Centurion Racing's Daniel Cooper was denied a top 15 finish in today's Dainese Superbike TT race when a dislocated shoulder on the final lap dropped him from 14th to 29th place.
Aboard the Newquay-based 1,000cc Centurion Racing Honda Fireblade in the first of the 2013 Isle of Man TT solo races, the 26-year-old from Stroud suffered the freak injury when he got into a tank slapper through Kirk Michael village at over 150mph but managed to bring the bike to a halt before manipulating his shoulder back into place and completing the lap.
After a 45-minute delay, the six-lap race finally got underway at 3pm and a brilliant first lap saw him record a new personal best of 123.877mph which moved him up to 18th place on the leaderboard.
Another near 122mph lap on the second lap meant he was able to consolidate his position and with a solid pit stop, the race entered its second part.
Despite a 121mph lap on his fourth lap, Cooper slipped back to 20th but a superb second pit stop at the end of lap four saw him jump up the leaderboard to 14th place at the end of lap five, just two seconds behind fellow Honda rider Simon Andrews.
With just one lap to go, the former 125cc British champion was looking good for an excellent top 15 position but suffered the injury half way around the final circuit losing over three minutes and dropping down to 29th at the flag, just missing out on a bronze replica.
Cooper said: "I was really enjoying the race but after the bike got into a bit of a tank slapper through Kirk Michael village, half way round the last lap, my shoulder popped out and I had to stop.
"I pulled up at Rhencullen, put the shoulder back into place and then went to set off only for the marshals to stop me. I eventually managed to get going but had obviously lost a lot of time so just brought the bike home.
"It's a real shame that it happened as the race was going so well. The bike was working superbly and I set a new personal best lap so for my first ride on a Superbike, it couldn't have been going any better. I'm a bit stiff and sore now but we'll be ready in time for tomorrow's races."
Paul Rees, Team Manager said: "As always, we couldn't be happier with how Dan's ridden today but for his shoulder to pop out of its joint is a completely freak occurrence and something that couldn't be avoided.
"The main thing is that he's OK and he should be fine for the rest of the races but we're all disappointed to finish 29th after running 14th with just one lap to go.
"The positives are that Dan was riding well, the speeds were good, the bike was working well and the team did a great job in the pit stops so everyone did a good job today."
As in previous seasons, Centurion Racing will continue to show their support for Help for Heroes, their chosen charity, by displaying H4H logos on the bikes and team attire.
Team Principal Paul Rees, who spent 20 years in Her Majesty's Royal Marine Commandos, was given permission to have the bikes carry the H4H logos in order to encourage the public to be more aware of this charity that supports our Armed Forces, many of whom are making daily sacrifices in Afghanistan.
Centurion Racing would specially like to thank Arai, FTR, GPR Racewear, Dunlop, RichArt, R2 Logo Print & Embroidery, Akrapovic, SW Commercials, 2K Coachworks, Fuchs Silkolene and Daytona for personally supporting Dan, and all our friends and followers.
