Triumph ends year with top 10 finish in Portugal

Monday, November 3, 2008

Triumph ended its first season in the Supersport World Championship with yet another top ten finish for BE1 Racing’s Mark Aitchison.

The brand new Portimao circuit in Portugal was the venue for the final round of the championship and, after several days of torrential rain in practice, the riders were greeted with sunshine on race day. Starting from 14th on the grid, Australian Aitchison was involved in a tough battle with former world champion Fabien Foret and eventually crossed the line ahead of the factory Yamaha man. Aitchison’s result was Triumph’s seventh top 10 finish of the 13 round series and maintains the Daytona 675’s impressive record of scoring points in each world championship race.

Gary McCoy made his comeback after almost four months out through serious injury. Riding for BE1 following the withdrawal of Triumph-SC, the Australian got quicker throughout the weekend – improving his 20th place on the starting grid to score three world championship points for 13th place.

With McCoy joining the squad, BE1 entered three bikes for the first time. Third rider Ivan Clementi came home outside the points in 21st places after struggling to find a good set-up in the wet conditions.

The race brings the curtain down on an excellent racing season for the Daytona 675, with national championship wins in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. In the world series, McCoy and Aitchison each grabbed a best finish of sixth place to take Triumph to fourth in the manufacturer’s championship, finishing ahead of former champions Kawasaki.

The 2009 Supersport World Championship kicks off on March 1 at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.