting Dan, and all our friends and followers.



Pictures courtesy of Derek Clegg
.