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Duncan Knox put in his best performance of the season before a crowd of over 40,000 at Cadwell Park over the Bank Holiday weekend. A brace of TDG Cup wins consolidated his lead in the Championship with just two races left.
Running as part of the MCE British Superbike Championship programme meant there was just twenty minutes of free practice available for the Triumph Triple Challenge runners. Benefitting from his Supersport outing at the circuit two weeks before, the STP supported riders was fifth quickest in the session but was also conscious that the pace in qualifying was likely to be much faster.
With just the single 20 minute qualifying session and the narrow Cadwell track making overtaking difficult , changeable weather was the last thing the competitors needed. But rain 30 minutes before the session started left riders in a quandary over tyre choice. Duncan opted for dry tyres and sat out the first 10 minutes of the session.
When he finally came out, the track was still wet in places leaving him quickly doubting the wisdom of his decision but as he managed to generate some heat in the tyres his paced quickened. His best lap was good enough not just to top the TDG Cup standings but to place him 3rd quickest overall and claim a place on the front row of the grid.
When the lights went out to start the first race Duncan slotted into third place but soon found himself coming under pressure from some of the young guns competing in the Michelin Cup. The need for TDG Cup points meant Duncan had to curb his natural instinct to race with them. An eighth place finish still left him comfortably ahead of his TDG Cup rivals, doubling his Championship lead to 18 points in the process.
With race two taking place on Bank Holiday Monday, Duncan took his place on the front row of the grid once again but this time in front of the packed BSB crowd and with his own “Brolly Dolly” as well. Another good start saw him initially in third place once again before dropping to fourth, still 8 seconds ahead of his closest TDG Cup rival. For a second time Duncan had to forego the pleasure of battling it out with the young guns in favour of taking maximum Cup points and 7th place overall secured exactly that.
Leaving the Lincolnshire circuit with a 23 point advantage over championship rival Chad Hashmi, Duncan commented, “I had a plan for the weekend and it worked out perfectly. The weather played into my hands, although I took the risk and had to stay on the bike in the damp conditions while the others played it safe on full wets. I knew if I could put in a good qualifying it would give me a very good chance of scoring maximum points. Qualifying for a front row start at a BSB meeting was brilliant; I even got my own Brolly girl in her cat suit.”
And looking ahead to the championship finale at Silverstone he added, “The point advantage does not make me safe; however, I can finish 3rd in both races and still win the Championship. Beating Chad in the first race will get the job done early as the point difference will be greater than 25 points. It's been a mixed season with some high and low's and a bit of bad luck, but, I am now on a high and really looking forward to Silverstone and wrapping up the TDG Cup Championship.”