Guy Martin handed BMW Motorrad their first-ever Southern 100 Solo Championship title earlier today on the Isle Man, whilst joining Joey Dunlop as the only rider to win three in a row at the iconic Manx event.
The Solo Championship victory gave Martin his second win of the meeting on his Tyco sponsored BMW Motorrad S100RR Superbike, and with second place in the rearranged Corlett’s Trophy race this morning – it’s been a very successful Southern 100 meeting for the Northern Ireland based team.
Martin said after his narrow victory over Manxman Dan Kneen in the feature race: “That is absolutely spot on mate and what a grand day to do it. The team was at Knockhill BSB last weekend and from there Mark [McCarville] came with my S1000RR in the back of a van and we’ve done the business. It is just mint and I’ve right enjoyed it.
After leading every lap this morning we got mugged by 8/100ths of a second on the line for the win, so Mark and I got our heads together and made a couple of little changes and kept it steady. There were a lot of yellow flags out around the circuit and I wasn’t aware that Michael [Dunlop] went down behind me. But as I’ve always said, this is the best meeting of year.
“We led every lap of nine in the feature race and I’m delighted for everyone involved. The whole package: BMW Motorrad machinery, K-Tech Suspension and Metzeler tyres did us proud. Mint!”
Team manager Philip Neill added: “To give BMW Motorrad their first-ever Southern 100 Solo Championship title is very satisfying, and for Guy to win three in a row on Tyco sponsored machinery is a credit to him. We’ve won two out of three races and only lost the third by 8/100ths of a second after leading every lap, so it would be fair to say Guy was pretty dominant this week.
“It’s a special event for Guy and we are delighted to be able to give BMW Motorrad, Tyco and all our associated partners another weekend of success. It sets Guy up well for the Ulster Grand Prix in August and gives us some momentum going into Brands Hatch BSB next weekend as a team.”
Solo Championship Result – Southern 100
Winner – Guy Martin [Tyco BMW] 20.32.654sec; 2nd – Dan Kneen [Honda] +0.7sec; 3rd – Ivan Lintin [Kawasaki] +22.2sec; 4th – Russ Mountford [Kawasaki] +6.3sec; 5th – James Cowton [Honda] +11.5sec; 6th – Jamie Coward [Honda] +0.2sec