Martin is top ‘Guy’ as he claims hat-trick of race victories at Ulster Grand Prix

The same could not be said, sadly, for the Thursday races that made up the Dundrod 150. These had to abandoned after heavy and persistent rain made the track dangerous. The heavy rain fell on an already damp and slippery track, leaving Clerk of the Course Noel Johnston no alternative but to call a halt to proceedings in the interests of rider safety.

Happily the forecast improved as the week progressed and although the early part of Saturday’s races were held on a wet track, the surface soon dried, and while the days racing was not the best I’ve ever seen at Dundrod, it certainly was far from the worst. The track conditions certainly suited Guy Martin, who with three race wins was pronounced Man of the Meeting.

The Superstock and Supersport races were reversed on the race programme, possibly to allow the circuit a little more time to dry fully after the early morning rain. Guy Martin was the early leader of this one, but he was chased hard by Bruce Anstey.

The New Zealander pushed hard, and moved into the lead on the next lap, with Michael Dunlop seemingly unable to make any kind of an impression back in third place. Dunlop gradually slowed, until his challenge came to an end with his retirement on the fifth lap out of six. Martin hit back on the third lap, taking a lead he never lost again. When Dunlop went missing it let Ian Lougher up into third place, albeit well behind the leaders. Martin took the first race win of the day, finishing .07 ahead of Anstey, with Lougher 17.8 seconds off the pace in third.

Christian Elkin was the best local man, lapping at 112.677mph on his way to 14th place, while Stephen McIlvenna finished in 19th place with a fastest lap of 112.693mph. Kells man Dennis Booth was 21st, lapping at 111.215mph.

The Superstock was next on the card. With the exception of under the trees, the roads were almost completely dry by the time the riders completed their warm up lap. Gary Johnston, from Brigg was the early leader, and for a time it looked like we were in for a surprise. Michael Dunlop had other ideas, and went ahead on lap three. Ian Lougher slipped by Bruce Anstey into third place on the second lap, with both still hard on the heels of Johnston. Dean Harrison steadily moved up the order into third, while for a time Anstey slipped back to fifth place. Anstey fought back, grabbing third place back from Harrison on the last lap. Dunlop took the win, what turned out to be the only one he had all day, 6.6 seconds ahead of Johnston, with Anstey almost 13 seconds further back in third place.

Stephen Thompson, from Crumlin, was the best of our local men, finishing in 7th place with a fastest lap of 122.667mph. Kells man Dennis Booth took 20th place with a quickest lap of 117.035mph.

The first try at running the Lightweight/Ultra Lightweight race was halted when Peter McKillop ran wide at Tornagrough. He clipped some white trackside markers, dropping his little Honda. Although he completely unhurt, the race was red flagged to allow marshals to clear debris from the road in safety.

The race was restarted and run over 3 laps. Derek McGee, on the Emerald Road Racing ER6, was the leader at the end of the opening lap, with the rest of the top four, Lee Johnston, Ivan Lintin and Jamie Hamilton less than a second apart. At the end of the next lap the top four, in the same order, had bunched up, and were separated by .5 of a second. Sadly McGee’s challenge disappeared at the hairpin on the last lap when the ER6 coasted to a halt, out of fuel.

Ivan Lintin was the man who made the best of the shake up, grabbing the lead and holding on to win by .048 of a second. Jamie Hamilton was second with Lee Johnston third, 1.1 back. Run concurrently, the 250 race gave a win to Ballinderry man Gareth Keys. He was never under any real pressure as he took the lead right from the start, on the 250 that used to be raced by Lee Vernon, the young rider who lost his life at Dundrod last year. He finished over 24 seconds ahead of John Ella, who had to recover from a sluggish start to move ahead of Nutts Corner man Bryan Harding on the second circuit. Ella had just .3 on the local man at the end. Bryan’s fastest lap, on his way to second place, was 106.019mph.

The only other local rider to finish was Randalstowns Mark Waddell, who was 6th in the 250 class. His fastest lap was 100.061mph.

Run with the Lightweight class, the Ultra Lightweight, or 125s to you and me, was won by Ian Lougher. Riding in his last Ulster, Lougher was never headed, although he was seriously stretched by former British champion Christian Elkin. Elki was never less than .3 behind Lougher, but just couldn’t manage to get Bob Wylies Moto3 bike ahead. At the finish Lougher took his win, finishing just .3 ahead of Elkin, who set the fastest lap of the race at 108.009mph. Paul Jordan took third.

The first Superbike race gave Guy Martin another win. He was chased hard by Michael Dunlop, but the Ballymoney man just couldn’t manage to put his Honda into a passing position. Micky D was within .054 of Martin at the flag, with both pulling comfortably ahead of William Dunlop, who ran a steady third. Stephen Thompson was again the best of the local riders. He finished in 12th place, lapping at 127.323mph. Dennis Booth finished in 27th place with a lap of 120.942mph.

William Dunlop led the first 2 laps of the second Supersport 600 race with Bruce Anstey and Conor Cummins close behind him. Anstey went ahead on the third circuit, with Cummins a steady third. Dunlop hit back, re taking the lead on the last lap, and winning by .073 of a second from Anstey, while Cummins dropped off the pace, finishing 11 seconds behind. The Manxman had been right with the leaders, but narrowly avoided ramming the slowing Guy Martin at Tornagrough when the Englishman slowed and then retired. Jack McIlvenna finished in 22nd place, lapping at a very creditable 118.304mph.

After the warm up lap of the final Superbike race, Dunlop’s bike refused to start, and we were robbed of what would possibly been the best race of the day. Martin led from start to finish, pushed hard by Gary Johnston and William Dunlop. Johnston slipped back, with Bruce Anstey moving to third. William retired on the final lap, promoting Anstey to second and handing a podium to Conor Cummins.

Well done to all the members of the Dundrod club for delivering a very enjoyable day’s sport.