TT star Amor frustrated despite podium finishes at Dundrod
Isle of Man TT star Keith Amor endured a ‘frustrating’ day at the Ulster Grand Prix, battling with a drying track as much as with his fellow road racing aces.
Despite a difficult start to the day, which included a crash, the Scot ended the run at Dundrod with two podium finishes in the Superbike races on Honda TT Legends machinery and a handful of top six results on the KBMG Racing Hondas.
Difficult conditions greeted the riders on race day, with parts of the circuit wet and parts dry. Amor used the Superstock race primarily as a familiarisation session and, despite having a major scare when he lost the front end on a damp patch in fourth gear, he brought the bike home in a solid 5th place.
Conditions improved considerably for the following Supersport race and Amor completed the first lap in 2nd place. There was little to choose between the leading pack, with only 3 seconds between the top six, but, having been shuffled back to 5th, Amor was caught out by a rain shower on the final lap and crashed out, fortunately without injury.
In the feature Superbike race Amor led at the end of the opening lap, although a charging Bruce Anstey, who’d started from the second wave, pushed him back to 2nd.
In a slightly confusing race, the leading four on the road - Amor, Guy Martin, Gary Johnson and William Dunlop - were never more than inches apart, but Anstey was able to utilise the clear track in front of him and lead comfortably on time. Although Amor crossed the line in 2nd, just 0.1s behind Martin, he actually finished 3rd.
After taking 6th in the second Supersport race, following a good dice with fellow Honda riders Anstey and John McGuinness, Amor fought a hard battle with Dunlop and Cameron Donald in the second Superbike race.
Martin was able to open up a 3 second lead at the head of the field, but, after running slightly wide at the hairpin on lap 2, Amor regrouped to grab 2nd on the final lap and ensure his 2011 Ulster Grand Prix ended with his best result of the day.
Amor said:
“All in all it's been a good day, but the weather's made it frustrating for everyone and although I haven't been far away, I think I'd have been closer to the race wins had it been bone dry all day long.”
“The Superstock race was really tough and the tyre choice was a complete lottery, which could be seen in the different variations people had fitted. Unfortunately, I made the wrong choice and a full wet front wasn't the way to go. I had a few major slides and the one at Lougher's when I was flat out in fourth was as close as I've come to coming off without it actually happening!”
“After that I just brought the bike home, but in the first Supersport race, a sudden rain shower caught me out - I got to Leathemstown and there were no flags out to warn me. Both wheels just went from under me and I ended up going straight over the bars.”
“After that, the day could only get better and that's exactly what happened. The big bike was absolutely flying and I was really pleased to be fighting it out at the front.”
“Like I say, if it had been totally dry, things could have been different, but I just went as hard as I felt I could, given the damp spots, so 2nd and 3rd was a pretty good return. Guy's choice of an intermediate front was hooking up better than my cut slick so his opening lap, where he got a break, was what sealed him the win as we were all running a similar pace after that.”
“In the second Supersport race, the handling of the bike was faultless, but we just didn't have the top end speed to run with the boys at the front.”
“The mixed weather fried my brain a bit during the day as we were constantly having to alter our tyre choice, but it was the same for everyone and I think we all put on as good a show as we could. I've got to say a massive thanks to all the Honda boys for giving me a superb Superbike and to my own team for doing a great job with the Superstock and Supersport bikes - we've had a pretty good day so can't complain.”
Amor now has a short break before heading to Le Mans for a two-day test session with his Honda TT Legends World Endurance team.