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The 2008 Triumph Triple Challenge got underway with an outstanding opening race at the British Grand Prix venue of Donington Park on Easter Sunday. Josh Wainwright, Mark Cringle and Reece Rothwell took a win apiece in the Michelin Young Gun Trophy, while Mark Cheetham bagged a pair of victories, with Jack Sim the third in the TDG Cup.
In the Superpole race on Saturday afternoon, it was Bolton racer Rothwell who sealed the first TTC win of 2008. An incredible charge from further down the field by Tim Venables allowed him to snatch second place, with David Jones rounding out the Young Guns podium.
Mark Cheetham took the first of his two wins on Saturday afternoon, with Rhalf Lo Turco and Paul Hughes following him over the line. Cheetham made a repeat performance on Saturday morning, pulling off a superb late breaking pass on Lo Turco into the chicane on the last lap of race one. Behind them it was Jack Sim who was able to take third, after leading the race overall in the early, slippery laps.
“I’m really happy with that,” said Cheetham. “I went alongside Rhalf and we both came off the brakes a couple of times and I thought he might not make the corner and it gave me the chance to dive up the inside,” he added.
Josh Wainwright snatched a last lap victory from Mark Cringle as the latter struggled for grip over the closing stages of the race. Lance Carey was able to take third after dropping back from the second row in the early stages.
In the final race of the weekend, Sim once again made a blistering start to be in contention from the word go. By the time the field crossed the line at the end of lap two he had taken the lead and looked to have his head down towards victory. However, a slide coming out of Coppice two laps from the end allowed Cringle and Rothwell to be later on the brakes into the chicane and he would have to settle for the TDG Cup win rather than the glory on the road.
Scott Rowbottom had a great race to take third in the Young Guns points, ahead of Andrew Marriott, David Jones and Wainwright all battling for the final podium place of the weekend.
Reigning TDG Cup champion, Ricky Chadwick made up for the frustration of being taken out of the Superpole race earlier in the weekend to take second in race two, with Lo Turco making it a clean sweep of podium results with third place.
“”I’m really pleased to take victory in my first Triumph Triple Challenge event,” said Wainwright. “The track was really tricky at the start of the race and everyone was struggling on wets by the end of the race. My result in the second race wasn’t quite as good, but its more points at the end of the day and I’m concentrating on that at every round,” he added.
“I had a moment at Redgate at the start of the second lap in race one and I knew that Josh was there somewhere,” said Cringle. “I didn’t think I’d get enough drive onto the back straight and he had the drag on me into the braking area. There wasn’t much I could do about it to be honest.”
“I managed to make a break once I got past Jack in race two and get a bit of a gap to the others. I’m happy to take a win as I’ve never raced on Michelins before and I didn’t know what I’d be able to do on them at the start of the weekend,” he added.
The series now has a four-week break before the next round at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire on April 26/27.
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