Virgin Media Cup - Cadwell Park Race Result
David Paton displayed a mature head on broad young shoulders as he fought off the early challenges of Midge Smart to claim his second victory of the 2007 Virgin Media Cup at Cadwell Park today, 27 August.
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 David Paton displayed a mature head on broad young shoulders as he fought off the early challenges of Midge Smart to claim his second victory of the 2007 Virgin Media Cup at Cadwell Park today, 27 August. Temperatures began to drop as the clouds rolled in just before the riders took to the grid for the 9th round of the 2007 season. David Paton lined up on pole for the first time this season after the cancellation of his home round at Knockhill back in July where the young Scot had dominated all weekend. Race result calculations were firmly put to the back of the riders' minds as the lights went out at the start of the 12-lap race. Paton made a trademark lightning start to lead into the first corner, with Midge Smart in hot pursuit. Davy Haire, starting from his highest grid position on the outside of the front row, tucked into third for the opening exchanges. Rounding Barn for the third time for the start of lap 4, Midge Smart looked to have the legs on race leader Paton. The two had eked out a three second gap over the battle for third and the destiny of the win looked to be in their hands. Rounding Chris Curve, Smart's championship all but fell apart as the front-end of his Yamaha YZF-R6 tucked under, the Peterborough-based Kiwi crashing out and losing valuable championship points in the process. With clear track behind him, Paton systematically stretched out his lead in a lone race for the remaining eight laps, unaware of events unfolding in the battle for second place almost five seconds behind him. An eight-wheeler involving Toal, Haire, Brown and Brill swapped paint trying to squeeze every last ounce of power from their respective machinery. Davy Haire, riding the race of his season looked assured of third position but had other ideas. The 18-year old from Lisburn in Northern Ireland realised that he had the legs on Toal and made his move out-braking the championship leader into Park on the penultimate lap. Danny Brill took a similar opportunity when Robbie Brown left the door open to move into fourth. Common sense would have decreed that Toal would sit comfortably in third to claim 16 more points. However, a glimmer of rashness on the entry to the Hairpin on the final lap saw the Ulsterman clip the rear wheel of Haire putting himself onto the grass and back down to fifth. As the quartet exited the final corner, David Paton was already celebrating across the line. Davy Haire and Danny Brill completed the podium spots in second and third respectively - their highest results of a hard-fought season. The Virgin Media Cup moves on to a double-header at Donington Park in four weeks time (22/23 September). Midge Smart will be confident of a repeat of the double victory he posted at the Leicestershire circuit during non-point scoring races that accompanied the British MotoGP back in June. However, it appears that David Paton is the man on the move as the championship reaches a tense climax David Paton: "I just assumed that Midge was still there, I wasn't aware that he'd gone. This is an excellent result for me especially when you work out the net points. It's really closed the championship up and I now have a better chance of winning it." Davy Haire: "That was brilliant! I got a good start and just stuck with BJ to use him as a marker to see if I could go faster than him. I got him on the penultimate lap on the back straight. I think he touched my back wheel on the last corner and put himself back to 5th. This is my first time on the podium and off the front row and the first time at this track and I've really enjoyed it." Daniel Brill: "I worked really hard for it and I didn't expect that. I was catching BJ but didn't think I'd be able to pass him, as he's such a good rider. By the last corner I was panicking, I just needed to stay on for a good result. I couldn't believe that BJ made a mistake. I'm so happy to be on the podium" Niall Mackenzie, Cup Mentor: "That was unexpected! I knew that David Paton had a good chance of taking the win but fully expected BJ to ride to protect his championship - I thought he'd settle for third. A couple of excellent performances from Davy Haire and Danny Brill, and great to see two different riders occupying the podium. Paton has closed the gap on BJ at the front and with two races to drop still the gap is even tighter. The scene is now set for a fantastic climax to the season." Virgin Media Cup - Cadwell Park Race Result 1 - David Paton - Double M Racing 2 - David Haire - Electrical Wholesale Express 3 - Daniel Brill - Close Invoice Finance Racing 4 - Robbie Brown - Robbie-Brown.com 5 - BJ Toal - JB Plant Racing 6 - Leo Aldersley - Europa Racing 7 - Dane Hellyer - 8 - Dean Jones - James Racing 9 - Brad Howell - BH Racing 10 - Dan Smith - 11 - Danny Harrison - DannyHarrisonRacing.co.uk 12 - Ben Billard - BB Racing 13 - Ronan Quarmby - 14 - Leon Morris - CSC/Middleton Racing 15 - Yaron Salinger - DART 16 - Kyle Kentish - Kentish Racing 17 - Alastair Fagan - Alastair-Fagan.co.uk 18 - Josh Van Den Bos - Keyo Racing 19 - Grant Molloy - 20 - Steven Cusick - 21 - Claude McCullin - Not Classified - Dean Hipwell - Atherton & Godfrey Solicitors - Midge Smart - Championship Points 1-BJ Toal-166 2-David Paton-139 3-Midge Smart-132 4-James Webb-98 5-Robbie Brown-78 6-Dean Hipwell-76 7-David Haire-68 8-Leon Morris-67 9-Brad Howell-48 10-Daniel Brill-47 11-Alastair Fagan-46 12-Leo Aldersley-39 13-Dan Smith-36 14-Ben Billard-35 15-Dane Hellyer-35 16-Jay Fernandez-28 17-Daniel Frear-28 18-Danny Harrison-25 19-Dean Jones-25 20-Ross Connolly-12
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