TT stars in record-breaking action
Saturday 18 August 2007
TT
Guy Martin , who took three podium finishes during the Centenary TT, secured victory in the record-breaking Superbike event at the Dundrod 150 National Road Races.
As the flag dropped it was HM Plant Honda rider Ian Hutchinson, who scored his first TT victory in the Supersport race at the Centenary, at the front.
He held the lead for five of the six laps, but Lincolnshire’s Martin was reeling him in lap by lap.
Further back John McGuinness, the 13-times TT winner and outright lap record holder around the Mountain Circuit, held on to third place for three laps before another Centenary TT winner race winner, TAS Suzuki’s Bruce Anstey – victor in the Isle of Man Superstock event – passed him.
There was drama all the way around the final lap of the Dundrod circuit as Martin made his move on Hutchinson, passing him for the lead at Joey’s Windmill, and McGuinness broke yet another record to snatch second place.
The final lap by McGuinness set a new absolute course record of 131.717mph. Martin and Cameron Donald also decimated Hutchinson’s 2006 record lap of 130.829mph, each breaking the 131mph barrier.
Martin’s victory has set him and his Hydrex Honda team up for a good result in Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix.
TT veterans Robert Dunlop and Ian Lougher had a race-long battle during the five-lap 125cc event.
Ulster-based Welshman Lougher led Dunlop for the first two laps, but even after he got in front of his long-time rival, it was not an easy task to stay ahead, with the gap just 0.079 of a second at the flag.
Michael Dunlop finished third, having held that position throughout the 37-mile race.
The 400cc race, run concurrently with the 125s, was again a close affair, with Mark Parrett taking victory by 0.326 of a second from Lee
Hill, and Manxman John Barton third.
Ballymena’s Denver Robb won the Loanends MCRC Dundrod 150 National Race. He went on to complete the double, taking the chequered flag in the Dundrod 150 Challenge Race. Barry Davidson and Mark Young completed the podium in the first race, with Gary Johnson and Paul Shoesmith filling the places in the second.
The leaders of the Duke Road Race Rankings remain unchanged after the 17th round of the 2007 series. However, only 174 points now separate Conor Cummins and Martin, with William Dunlop third.