William Dunlop took fifth place in today’s six-lap RST Superbike TT race on the Isle of Man, which was a solid start for the Ballymoney racer, onboard Tyco BMW Motorrad machinery for the first time on the Mountain Circuit.
There was bitter disappointment for Guy Martin who was forced to retire after just three miles when his machine cut out with a mysterious electrical problem on the run from Union Mills to Ballagarey.
William Dunlop: “After limited time during practice week we can’t complain about fifth place in a six lap race here at the TT. I’ll be honest and say it’s not where I want to be as it’s all about getting ushered into the winners’ enclosure, but we have a few more opportunities later in the week. I’ve learned a lot more about the BMW S1000RR in this race, so we will take the positives from that and use it to improve in the Senior on Friday.”
Guy Martin: “I don’t know what happened is the honest answer, only I was a little bit angry, but that’s racing. The boys work hard for me and have done again tonight going over the bike with a fine-tooth comb. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager: “Fifth place is a good solid start for William and gets the TT ball rolling for us with BMW Motorrad machinery. We are certainly not disappointed to be the leading BMW on the results’ sheet and I know William will use the extra time on the bike to improve again on Friday.
“I can’t really comment on what happened to Guy’s bike as I need to debrief with the team and get the correct information as yet, but at the minute it’s a simple as saying, the bike simply developed some type of electrical problem which forced him to stop and he wasn’t able to re-start. It’s a disappointment for the whole team and I can assure you no stone will be left un-turned to make sure it doesn’t repeat itself this week.”
RST Superbike Race Results
Winner – Bruce Anstey [Honda] 01:45:29.902sec; 2nd – Ian Hutchinson [Kawasaki] 01:45:40.879sec; 3rd – James Hillier [Kawasaki] 01:46:29.410; 4th – John McGuinness [Honda] 01:46:42.757sec: 5th – William Dunlop [Tyco BMW] 01:47:41.221sec; 6th – Michael Rutter [BMW] 01:48:04.608
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