Hutchy in red-hot form at UGP

After winning every race he started in at this years TT, a total of 5, Hutchy was in no worse form at the Ulster, where he took victories in the Superstock, Supersport 600 and first Superbike races.

The week didn't start so well for the Padgetts Honda rider, though, when he broke down in Thursday's Superbike race, that formed part of the Dundrod 150 programme. Hutchy, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Thursday, had held the lead in the early stages of the race, but he stopped, leaving Scot Keith Amor to take a comfortable race win. Amor and Hutchinson had been dicing wheel to wheel, with the Yorkshire man holding sway, but he freewheeled in to retire at Leathemstown on lap 3.

Guy Martin, in his first meeting since his major crash at the TT, just managed to pip Michael Dunlop for runner up, just .04 separating them at the line. We only had one local rider in this race. Crumlin's Stephen Thompson was listed as a non finisher, completing 2 laps. Dan Kneen became the fastest ever newcomer at Dundrod in this race, lapping at 127.1mph on his way to 11th place. He took the record from David Jefferies.

For my money, one of the best races of the entire Bike Week was Thursday's National Challenge event. Manxman Dan Kneen, Dave Johnson, Dan Stewart and Waterford man Brian McCormack diced elbow to elbow, with never any more than a couple of seconds separating them.

I watched this race at Leathemstown, where the spectators were craning their necks every lap to see who was ahead. Just 1.2 seconds separated the top 4 men, with Kneen taking the win. He finished .084 ahead of Dave Johnson. Johnson broke the lap record for this race, upping the speed to to 127.092mph. Brian McCormack finished in third place with Stewart .3 adrift.

There were quite a few local riders in this race. Jack McIlvenna was the best of our locals. He brought the Moira club's R6 home in 12th place, having a fastest lap of 120.258mph. Dennis Booth from Kells finished in 23rd position, also on an R6. Den lapped at 116.312mph. Darren Gilpin from Galgorm was 44th with a quickest lap of 104.193mph, while Crumlin man Bryan Harding lapped at 102.019mph on his way to 45th place. Mark Shields from Ballymena finished in 48th position, good going for a man who has limited road race experience. Mark's fastest lap was 96.174mph.

We had no local riders in the Classic race, which looked, on paper, like it was going to be a cakewalk for Ryan Farquhar on the Paton. Farquhar and Olie Lindsell served up a treat for classic racing fans, that only ended when the Killyman riders bike cried enough. The cause was put down to a broken wire.

Lindsell finished 1:32:912 ahead of Neill McWhirter. McWhirter had slid off in the earlier 125 race, and had a grab a lift back to the pits with one of the travelling marshals. Mark McGaw, the winner of the 1000cc class finished in third position overall.

Ryan Farquhar looked for a while like he was going to have some real opposition in the Supertwins race, but the challenge from Dan Kneen slowly evaporated, and the Manx rider finished almost 15 seconds off the pace. Michael Sweeney got the better of John Burrows, finishing .2 ahead of the Dungannon man.

Darren Gilpin was the best of the local men here. He brought his SV650 across the line in 15th place with a quickest lap of 103.878mph. Mark Shields finished just behind Darren, in 17th place with a fastest lap of 104.031mph. Run concurrently, the GP125 race was, for the first few laps, a close run thing involving Ian Lougher and William Dunlop. Lougher’s bike apparently turned itself inside out going up Leathemstown Hill, leaving Dunlop to take a leisurely win from his cousin Paul Robinson. Another cousin, Sam Dunlop took his best ever Dundrod result, in third place, finishing just .3 ahead of Enniskillen man Wayne Kennedy. I wonder if there has ever been a case where 3 cousins have stood on the podium at Dundrod at the same time. I doubt it. We only had one local rider here. Jeff Shaw, from Cloughmills, stopped his Bobby Logan backed Honda at the end of the first lap.

The very first race of the Bike Week was the National Challenge was held after the UGP practice. This one went to Dan Kneen, a win in his first race at Dundrod. Kneen finished 7.6 seconds ahead of Dave Johnson, who had managed to break clear of a good scrap for the lower leaderboard placings. Dan Stewart managed to get the better of Derek Brien and Brian McCormack in the closing stages of the race.

Local men Bryan Harding and Mark Waddell had a good race together, with the verdict eventually going to Harding. He finished in 31st place having a fastest lap of 102.446mph. Mark was 33rd with a quickest lap of 102.492mph.

A good day’s entertainment that left us in hope of more to come on Saturday.

The first race on Saturday gave Ian Hutchinson the chance to fire the warning shots across the bows of the rest of his rivals when they took to the track for the Superstock event.

Scheduled to run over 7 laps the race was stopped as the riders started their final circuit. English rider Dave Hewson was high sided from his bike between Quarterlands and Irelands, and a couple of spectators were hit by debris from the bike. I understand that no one is badly injured, thankfully. The result was taken from the end of the 5th lap, giving the race win to Hutchy. Keith Amor was just .2 adrift, and a good position to make his move on the final lap.

Amor had led for most of the race, but at Wheelers, on the fifth circuit, the Bingley man took over, diving under Amor. There was a good race for the final podium place involving Ryan Farquhar, Gary Johnson and Ian Lougher. Farquhar took third, with Lougher in his slipstream. Just .2 separated the three riders.

Dennis Booth was the only local man to finish. He was a very creditable 14th place, lapping at 118.131mph. Stephen Thompson was listed as a non finisher.

