Rain dampens hopes of TT stars
Atrocious weather hit road racing last week, leaving some leading contenders from the Isle of Man TT severely disappointed.
The cancellation of the Ulster Grand Prix, forced by heavy rain and flooding, saw both Manxman Conor Cummins and TT favourite Guy Martin unable to take to the roads. The appalling conditions also saw the Dundrod 150 race schedule decimated.
Cummins as hoping to make up for disappointment in the British Superstock round at Knockhill - when he crashed the NCT Vanfit Yamaha on lap three after running well – with a good return to the roads.
The 2007 Duke Road Race Rankings Champion was scheduled to ride for McAdoo Kawasaki in the Superbike, Supersport and Supersport races at the Ulster GP. The 22-year-old was soon on the pace in practice on the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit, qualifying in the top eight in each class on Thursday.
Particularly impressive was his Superstock lap of 128.231mph, which was inside the class lap record and only one second adrift of the pace-setting Bruce Anstey.
It was all to no avail as Saturday’s race schedule was abandoned due to torrential rain, gusting winds and mist hitting the Ulster region.
Conor said:
‘It’s been a really tough week and what promised so much has delivered nothing. I felt really comfortable in the wet at Knockhill, but it was one of those days where anyone could have gone down at any time and, unfortunately, it happened to me.’
‘I’m still in the top 10 of the championship though so, hopefully, I can build on that in the last four rounds.’
‘The Ulster was equally difficult, although on Thursday afternoon everything was coming together. The McAdoo Kawasakis were working brilliantly around Dundrod and the lap times I was doing were very competitive so I felt very confident going into Saturday’s races.’
‘Sadly, the weather put paid to that and it was a huge disappointment for everyone concerned with the meeting. The weather was really horrendous and there was no way we could have raced.’
Meanwhile, the cancellation of the Ulster means Guy Martin will have to wait another year to add to his haul of five wins.
With bad weather earlier in the week, Martin was already kicking his heels after the cancellation of the Dundrod 150 Superbike race and although he looked strong on the Hydrex Bike Animal Hondas in all classes in qualifying, it was all to no avail.
Martin said:
'The weather was just awful and when I went round in a car to have a look at how the course was holding up, it was obvious that there would be no racing. There were rivers running across the course in places and visibility was also poor so it just wasn’t happening - the rain just wouldn’t stop.’
‘It’s a massive disappointment for everyone, not least the club who didn’t deserve that, and all the fans who were still out there huddling under their umbrellas, so I sincerely hope we’ll be back here next year for another go.’
‘I love the Dundrod course and the bikes were working excellently in practice so I reckon we would have been in a shout in all of the races. It wasn’t to be though so we’ll just have to move on and get stuck in at Cadwell. It’s my local circuit so I’ll be looking for some good results to get things going again.’
The shortened Dundrod 150 schedule and Ulster cancellation mean there have only been no changes in the Duke Road Race Rankings top 10, and only a handful of riders improving their point tallies – Ian Lougher, Michael Dunlop and William Dunlop.
Outside the top 10, Andrew Farrell, Nigel Moore and Paul Dobbs climbed four places. They were bettered by Mark Parrett, who moved up eight positions after winning the Lightweight Supersport (400cc) Race.
Ollie Linsdell, a double winner at last year’s Manx Grand Prix, re-entered the standings in 41st place.
Ryan Farquhar continues to lead the series, followed by Lougher, Michael Dunlop and Keith Amor.
The Manx Grand Prix is the next round in the series, with the final three races – Killalane, Boyne 100 and the Steve Henshaw International Gold Cup – scheduled for September.