Dan Cooper's 100% record of Isle of Man TT finishes came to an end this afternoon when he was forced to retire from the second Monster Energy Supersport race when well placed.

The Stroud-based rider had finished every race since his debut in 2010 but handling problems with the Centurion Racing Triumph Daytona 675 forced him to pull into the pits at the end of the second lap.

Although he was running in 12th place in the early stages of the four lap race, it was clear the 26-year-old former British 125cc champion wasn't able to put in his usual performance as an opening lap of 120.531mph left him down in 17th place and almost 2mph off his usual pace. Sure enough, his race didn't last much longer and he pulled in at the end of the second lap and retired.

Later in the day, Dan went back out on the Centurion Racing Honda Fireblade for a lap of practice for Friday's Pokerstars Senior and a lap of 122.77mph placed him in 18th place for the blue-riband six lap race.

Dan Cooper:

"The handling wasn't the greatest during Monday's first Supersport race but I could still lap at a good pace so we made a few changes for today to try and improve things. Unfortunately, we went the wrong way and the bike was weaving when I was running at high speed which happens quite a lot around here! I wasn't going to achieve anything so I pulled in to the pits to retire. It's a shame my 100% record of finishes has come to an end but that's racing and we'll look to put things right in the Senior TT."


Paul Rees, Team Manager:

"The Supersport class has traditionally seen our best races and best results but sadly that came to an end today. The bike just wasn't handling well for Dan so he made the right decision and pulled in. It was the sensible thing to do and there's always another day so we'll come back on Friday for the Senior TT and give it our all then. The practice lap went well, the Superbike's working well and we know he will ride well too so we'll be looking to finish on a high."


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 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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