As he continues preparations for the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy, Guy Martin will make his pure road racing debut in Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing livery at the Cookstown 100 this weekend.
Northern Ireland’s opening road race of the season will be used as a shakedown for the Lincolnshire man ahead of the North West 200 and TT. Martin, who hasn’t raced at the County Tyrone circuit since 2005, will ride his GSX-R600 and GSX-R1000 Superstock machines at the event.
Fresh from competing in the opening races of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch over Easter weekend, Martin is looking forward to getting back on the roads.
He said:
“It’s hard to beat a bit of pure road racing. We’ve had plenty of testing time, but yeah… there’s nothing like a bit of racing to get you ready for the real thing.”
“This will give us a chance to try the bikes out on a road circuit, which at the end of the day is where we intend racing them. I haven’t been at Cookstown for quite some time, but it’s only a little circuit so we’ll be spot on.”
Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing team boss Philip Neill is also looking forward to the Cookstown 100.
He said:
“The organisers and local fans are very enthusiastic about the Cookstown 100 and with our team based just up the road in Moneymore, it’ll do us no harm to show them a bit of support.”
“We always try to make an effort and go there when circumstances allow, and even though it clashes with Oulton Park BSB we will work around it. It’s always beneficial to get out on a road circuit before the North West 200, but with Guy being a relative newcomer to Cookstown, we will be realistic with our expectations.”
Martin had a reasonable outing on the Indy circuit at Brands on Monday, setting good times and taking a 16th place finish in race one. He retired from race two.
Philip Neill said:
“Guy acquitted himself really well this weekend and we are really pleased how he got on, running 46.5 lap times.”
“There are not too many of the pure road racing men who could match those times here and it sets him up well for the Cookstown 100.”