Guy Martin 'comfortable and confident' ahead of 2011 Dainese Superbike TT
Guy Martin says he is feeling ‘comfortable and confident’ ahead of the first race of the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.
He will ride the Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing GSX-R1000 in the six-lap Dainese Superbike race on Saturday and with the second fastest Superbike lap recorded in practice so far, Martin must be considered one of the favourites.
His fastest time came on Wednesday evening, with a 129.333mph lap which was only marginally behind the Padgetts Honda of Bruce Anstey, who managed a 129.695mph for his fastest-ever TT lap.
Despite missing track time last night – when the solo practice was abandoned due to oil on the track – Martin says he is fit, healthy and ready to race.
He explained
“We’ve had a steady away practice week and as I’ve told quite a few people already, ‘the racing starts on Saturday’ so there’s no need to hang them out in practice.”
“It’s a matter of getting everything the way we want for racing and the big GSX-R1000 Superbike is ready to race. I’ve enjoyed this week getting back out on the TT Circuit and I feel comfortable and confident on the TAS Racing bikes; everyone is doing their job and we’re happy, so let’s hope it all comes together on Saturday.”
Team Manager Philip Neill added:
“Although it is still very early days it really is pleasing to get off to a good start.”
“Guy has now completed four laps on the Superbike, two on the Superstock and two on the Supersport bike. He has declared himself happy with each of his GSX-R machines after taking the second fastest time of the week at 129.333mph; he even declared the Superbike ready to race already, although we will continue to make some very minor tweaks to help make his job that little bit easier.”
This year the TAS team is also fielding French rider Guillaume Dietrich. Although a newcomer to the TT, he has vast racing experience including wins in major World Endurance Championship events.
Mr Neill continued:
“Guillaume is steadily finding his way around the TT Circuit and is enjoying the experience, although he did have a minor mishap on his first lap earlier in the week.”
“We are obviously not concerned with his lap times at this point. It is very important that he feels completely comfortable before building up speed.”
“As I say, so far so good, let’s hope it continues this way and we have some luck on our side this year!”
Dietrich’s best lap so far was a 102.187mph/22:09.21sec, while Martin has recorded a best Superstock speed of 125.720mph/18:00.40sec and best Supersport 123.182mph/18:22.66sec.
Before the race action gets under way on Saturday, there is another practice session scheduled for this evening.
The Mountain section of the course is due to close at 5pm, with the rest of the course closed at 6pm. The first solo machines are due to leave the TT Grandstand at 6.20pm, with the sidecar session scheduled to start at 8pm.
Roads will start re-opening no later than 9.30pm, with the Mountain section open one hour later.
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