Stuart Mitchell chalked up his first race win in the 2008 Triumph Triple Challenge as he took a superb victory in the Superpole race at Silverstone this afternoon (24 May). The Michelin Young Gun challenger overcame an early battle with Tim Venables to claim the win as Jack Sim took the honours in the TDG Cup class.

As the lights went green at the start, it was series leader Mark Cringle and Sim who got the best start, but by the end of the lap it was Venables, Sim and Mitchell who crossed the line in the top three places.

By the end of lap two, Mitchell had moved onto the tail of Venables and the pair looked set for a race long battle to the chequered flag. Mitchell took the lead by the end of the lap but he was soon to have an easy cruise to the line as Venables went down at the chicane on lap three.

From that point onwards, it was a cruise for Stuart to his first win of the year.

“I’m really happy about that,” he said. “I didn’t get a very good start and had a bit of a highside on the second lap but managed to get back in the seat and carry on. I managed to get past Tim and when he went down I could hear his bike going along the ground behind me, I was waiting for it to hit me and take me with it!

“It felt really comfortable and easy after that and I’m hopeful I can do the same again tomorrow,” he added.

Behind him, Jack Sim managed to keep himself ahead of the battle for second in the Michelin Young Guns, between Josh Wainwright and Mark Cringle. Sim crossed the line for an easy TDG Cup win, with Manxman Cringle finally getting the better of Wainwright on the line.

“I didn’t get as good a start as I would have liked, but I was able to hold on to the others at the start and kept out of the way of Mark and Josh. I’d like to repeat this again twice more tomorrow!” he added.