Pole, fastest lap, and a third consecutive win for Rich Energy Ducati's David Shoubridge

Rich Energy Ducati’s David Shoubridge continued his dominant start to the 2022 Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup championship at Donington Park on Saturday with pole position, fastest lap and a third win on the bounce.

Shoubridge led for the race entirety but could not shake Tom Tunstall (Motorcycle Race Parts). Tunstall managed to close the gap to the race leader in the closing laps after Shoubridge started to suffer from arm pump but had to settle for a stong second place. Rounding out the podium was Phillip Atkinson (Q-Oil Treatments / Unique Motorsport) who makes a welcome return to the Ducati Cup series this year.

Max Lofthouse (JDF Racing), Michael Tustin (AH Performance / Breckland Utility Solution) and Mark Bridger (Moto46) completed the top six finishers. 

David Shoubridge (Rich Energy Ducati #86) - 1st
“That was a difficult race. Tom pushed me all the way to the end. I saw a little gap appearing at the start and thought I’d manage it. I was struggling with arm pump and it got the better of me. Five laps to go and I saw the gap was coming down so I knew someone was going quicker and I assumed it would be Tom. He’s got bags of experience, loads for me to probably learn from in fairness. As Tom gets used to the bike more and more, naturally he’s going to be giving me a proper good race. Hopefully we can go again tomorrow, looking forward to it.”

Tom Tunstall (Motorcycle Race Parts #21) – 2nd
“It was tantalising. Lost a bit of a gap at the start, I’m still pretty green with this bike. So, I just got that jump at the start, held it for most of the race, 1.5, 1.7. Shouey’s a class act on these bikes… He’s the benchmark at the moment. It’s good to be there, but maybe a lap or two more and we’ll see. But tomorrow’s another day.”

Phillip Atkinson (Q-Oil Treatments / Unique Motorsport #7) – 3rd
“The whole weekend has been a bit of a testing weekend. I’ve been on the back foot having not ridden for about two and half years on these bikes and coming back the new V2 is a little bit different as well. I’ve just been taking a bit of time to get used to things. Each time I’ve gone out we’ve made massive changes which is unlike me, but we needed to. Still a long way of the front where I need to be, but we’ll make some more changes and try again tomorrow. I’d just like to say a big thanks to Q-Oil Treatments and Unique Motorsport for giving me the chance to ride again and all my friends and family.”