Shoubridge holds off Tunstall to take victory in Race 1 at Oulton Park

David Shoubridge’s run of successive wins on the Rich Energy Ducati continued today after he notched up his fifth consecutive victory at Oulton Park.

The opening quarter of the Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup race took place behind the safety cars after an incident at Turn 1, with Phillip Atkinson (Q-Oil Treatments / Unique Motorsport) one of the riders out the action prematurely. 

As the race got properly underway it was championship leader Shoubridge out at the front, ahead of Tom Tunstall (Motorcycle Race Parts) and Blaze Baker (Trackdemons Racing Powered by HMY).

Halfway through the twelve-lap race saw the trio of Shoubridge, Tunstall and Baker gapping the rest of the field, but as the race progressed, Baker dropped back as technical issues hampered his progress. Race leader Shoubridge came under mounting pressure from Tunstall who looked to be lining up a last corner pass for the win, but a defensive line from Shoubridge saw the Rich Energy Ducati rider take the chequered flag to further extend his championship lead over Tunstall.

Baker brough his Panigale V2 home to take the final podium position, half a second ahead of Max Lofthouse (JDF Racing). 

Michael Tustin (AH Performance / Breckland Utility Solutions) finished fifth, with Mark Bridger (Moto46) completing the top six finishers.

David Shoubridge (Rich Energy Ducati) – 1st
“That was a tough race. I had to really dig in. I was determined to get the win. I really, really want to keep pushing and keep getting wins. Not thinking about the championship so much, or at least not when I’m on the bike. I broke my rib out in Bol d'Or, it’s been quote difficult to manoeuvre, it’s not so bad on the bike to be fair so not really an excuse for anything. I think that was a ‘40.4, which is roughly about as quick as I’ve gone round here anyway. 

I think it would be quite nice to learn a bit from Tom actually, he was giving me +0 all the way through so I knew he was on my tail. I was kind of expecting a last-minute lunge into Lodge on the last lap so was riding a bit defensive, trying to be calm and if he passed me, I was just going to let him go and see where he was going a bit quicker.

Really enjoyed that race, I love it round here, it’s like a rollercoaster, although not so much with broken ribs! We’ll go again and every dog has its day so I’m sure Tom will have some answers for me tomorrow. Well done to everybody else. And to Blaze obviously, to come here and get on the podium when he’s not seen the place before. I’m over the moon and have extended the lead in the championship. Long may it continue!”

Tom Tunstall (Motorcycle Race Parts #21) – 2nd
“I’ve had good pace all weekend here. Snetterton and Cadwell where I’ve not raced for five years so it’s nice to come back to a track that I’ve got more familiarity with. New with the Ducati but still a track I know better. I knew I would have a good race today and I knew Dave and Blaze were going to be there. On the back of Dave there were quite a few areas where I felt pretty strong. I’m a little bit frustrated. I had a couple of goes and arguably could have been a bit harder and there were a few other areas that I could of kind of had a crack. I probably played it as fair as I could today but there’s certainly more to come. Lap times at mid 40s are good and I felt in control behind him, so we’ll have to see how tomorrow pans out. But I’m certainly looking forward to it, and it’ll certainly be a good race for sure.”

Blaze Baker (Track Demons Racing Powered by HMY #51) – 3rd
“Oulton. What can I say? It’s another rollercoaster, absolutely gorgeous. Wheelieing and fighting the front end all the way through it. I absolutely loved it. We had good pace all weekend. The race was really good, and we got off to a good start. A few errors came up on the dash and it just made my race a little bit tough, I lost my traction and quickshifter but it’s nothing we can’t get sorted out for tomorrow. I felt like I had the pace to be up there and even fight for the win, so I think once we get those issues solved for tomorrow, we’ll be up there fighting for the win.”