Scuderia Triumph report from Phillip Island
The Scuderia Triumph SC team had a weekend to remember after Australian Garry McCoy pulled off the performance of the weekend by battling for the podium after qualifying in 17th place.
The Scuderia Triumph SC team had a weekend to remember after Australian Garry McCoy pulled off the performance of the weekend by battling for the podium after qualifying in 17th place. The Scuderia Triumph SC squad pulled out all the stops for race day and McCoy repaid them for their efforts with a ride that had the 65,400-strong weekend crowd on their feet as he charged through the pack to the leaders.
After getting on the back of the fight for the podium, McCoy ran out of time to get to the front and had to settle for a morale boosting sixth position in only the Triumphs second ever world championship race. Teammate Illario Dionisi looked set for a strong result after upping his pace significantly in morning warm-up, but unfortunately a technical problem robbed him of the chance to show his true potential and he was forced to retire from the race on lap seven.
Garry McCoy said: "I’m pretty happy to have come from 17th to where we finished. At the start I was picking people off pretty much every corner but I could see the front group of guys pulling away and was concerned that I wasn’t able to go with them. When I had clear track though I began closing them down pretty fast and I honestly believe that if I could have got past them some how I could have gotten away. From what we’ve seen today I think the bike has got great potential. We’ve still got some work to do on it but if we can improve a few things and I can qualify better it’s easy to see how we could get some wins."
Ilario Dionisi said: "I got a good start and ended up just behind Garry, but then he started to pull away. The bike was feeling really good and I passed a few riders but then unfortunately I had the problem. My pace in warm-up was good and I felt confident that I could do the same in the race but I never really got the chance."
Team Manager Stefano Caracchi commented: "This was like a dream race for me because I did not think it was possible for Garry to do this. We know what a talented rider he is and with some more experience with the bike our potential is very high. Just two months ago we received a street bike so we must take things step by step. For sure we have had some difficult moments but also some great emotion so we will see what will happen during the rest of the season."
