Dan Cooper had a difficult few days of racing at the Metzeler Ulster Grand Prix this week with the Stroud rider experiencing mechanical problems in the Supersport class leaving him on the sidelines for the two races. However, he did salvage the week with a solid top ten finish around the high-speed Dundrod circuit in the opening Supertwins race on Thursday evening.
The event got off to the worst possible start for Dan when his recently acquired Supersport Honda expired on just the third lap of Wednesday’s practice sessions and that meant he had just the CMS Racing Kawasaki to ride in the two Supertwins races, the first of which was held on Thursday afternoon. Eighth in the early stages, Dan enjoyed a good three-man dice with Michael Sweeney and Christian Elkin and he eventually finished the five lap race in a strong ninth place.
Race conditions for Saturday’s feature Ulster GP races were a lot less favourable and it was almost 6pm in the evening before the Supertwins race came to the line. When it did, constant drizzle was forming with the wind speed also increasing and although Dan made a good start, lying in sixth at the end of the opening lap, he was forced to retire on the third lap with his tyres not suitable for the conditions.
Dan Cooper: “It’s been a tough few days and I was gutted with the Supersport machine expiring so early as it meant I only got two races all week. It also meant I missed out on a lot of track time but at least I had the Supertwin bike to still use and I did enjoy Thursday’s race. I was caught napping a bit in the early stages as everyone else had been out in all the other classes and was right on the pace but I had a good battle with a few riders out there and a top ten finish is always a good result given the standard of competition.”
“Unfortunately, we had the wrong tyres for Saturday’s race and the bike was weaving at high speed so it wasn’t safe to continue and pulling in was the only option. It’s a shame to have come to Northern Ireland and not be able to have a real good crack at things but that’s the way it goes and I’m looking forward now to the Classic TT where I’ll be kept busy with three different race bikes. It’ll be great to get back out on the Mountain Course so, hopefully, luck will be on our side and we’ll get plenty of laps in and some good results.”
Dan now heads straight to the Isle of Man where he’ll be riding in the 350cc, 500cc and F1 Classic TT races and having taken a podium in the former 12 months ago, he’ll be looking for more of the same this time around.
Picture by Jon Jessop Photography