Next up was the first Supersport 600 outing. It was a real cracker, involving Amor, Hutchy and William Dunlop. There was never anything separating the three, and leaving the hairpin on the last lap Amor was just ahead. Hutchy dived by at Quarries, taking the race win by .1 of a second. Dunlop was third, just .3 back. Jack McIlvenna was the best local finisher, in 21st place. He lapped quicker in this race then he did in the earlier outings, posting 122.068mph on his third lap. Dennis Booth was 29th with a fastest lap of 116.051mph.

At 47, Ian Lougher could be said to be in the twilight of his career. No one seems to have told him, and the Welshman, now living outside Dromara stormed to a start to finish win in the 250 race.

Setting the fastest lap of the race on his third circuit, Lougher finished over 10 seconds ahead of William Dunlop. Paul Robinson was a further 19 seconds back in third. Bryan Harding was the only local finisher in this race, with Mark Waddell listed as a retirement at half distance. Bryan took 14th place, lapping at 108.394mph.

Ryan Farquhar obliterated the opposition in the Supertwins race, held along with the 250s. He was pressed for a while by Dan Kneen, but when Farquhar upped the pace on the second lap, Kneen’s bike had enough and he retired. Ryan broke the lap record on his second circuit. It now stands at 116.683mph. John Burrows came home in second place, almost in a different postcode form Farquhar, while Richard McCartney took third.

Darren Gilpin and Mark Shields were our only representitives here. Darren took 13th place, lapping at 105.862mph, while a fastest lap of 106.024mph brought Mark Shields into 14th place. Very impressive, when you consider that Marks fastest lap in the first race of the week was 96mph.

The first Superbike race was also close. In the early part of the race there were half a dozen men who could have had their hands on the main prize, but Gary Johnson dropped off the pace as the race progressed. The overall winner was Ian Hutchinson. It kept alive Hutchys incredible record of 8 International race wins from 8 starts.

It was a fantastic race, with the top five all lapping within a whisker of the outright lap record. Hutchy scored the win, pipping Bruce Anstey at the line by just .1 of a second. Keith Amor, on his Superstock BMW, done nothing more to the bike than fit a set of slicks, finished well in touch, just .3 behind Anstey. Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop were also well in the mix, both finishing within 2.4 seconds of Hutchy.

Crumlin man Stephen Thompson was the only local entrant in this race. He brought thepeoplesbike.com Suzuki home to an extremely creditable 10th place, lapping at 127.487mph.

A high speed crash on the start-finish line brought out the red flags in the second 600 race. No one was injured, but there was a machine lying on the track, in a place where bikes were doing well in access of 150mph. Clerk of the Course Noel Johnston had no hesitation in stopping the race, thus saving marshals the need for recovering the bike from a dangerous position.

The result, worked out on aggregate, gave the race win to Keith Amor, thus ending Ian Hutchinsons run of International race wins. Amor finished .2 ahead of the Bingley man, while William Dunlop was a further .4 back. Jack McIlvenna, on what I think its worth pointing out is basically a standard bike against more tuned versions, was a brilliant 15th, lapping at 121.033mph. Dennis Booth took 22nd, with a fastest lap of 118.575mph.

I haven’t watched a race from Quarries for many years, so decided to head that direction for the final event of the day, the Superbike race. I’m glad I did. For most of the race Ian Hutchinson made the running, leading Keith Amor, Bruce Anstey and Cameron Donald. Going through the Windmill section with just about 3 of miles to go, Anstey was fourth, with Hutchy leading.

The New Zealander got the better drive up the hill towards Wheelers and went into a lead he never again lost, finishing, to the obvious delight of the fans in the grandstand, about a bike length ahead of Hutchy. The official results gave them .072 apart. Keith Amor, .3 back, took third place, ahead of Cameron Donald. Donald had been unwell for much of the week, and at one stage had thought of pulling out of the meeting. Guy Martin, who had to undergo a medical before being allowed to race at the start of the week, took fifth place, but was still well in touch with the leaders. Michael Dunlop was sixth. Stephen Thompson was the only local rider to finish this race. He lapped at 127.475mph on his way to 12th place.

Bruce Anstey raised the lap record on his final circuit. It cemented the Dundrod tracks claim to being the Fastest Road Race in the World. The new record, 133.977mph, is fractionally short of the seemingly magic 134mph barrier. In the final race, in fact, the top five, Anstey, Hutchy, Amor, Donald and Martin all broke last years 133.284mph, set by injured Manxman Conor Cummins.

The Dundrod club have been guilty, yet again, of serving up a brilliant meeting. Every year they seem to get it tight financially, but every year they still manage to pull it out of the bag. They have proved again, that the Ulster Grand Prix is the top local meeting of the year. Well done to the Clerk of the Course, big Noel, and the rest of the team. What date is next year’s?

THIS WEEKEND

We have a double header this weekend. Bishopscourt will host another round of the Clubmans championship on Saturday and on Sunday the same track will stage the next round of the ISB series. Practice both days will get under way at 9am, while racing starts at 12.30pm. I'll have full reports and photos in next weeks Times.

Also this weekend is the new Cork road race. It’s at Dunmanway, Co. Cork. I don’t know road closing times etc, as the West Cork Club's website is a bit hard to navigate, and doesn’t seem to have them on it. It does say, however, that there are 11 races planned, with a N/Q race planned if need be. I understand, though, that there are very few entries, so I cant see the need for a non qualifiers race.