WSS Valencia McCoy and Triumph Chase Glory

Veteran MotoGP and World Superbike rider Garry McCoy, 36, could be on the verge of giving Britain’s Triumph factory a top six finish in Sunday’s World Supersport race at Valencia.

The Australian was punted off the track on the first lap at the previous round in Qatar, but tigered back to finish seventh on his 675cc ParkinGO Triumph Daytona.

Now he is hoping that the bike’s three-cylinder grunt could make it competitive with the Japanese 600cc fours on the twisty Ricardo Tormo circuit.

“In Qatar we were pretty much equal on lap times with the front-runners,” McCoy said. “The bike has podium potential. It’s got a lot more torque than the fours from the bottom, and on the long straight at Qatar it wasn’t lacking too much on top speed. And like the Daytona road bike, it handles beautifully.”

This is McCoy’s second year of developing factory-supported Triumphs in WSS. His 2008 season was marred by engine failures and a crash in which he broke his back and three ribs, but McCoy hopes to achieve breakthrough this year with his new Italian team, which is based in Milan and owned by Triumph enthusiast Guiliano Rovelli.