Martin grabs first BSB points
Tuesday 16 January 2007
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Guy Martin carried on from where he had left off at Brands Hatch in round 2 of the British Superbike Championship held at Thruxton on Sunday and grabbed his first ever BSB points. As in the previous round, the Kirmington rider continually got quicker over the course of the weekend and a 15th place in the second race gave him his first ever BSB point.
The Hydrex Honda rider was competing at the fast Thruxton circuit for the first time since 2001 and the hot conditions throughout the weekend made his task even harder as the abrasive nature of the track meant tyre wear was an issue for all the teams. Having started free practice in the 1m19s bracket he chipped away, making changes to the bike for each session and going into the qualifying session he was consistently in the top 20 with his times down to 1m17s. However, similar to previous occasions, he failed to get the most out of his qualifying tyres and his best lap of 1m17.225s placed him 24th on the grid and on the sixth row.
With thousands of people attending the Hampshire venue, the first Superbike race saw Guy make a solid start and having overhauled a number of riders he found himself in 20th place by half race distance. Lapping quicker than he had done in qualifying, Guy posted the 14th fastest lap of the race, similar to the times being done by the riders on the edge of the top ten but he had to settle for 18th at the chequered flag. The second race start didn't go as well but Guy got his head down and when the pace car came out on the 11th lap he was up to 19th and well in contention for some points. He passed three riders on the 15th lap to move up to 16th and as he headed out onto his final lap he had pulled himself up to an excellent 14th place, just ahead of fellow road racer Cameron Donald. The Australian managed to squeeze by on the last corner and pipped Guy on the run in to the flag but 15th place meant he had recorded his first top-15 finish in BSB and perhaps more creditworthy, his fastest lap was only 1.7seconds off race winner, and 2005 British Champion, Gregorio Lavilla.
Speaking after the race, a pleased Guy commented:
"It's been another hard weekend of racing but I've made a lot of strides forward and feel like I'm definitely making progress. I'm really happy with the way the bike is performing and when you look at how many world-class riders are on the grid, my lap times aren't a million miles away and I'm getting closer all the time. The gap is getting ever closer and I'm edging my way towards the top ten, which is very pleasing."
"I need to ensure that I perform better in the single qualifying session as I'm making it hard work for myself by being so far back on the grid. By the time I've fought my way through, the top 12 are out of reach so if I could get higher up the grid, half the battle would be won. I was slightly disappointed to lose out to Cameron at the last corner but it was a really good race and I'm happy with the way I raced. I'm also really enjoying racing in the BSB class and that's a credit to everyone in the team."
There's a two week break now before the third round of the British Superbike Championship but Guy will be competing this weekend in the Le Mans 24Hour World Endurance Championship race for the first time. Riding for the experienced Alf's Motorcycles team, Guy will be joined by Adam Jenkinson and Craig Fitzpatrick.
Phil Wain
Freelance PR