Oxford Tag Triumph over adversity

During a difficult weekend that saw more red flags in the Supersport class than in any other, the Oxford Tag Triumph team managed to keep a secure foothold on third and fourth place in the Fuchs-Silkolene Supersport Championship standings despite suffering the cruel blow of two injured riders.

Both riders were unable to take part in Sunday’s main feature race with the team’s up-and-coming Cup rider, Shaun Winfield being taken out in a three bike pile-up on the first lap of Saturday’s sprint race at Paddock Hill Bend while Billy McConnell made a rare error in Sunday’s morning warm-up and high-sided on the exit of Graham Hill Bend.

Both suffered relatively minor injuries, with Winfield sustaining damage to his elbow and extensive bruising all over his upper body, while McConnell broke the first metacarpal in his right hand forcing the medical team to declare him unfit to compete, despite the tough Aussie’s protestations.

The weekend started brightly for McConnell, finishing free practice second overall just a few tenths off series leader, Ben Wilson before qualifying and finishing fifth in the first sprint race, less than three tenths off the podium. Similarly, Shaun Winfield had been taking big chunks out of his lap times throughout practice and qualifying and was looking to move forward in the championship from a solid third place.

With just two riders fit for Sunday’s main race, the focus was on Paul Young and Christian Iddon, both of whom had struggled with set-up throughout practice and qualifying, finishing Saturday’s sprint race down in eleventh and sixteenth respectively.

After much head scratching and poring over data, several overnight changes were made. Both riders found some pace in morning warm-up and with the team’s focus firmly fixed on the two remaining riders for Sunday’s main feature race the mood was a positive one.

A first lap crash resulted in a pile-up involving four riders that brought out the red flags. The race was restarted only for a second red flag due to another incident causing the race to be delayed to allow the Superbike race to go ahead on schedule.

Eventually, the race was restarted and Youngy and Iddon both got off to a great start, matching the leaders’ times in the early stages of the race before settling into a rhythm and finishing a difficult weekend with solid fifth and sixth place finishes and a good points haul that now sees Youngy just seven points off McConnell’s third place in the championship.

Billy McConnell #75

“I’m obviously very disappointed to have made such a schoolboy error – first flying lap, third corner and first left hander and I just gave it too much throttle, it’s as simple as that. It’s such a shame as we were on the pace and improving all the time, so I just feel like I’ve let the team down. I think I could have gone for the win today but it’ll have to wait until Cadwell now – my hand is pretty sore at the moment but it’s only a broken metacarpal so I’m sure it’ll be fine in three weeks time.”