STROUD'S Dan Cooper had a dramatic 2011 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy campaign to say the least - but he's already confirming his attendance for another crack at it next year.
The 24-year-old, in only his second outing at the TT, fuelled by Monster Energy, fmished all five races around the iconic 37.73-mile Mountain Course - his best 20th in the second Supersport race.
That particular achievement was made all the more impressive as Cooper was forced to stop following the deployment of red flags at Ramsey Hairpin only for them to be later ruled to have been wrongly put out.
Cooper was given a time correction to make up for the mistake and just when he thought it couldn't get any more dramatic the fmal race, the PokerStars Senior TT, was delayed by five hours.
Rain, wet patches on the track and rider protests saw it moved from 12:15pm to eventually 5:15pm but despite all that Cooper, who ended up fmishing 24th, insists his desire to return for a third year hasn't been quelled.
"I finished 20th in the second Supersport race which was absolutely spot on. Any time you can get into the top-20 at the TT is a great result so we were pleased with that," said Cooper.
"You're always learning, I mean I got stopped for a false red flag in one of the races and we have had loads of rain delays so I've found it pretty hard to keep in rhythm. "But these things come with experience and my results improved throughout the week.
Everything went really smoothly, I'm still learning so I was taking it steady and it all came together pretty nicely, "Overall it's just been fantastic, we managed to finish all five races which is half the battle and I managed four replicas as well so that's great.
"And I'll be back next year, no doubt about it, there's nothing quite like the TT on such a long track, you're always challenging yourself to try and go faster."
Cooper's other three finishes in the Dainese Superbike, first Monster Energy Supersport and Royal London 360 Superstock races saw him fmish 38th, 27th and 35th respectively.
However he did have one complaint, he said: "The one disappointment was that I really wanted to get a 119mph or 120mph lap on the smaller Supersport bike.
"I managed a 118mph but the truth is I was probably trying to force it a bit much whereas round here you need to stay smooth and let it come to you.
"But my time on the big Superbike bike was really fun and I managed to get a 122mph lap in the Senior race and a 24th-place finish isn't too shabby either."
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