Guy Martin took a double in today’s Superbike races at the KDM Hire Cookstown 100, making it three wins for the Lincolnshire man on Tyco BMW S1000 RR Superstock machinery this month. It was also an encouraging day on their home circuit for TAS Racing.
In the opening encounter Martin held off a late charge from Michael Dunlop to take the win by just 0.114sec, but all the drama came in the feature race of the day – the KDM Hire Cookstown 100 Superbike race.
Martin led for the opening six laps, which he relinquished for a short period on lap seven, but a red flag incident involving Michael Dunlop forced the race to be stopped.
The end result was a second Superbike win for Martin with his Tyco BMW team-mate William Dunlop coming through from the second group to finish fourth on corrected time. Dunlop was fifth in the opening Superbike encounter.
Guy Martin: “I could have smoked a Woodbine in that last race, the Superstock BMW was so stable and working just mint. I was never under any pressure and when Dunlop came past, I thought, ‘this will give me a chance to have a look at what he is doing and plan my pass for the last lap’. We certainly had an advantage on the back part of the circuit and definitely the speed on the front straight to make the pass. It didn’t need to happen, but a good day all round and just what we needed.”
William Dunlop: “I was a bit disappointed with my results today, but it’s only the first race of the season and we still have a bit of work to do before the North West. I rode well but am still a bit rusty on the BMW but we have time to perfect our set-up, so I’m looking forward to both the NW200 and TT.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager: “We will not get carried away but it was brilliant to start our road racing season with a win for Guy in the Spring Cup at Scarborough and now a double at the Cookstown 100. It doesn’t necessarily determine what the outcome of the international road races will be, however it is our local event and we really enjoy supporting the Cookstown Club and racing in front of our local supporters.
“More importantly, today confirms the strength of the package we have in BMW’s S 1000 RR after we made a conscious decision for both riders to compete on Superstock machines against quite a few Superbikes.
“The end result shows the potential of our BMW Motorrad machinery, and we can now concentrate on testing our Superbike machines ahead of the North West 200. Thanks to all our sponsors for their continued support and for us it’s nice to repay some of the faith they have shown in us.”
Results:
Royal Hotel Open Superbike:
Winner – Guy Martin [Tyco BMW]; Michael Dunlop [Yamaha] +0.114sec; 3rd – Derek Sheils [Kawasaki] +3.832sec; 4th – Derek McGee [Honda] +4.783sec; 5th – William Dunlop [Tyco BMW] +6.894sec
KDM Hire Cookstown 100 Feature Race:
Winner – Guy Martin [Tyco BMW]; 2nd – Derek Sheils [Kawasaki] +1.269sec; 3rd – Dean Harrison [Yamaha] +4.916sec; 4th – William Dunlop [Tyco BMW] +5.372sec; 5th – Jamie Hamilton [Suzuki] +12.925sec; 6th – James Cowton [Honda] +13.613sec
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