Ulster Grand Prix
The first two days of the Ulster Grand Prix were plagued with rain, not allowing much action to occur Wednesday and Thursday during the practice/qualifying sessions for UGP races at the 7.4-mile Dundrod Circuit just west of Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Although very difficult sessions, Guy Martin piloted his Relentless Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the Superbike pole.
But the Ulster Grand Prix grid didn’t have much luck during the opening Superbike race on Thursday. The race was red-flagged on the second lap of a scheduled five.
At the time, Martin was holding what looked like an unassailable 9.5-second advantage but is upbeat about repeating his performance in Saturday’s second Superbike race.
Besides starting from the pole on Saturday’s Superbike race, the Northern Lincolnshire native Guy Martin will start from the second position in the Superstock race, and the fifth position in both Supersport races.
Guy Martin (Relentless Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike) says: “My bike was so good in that (Thursday) race… honestly my ‘Gran could have ridden it. So yes we’re disappointed not to have got the change to start the Ulster off with a win. As usual the weather has been a bit of nightmare, but we’ll battle on.
“I can honestly say I never had one moment in that race. I didn’t see a red flag until the hairpin on lap two but that’s the way it goes. We’ve not touched a thing on any of the bikes since we got here; they are just mint, so hopefully we’ll be right up for the job when it matters.”
Philip Neill (Relentless Suzuki Team Manager) says: “We’ve been on the pace in every session, even though the weather has been changeable and just as Guy Martin says: we haven’t changed a thing on the bikes, which again is testament to the quality and reliability of Suzuki’s GSX-R machinery and the boys in our team who are preparing them.
“I have to be honest and say I’m really not sure why the Superbike race was stopped on Thursday. It was declared a wet race and I’m not aware of any incident and everyone had the chance to pull off the grid if they didn’t fancy racing, which some did and fair play to them. I did tell Guy Martin to have a look on lap one and if he was unhappy to continue he was to pull in. But instead he pulled out a lead of almost 10 seconds and said he didn’t have a single moment, so of course we are a bit disappointed.
“On the positive side, we have posted good qualifying positions for all classes, so hopefully the weather doesn’t play its part too much and ruin what could be a great day of racing at the Ulster Grand Prix for TAS Racing and all our sponsors.”
Saturday Ulster Grand Prix Race Schedule:
- Race 1 – Superstock Race
- Race 2 – Supersport Race 1
- Race 3A – 250cc Race
- Race 3B – Super Twins Race
- Race 4 – UGP Superbike Race
- Race 5 – Supersport Race 2
- Race 6 – Superbike Race 2