Podium for McDougall at Oulton
05-05-2008
British Supersport Cup
Round 2, Oulton Park, 5th May 2008
Race - 12 laps
Beowulf Racing's Pat McDougall (Yamaha) picked up his first podium of the season with a fine third place in the second round of the British Supersport Cup at Oulton Park today. His rostrum finish also moved him up into fourth place in the Cup championship standings with 27 points.
The Supersport Cup is a "race within a race" in the main British Supersport Championship for the privateer riders who receive no direct factory support or assistance.
The weather has played a huge part in this year's Cup championship so far - the snowbound opening round at Brands Hatch had to be cancelled whilst the next outing at Thruxton was a mixture of winds, showers and sunshine throughout the weekend.
With today's race coming on the back of a shower, the pattern looked set to continue. Consequently, the team left their final tyre selection until Pat had completed his sighting lap of the 2.7-mile Cheshire circuit. With the track still wet but drying, the decision was made to run with a wet front tyre and dry rear. In the end it was to make no difference: the race was stopped after three laps to allow the medical team to tend to the fallen Alan O'Connor (Honda).
With a dry line now appearing for the 12-lap re-run, the decision was made to switch completely to dry tyres. McDougall made a blinding start, climbing from 28th place to 17th by the end of the first three laps. Relegated a position by the Triumph-mounted Paul Young on lap seven, Pat looked set for a 18th place finish until the final lap when he was passed by Sam Owens (Honda). His podium though remained secure - in terms of the Cup entrants Pat was the third rider to finish.
It's now just six days until the next race. Brands Hatch hosts the rescheduled opening round on Sunday. The Kent circuit is McDougall's favourite track and with his second-placed Qualifying position still standing from the original outing, the Guildford-based rider is confident of putting in another good performance.
Pat McDougall, Beowulf Supersport Cup rider
"Originally we took a gamble on tyres with a wet front and dry rear, whereas a lot of the other riders were on full wets. With the track drying I think it would have paid off and I would have pulled through quite strongly as the race went on. For the re-run I got a good start and made sure I didn't make any mistakes and crash on the first lap. I got into my rhythm, enjoyed the race and ended up on the podium. I want to make sure I'm on the rostrum at every meeting and I can't wait for the next round."
David McDougall, Beowulf UK Team Manager
"We're obviously very pleased with the podium. It's been another hard weekend in terms of more unbelievable weather conditions - we've been through every combination of tyre possible. It's great in terms of bike development but it does add a lot to the workload. We finished a comfortable third, 20 seconds ahead of the next Cup rider. We now want to develop the bike further and get on terms with the Cup riders in front of us and then score points in the main championship. Let's just hope that the next round at Brands is either completely wet or completely dry."
British Supersport Cup
Rd 02 Race Result - 12 laps
1. Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) - 20:29.231
2. Andy Weymouth (Yamaha) - 20:38.434
3. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 20:54.497
British Supersport Championship
Rd 02 Race Result - 12 laps
1. Glen Richards (Triumph) - 20:04.775
2. Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) - 20:05.069
3. Ian Lowry (Suzuki) - 20:12.765
19. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 20:54.497
British Supersport Cup
Current Championship Standings
1. Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) - 50pts
2. Andy Weymouth (Yamaha) - 40pts
3. Alistair Fagan (Triumph) - 29pts
4. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 27pts
British Supersport Championship
Current Championship Standings
1. Glen Richards (Triumph) - 45pts
2. Steve Brogan (Honda) - 36pts
3. Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) - 33pts
McDougall remains third following morning warm-up
05-05-2008
Beowulf Racing's Pat McDougall remains in third place following this morning's ten-minute warm-up session for today's 16-lap British Supersport Cup race at Oulton Park. However, he has climbed to the 18th fastest rider in terms of the overall Supersport standings.
McDougall completed six laps around the 2.7-mile Cheshire circuit. His fastest was his last, timed at one minute 43.164 seconds.
Good weather is predicted for this afternoon's race, but at the moment conditions are decidedly overcast.
McDougall qualifies third for Supersport Cup race at Oulton Park
04-05-2008
British Supersport Cup
Rd 02 - Oulton Park, 4th May 2008
Final Qualifying Positions
Beowulf Racing's Pat McDougall constantly battled against changing weather conditions and a host of machinery modifications at Oulton Park today to blast the squad's Yamaha YZF-R6 into third place in the standings for tomorrow's 16-lap race in the British Supersport Cup. McDougall's time of one minute 42.129 seconds is just two-hundredths of a second behind the second-placed Cup rider Andy Weymouth (Yamaha) and puts him in 21st place on the grid in terms of the main Supersport championship.
Following a series of rainstorms and a lengthy delay to the start of the opening Qualifying session this afternoon, Pat splashed his way to 6th place in the Cup standings and 24th overall. Having to contend with a still-wet circuit Pat looked set to log his best time on his final lap of the 35-minute period but was thwarted by a near-highside at Lodge corner, which he rescued extremely skilfully. Instead, his twelfth lap remained as his best, timed at one minute 53.447 seconds.
In the interval before the second Qualifying session the Beowulf crew tore in action to remove a faulty wiring loom and quickshifter. Working to a deadline with no margin for error, the task was completed with the squad's trademark efficiency.
The second session was held under overcast, but dry, conditions. After an early tyre change, McDougall really began to pile on the pressure and was running in seventh place overall at the halfway point. Another pit stop to adjust his machine's suspension saw him continue to increase his speed in terms of the Cup riders, but many of his factory-backed competitors upped their pace further still. At the end of the 35 minutes McDougall had climbed his way through to third in the Cup standings and 21st overall, which he thought was a fair reward for the efforts of himself and the squad.
The team are looking forwards to Monday's race with confidence. With settings logged for both wet and dry conditions around the 2.7-mile Cheshire circuit, the unpredictable weather which has so far plagued the 2008 Supersport Cup series shouldn't be a factor in tomorrow's second-round outing.
Pat McDougall, Beowulf Supersport Cup rider
"My intention today was to get into the low 1.42's and we've achieved that. Andy Weymouth and myself are so close on times, we should have an interesting race tomorrow. We've made lots of changes today, which have improved the bike but there's still a problem with front-end chatter, which I reckon we can sort out tonight. Overall I'm happy and I'm ready for tomorrow's race come rain or shine."
David McDougall, Beowulf UK Team Manager:
"It's been typical British Superbike weather today - we weren't sure whether to run wet or dry tyres or somewhere in-between. From a development point of view though, that's no bad thing - we're really getting to grips with how the bike operates under a host of different conditions. We improved our time today by almost a second from what we achieved in yesterday's dry practice sessions which is pretty good when you're pushing as hard as we are. I'm really not worried about tomorrow's race - we've got the settings for either wet or dry conditions."
British Supersport Cup
Rd 02 Qualifying Positions
1. Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) - 1:40.741
2. Andy Weymouth (Yamaha) - 1:42.105
3. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 1:41.129
British Supersport Cup
Rd 02 Qualifying Positions
1. Chris Martin (Kawasaki) - 1:39.661
2. Glen Richards (Triumph) - 1:39.712
3. Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) - 1:39.948
21. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 1:41.129
Sponsors
Team Beowulf Racing.
StoneBaker Racing contests the 2008 World Superbike European Superstock 600 championship with riders Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea.
We have just recorded our second-best result of the year with Gino Rea taking the runner-up spot at Brands Hatch. In the championship standings, Gino currently lies fourth and Dan fifth.
There is now a month-long break in the series before the action resumes at Donington Park between September 5th-7th.
