Cal Cooper plundered his third start to finish victory in the BSB 600 Superstock championship at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
The lanky 17 year old from Ramsey was again in a class of his own as he further enhanced his growing reputation as one-to-watch in the final outing in the 12-race series in which he finished third overall.
Supported by the IoM Sport Institute, Paul Dedman Performance and Dean Teversham Flooring of Dorset, Cooper survived a wicked high-side halfway through the 12-lap race that drew gasps and then cheers from the crowd as the former British youth motocross champion wrestled the CF Motorsport R6 Yamaha back into shape on the aptly named Cooper Straight.
In a highly-charged afternoon, Cooper endured stomach-wrenching anxiety as the weather refused to play ball, suddenly changing before his mid-afternoon battle and again flooding the track, which had almost totally dried just as dramatically for the previous race.
With dry tyres fitted, the CF Motorsport crew rapidly switched to wets with little time to spare, and with a bare amount of time spent on wet settings, mainly in Saturday’s second qualification, Cooper had every right to feel a little apprehensive as he took his place on pole.
But those worries soon evaporated and Cooper, who had gone well inside his own lap record in the first qualifying session in the dry on Friday, which he led by one second, hole shot the race and by the end of the first rain soaked lap was just under 1.5 seconds ahead of the next man.
His lead increased significantly on lap two and he crossed the line with a near five second advantage. Remaining cool, calm and collected, he was nearly six seconds better at the end of lap three and then maxed out at 7.9 seconds on lap eight.
Of the near disaster, Cooper, who suffered a gashed leg, said: ‘Instinct just came into play I guess and fortunately the Yamaha landed back in a straight line.’
Cooper, who made it six podiums in succession allied to two lap records and a brace of runner-up berths, added: ‘I owe everything to my parents, they have sacrificed so much to help make this happen. It’s been a roller coaster season. Craig Fitzpatrick (CF Motorsport principal) reckons I could have won the title had I been with him from the start of the championship.
‘We tried our own set up with a Kawasaki, and while it worked to a point, Craig, the mechanics and the Yamaha were just what I needed. However there were three non-scoring races, two of them with Craig, one of which was my fault.
‘I am very pleased to have done what I’ve done and want to thank Craig, Neil Hodgson,my mum and dad, other family members and friends for their support and encouragement.’
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