Thursday, 02 September 2010 16:19 by Claudio Porrozzi

They are the only European manufacturer competing in World Supersport, and they have yet to record their first win.  In 2008, when the Daytona 675 first starting racing in WSS, there were high hopes for the project, but the teams running the bikes at the time (the official SC team and the private BE1) were suffering from inexperience.  Their best results were sixth place finishes from Mark Aitchinson and Garry McCoy.

In 2009 Team BE 1 became the official squad, and Mc Coy scored two podium finishes (Portimao and Donington), finishing the season eighth overall.

Expectations were for a further step forward this season, but Englishman Chaz Davies had managed to get his Team BE1 ParkinGO Triumph on the podium just three times, putting him forth in the championship. Significantly further back is Spaniard David Salom, who is in turn ahead of Matthieu Lagrive.

The results are encouraging, but still slightly below expectations, and part of the blame has to be on the British manufacturer, who seems to have left the bulk of the work on the shoulders of Team BE1 ParkinGO, lead by Giuliano Rovelli and fielding four riders.

Another sign of the factories dwindling interest can be seen in the national championships. After winning the German (2008) and British (2009) titles, there has been a progress loss of competitiveness.

But there is talk of a different focus for the Triumph's sporting interests: the English manufacturer is working on a project that could land them in Superbike sometime in the next two or three years, making use of an all new flagship model sportsbike.