Dynavolt Triumph endured a weekend of dejection in front of a sell-out home crowd for round six of the FIM Supersport World Championship at Donington Park in the UK.

Harry Truelove had the misfortune to retire from both of the weekend’s races. Qualifying in 22nd position with a respectable time of 1’32.206, the British rider crashed out of the first race on Saturday at turn 12 on lap 2, severely winding himself as a result.  Truelove was passed fit for race two on Sunday but was forced to pull in on lap 12 of the 19-lap race after suffering arm pump as a result of overcompensating for the pain from his bruised ribs.

Harry Truelove: “Not an ideal weekend. We started off on Friday struggling a little bit but then I think as the weekend went on we found a bit more confidence in the front end of the bike and I was feeling a bit more like I should be able to ride.  Then race one, I felt better, I felt more confident, then I had a crash quite early and bashed myself about which wasn’t ideal. Today I’m feeling a bit rough, my back is killing me and four/five laps in I could barely feel my arm anymore and I think I’m trying to pull the bike with my arms rather than using the rest of my body and it’s locked my arm up.  One thing went wrong in race one and it compounded for race two which is unfortunate but that’s how it goes.”

Teammate Niki Tuuli’s frustrations persisted throughout the weekend despite qualifying on the second row in sixth position.  The Finnish rider once again consistently posted competitive lap times but was unable to convert his speed to results and finished the two races in fifteenth and twelfth respectively.

Niki Tuuli: “For sure the weekend wasn’t what we wanted. I think the only good thing was qualifying I managed to make a good lap time but that is the problem, this morning I made the same lap time, in the race I made the same lap time but I can’t go faster. I just don’t know how to ride this bike to go faster or even to ride well.  At the moment every time I start to struggle I lose the feeling completely. The last two weekends, at the end I have the same feeling, I just cannot ride well I don’t know what to do really, I’m really sorry about that, I’m trying but I just cannot feel good enough to be fast. That’s it.”

Dynavolt Triumph Team Manager Simon Buckmaster: “A hugely disappointing home round for us. Niki in practice was good he was right there on the second row and in both races it just didn’t happen. We can look at bike settings but realistically Niki never put it together and was just pegged back. It was improved in race two but still nothing like the level that he is capable of and what he needs to be to do justice to us and all our partners.  Harry again, qualifying was ok and a good start in race one, he was up inside the top twenty and was a bit too eager on the throttle exiting Goddards and crashed injuring himself.  He tried to ride in race two but the fitness level wasn’t there and he had to pull in. That’s a shame for him but we have to look forward to build again for the next race in Imola.  I just want to say it was a very disappointing weekend and I’m sorry to everybody that is involved with us.”