Virgin Media Cup - Croft Race Result
James Webb took the opportunity of live ITV4 race coverage to secure his third victory of the 2007 Virgin Media Cup at Croft today, 12 August.
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 James Webb took the opportunity of live ITV4 race coverage to secure his third victory of the 2007 Virgin Media Cup at Croft today, 12 August. Lining up in pole position for the fifth time this season, Webb was beaten to the holeshot at the start of the reduced 10-lap race by the determined David Paton. The front four of Paton, Smart, Webb and Toal instantly broke clear of the field before Smart took the lead at the climax of the first lap. Despite a couple of ‘out of the seat' moments, Webb powered his Yamaha YZF-R6 into second on lap 2 and set about Midge Smart's lead. The 18-year old from Tonbridge Wells didn't have to wait long as he slid underneath Smart at Sunny Out two laps later and began to eke out an unassailable lead. David Paton continued to look for a way past Smart as the pace quickened mid-race. All four front-runners ducked underneath the 1:28s barrier, and Brendan Roberts' 2005 lap record, as the gap between BJ Toal in fourth and Dean Hipwell in fifth extended to over 7 seconds. Paton's chance of the second step on the rostrom looked to have slipped away as Webb and Smart easily passed back marker Claude McCullin. However, putting down the gas on the final lap, Paton left it until the Complex for his move but unfortunately for the young Scot, to no avail and he crossed the line in third just four tenths behind Smart.. James Webb crossed the finish line for his third win of the season, taking the new lap record of 1:27.442s in the process and most importantly another 25 points towards his Championship cause. Further down the field exciting events were unfolding around Croft's fast and technical 2.17mile circuit. Hipwell, Aldersley, Brill and Brown were locked in a four-way battle for fifth. Hipwell's experience shone through as he broke the tow to pull an eventual 2.7s gap. Danny Brill passed Aldersley for sixth on lap 7 and looked to have the position secured. As the riders entered the final lap, Aldersley crashed out at Hawthorn, leaving Robbie Brown to steal sixth and ten points at the end. BJ Toal kept in touch with the leading trio throughout the race, but with damage limitation on his mind, the Omagh rider took the mature decision to sit back and let proceedings unfold ahead. With two worst scores to still be dropped from total points, BJ Toal knows that Croft can be one and still retain a healthy lead as the Virgin Media Cup heads to Cadwell Park over the August Bank Holiday, 26 - 27 August. James Webb: "It was an exciting race from the start, I knew I had to push hard but I was quite surprised that Midge was right there as he'd been a fair way off me in practice. My aim for the rest of the season is to impress, realistically I doubt that I'll take the championship now but I'll ride my hardest till the end." Midge Smart: "It was an important race for me, I'd not been here testing and only qualified fifth. I managed to get to the front after the first lap so I was pretty happy with that. I knew Webby would be behind me, when he came by I knew that I couldn't make any mistakes to compromise my 2nd place in the championship and it was mission accomplished." David Paton: "For me it was a really average race from the beginning, there were no dramas there, I just needed to keep up with James and Midge. It's another strong finish for me which can only help my championship." Niall Mackenzie, Cup Mentor: "Another great race from the Virgin Media Cup, watching Webby was interesting with a few wild and scary moments but he's got nothing to lose compared with Midge and BJ who are protecting their championships. BJ had a 32 point lead going into the race so we didn't expect to see any heroics from him that may result in compromising his lead. The championship is closing up now and there is a real possibility that it will be very close at the end." Virgin Media Cup - Croft Race Result 1 - James Webb - Webb Racing 2 - Midge Smart - 3 - David Paton - Double M Racing 4 - BJ Toal - JB Plant Racing 5 - Dean Hipwell - Atherton Godfrey Solicitors 6 - Robbie Brown - Robbie-Brown.com 7 - Daniel Brill - Close Invoice Finance Racing 8 - Alastair Fagan - Alastair-Fagan.co.uk 9 - David Haire - Electrical Wholesale Express 10 - Brad Howell - BH Racing 11 - Dan Smith - 12 - Dean Jones - James Racing 13 - Danny Harrison - DannyHarrisonRacing.co.uk 14 - Ben Billard - BB Racing 15 - Kyle Kentish - Kentish Racing 16 - Yaron Salinger - DART 17 - Grant Molloy - 18 - Josh Van Den Bos - Keyo Racing 19 - Claude McCullin - Not Classified - Leo Aldersley - Europa Racing - Steven Cusick - - Ronan Quarmby - - Dane Hellyer - Championship Points 1 - BJ Toal - 117 2 - Midge Smart - 92 3 - David Paton - 82 4 - James Webb - 70 5 - Dean Hipwell - 54 6 - Leon Morris - 65 7 - Robbie Brown - 42 8 - David Haire - 33 9 - Alastair Fagan - 46 10 - Brad Howell - 35
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