Title fight decided in the final raceLeon Morris just misses outP&H/Carl Cox Motorsport pick up dealer laurels
Robbie Brown has secured his second Ducati TriOptions Cup crown after a thrilling final round at Brands Hatch this weekend (16/18 October). The 2012 champion added to his accolades, just pipping season-long rival Leon Morris in the final race of the 2015 season.
The Boast Plumbing-backed rider enjoyed a stellar season, scoring eight wins from the 16 races on the calendar, including an incredible triple victory at Donington Park on the World Superbike Championship supporting bill.
Triple winner in 2015 Morris ensured that come finals day the TriOptions Cup was the only series still to be decided, but despite his best efforts on the P&H/Carl Cox Motorsport 899 Panigale he couldn’t do enough to overhaul the deficit to Brown.
It was a tricky season finale, as early morning rain left damp conditions and a number of riders opted for different tyre strategies. While both Brown and Morris opted for a dry rear tyre, front-runner and overall third placed rider Rob Guiver gambled on a full wet set-up on his Hyside Motorcycles bike, and to begin with it looked to be the right decision.
Also having fitted full wets, Sean Neary and Aaron Brown also had wet Pirelli tyres fitted to their respective Paraplus and Penso/Ducati Coventry machines, and together with Guiver they stormed into an early lead.
Meanwhile it was a tense time for Robbie Brown and Morris, who traded places a number of times as the championship pendulum swung between them. As the race progressed the track dried, and both title protagonists began to pick up the pace. On lap seven of ten, Morris made a bold move into Paddock Hill bend moving from fourth to the lead, but as he pressed on a huge moment at Graham Hill bend on the same lap saw him run straight on.
As the #2 bike careered over the grass it was advantage Brown, and in true champions’ style he powered his way into the lead and went on to take victory and secure a second title to the delight of the Boast Plumbing squad.
In the end it was 19 points that separated the top two, and while Morris crossed the line fourth it was Guiver and a delighted Aaron Brown who rounded out the podium positions in the last race of 2015.
With the Ducati TriOptions Cup confirmed on the British Superbike Championship grid for 2016, it’s sure to be another season of sensational racing in the UK’s top one-make championship.
2015 Champion Robbie Brown said: “If you’re riding, you never really want it to go down to the last round, but it’s great for the spectators – I could barely even speak this morning and the weather made it even more difficult! Today was a gamble – I was holding my breath until Leon came onto the grid and saw that he had the same tyres on. At that point I knew that at least it would be a proper race – I wasn’t worried about anyone else, as long as we had the same tyres on it didn’t matter if it was the right or wrong choice, we’d both be in the same boat. To begin with I just followed him, if he passed someone I passed someone and I wasn’t too concerned about the finishing position as long as I was there behind him.
“When I saw him have the moment I thought that was my opportunity to really go for it, and when I saw the gap open up I started to relax a bit. The last lap was the longest lap of my life! Every little noise and vibration from the bike makes you think it’s gone wrong, but when I crossed the line it was just phenomenal. The guys at the front are not slow – it’s been a hard year and while we’ve won a lot of races but we’ve had to fight a lot of battles along the way. It’s great to win it, and I’m chuffed for everyone in the team.”
Second placed Leon Morris said: “It’s been a difficult weekend – Robbie has been so quick in every session and usually I like the wet but nothing has really hooked up. I made life difficult with poor qualifying, but at the end of the day it is what it is. Going by that race alone he’s a worthy champion – to win under those circumstances really isn’t easy. I knew what I had to do – I just had to go out there and win, but it was pretty obvious that Robbie and I had the right tyres and that all he’d need to do was shadow me. I pushed a bit to hard and made a mistake – it’s one of those thing and I’m massively disappointed. I don’t come here to finish second but sometimes you have to yield, and on the whole for the P&H/Carl Cox Motorsport team it’s been a mint year. It’s been good fun, we’ve won some races and we can’t just focus on this weekend. Hopefully we’ll be back to have another crack next year and I don’t fancy being runner-up again! The pace of the front pack is just incredible now and you have to have everything perfect to win in this class – so congratulations to the rest of the boys and I think we’ll have a go again next year.
Third placed Rob Guiver said: “There are some ifs and buts, but to be honest I’ve had an absolutely fantastic year in the TriOptions Cup. I’ve really enjoyed it, the racing has been really good, and maybe things could have been a bit different if we hadn’t had a few of the problems early on. The last race put a few demons to rest for me personally – I’d really lost my confidence in the wet so to come back like that and get on the podium is great. I’m so pleased to secure third, there have been lots of ups and downs over the year, we’ve scored wins, I’ve got a couple of the lap records so it’s been fantastic for me. Over the winter we’ll have to sit down and talk to the Hyside boys, but it’s looking pretty good that we’ll be back to have another go at it in 2016.
