For the third year in succession, Ian Lougher once again graced the Dundrod podium when he finished a brilliant second in the opening Superstock race at the 90th Anniversary Ulster Grand Prix on Saturday. The result crowned another solid performance from the circuit and the event's second ever most successful competitor, as the vastly experienced Welshman produced no fewer than four top ten finishes with a seventh place in the first Superbike race on the Superstock Ninja ZX-10R also worthy of note.

Lisburn City Council Superstock Race
Fifth in practice and heading the second row of the grid, Lougher got a good start and quickly grabbed the initiative to lead at the end of the opening lap by over half a second from Guy Martin, Bruce Anstey and Michael Dunlop. Second time around and Guy Martin took the lead as Ian settled into second just ahead of Bruce Anstey with Dunlop a further 1.3secs back. Lee Johnston meanwhile was holding off Conor Cummins for fifth.

Dunlop began making his move on the third lap and was soon up to second behind Martin with Ian now third from Anstey but only 0.5secs covered the top four who were now pulling clear of the rest of the field. The pace was fast and furious at the front with Lougher at the forefront of the action. Dunlop took the lead at the end of the 'Flying Kilo' and Ian knew he had to get past Martin as soon as possible to avoid letting the Ballymoney rider get too far ahead. Ian was right on Martin's back wheel on the run to the top of the hill from Leathemstown and he slipped past at the top of the Dear's Leap. It was still anyone's race but Dunlop gradually began to open a small gap back to Lougher who in turn had broken the tow of Martin and Anstey. On the fifth lap, Ian posted the second fastest lap of the race at 130.87mph and with the first two positions now firmly established, attention now turned to the battle for third. At the flag it was Dunlop from Lougher with Martin just getting the better of Anstey for the final podium position.

Aer Lingus Supersport Race 1
Straight from the Superstock podium and it was on to the Road and Race Performance Ninja ZX-6R for the opening Supersport race of the day. Again on the second row after a strong qualifying position of seventh, Ian soon became embroiled in a four man scrap for eighth with Daniel Cooper, Michael Pearson and Dean Harrison and he eventually finished ninth as the race was stopped due to an incident on the fourth lap with a result declared at three laps.


McKinstry Skip Hire Superbike Race 1
Ian opted to ride the Superstock Ninja ZX-10R in the first Superbike race and at the end of the opening lap he was tenth but hot on the tails of Dan Kneen and William Dunlop in the battle for eighth. On the next lap Dunlop dropped out of contention and Ian was now up to seventh, half a second ahead of Adrian Archibald and Kneen who was slightly further adrift.

By half distance a race pattern was emerging as it was now down to Lougher, Archibald and Kneen for seventh with Michael Pearson back in tenth. At the end of the fourth lap the trio had closed right up on sixth place man Ryan Farquhar and on the next lap both Lougher and Archibald were right on to Farquhar's rear wheel with Kneen now dropping back. With Michael Dunlop crashing out, Ian was now up to sixth behind Archibald and ahead of Farquhar with the Dungannon man just reversing the positions on the final run to the line by 0.16secs. Nevertheless it was a strong performance from Ian who posted the sixth fastest lap of the race.

UGP Supporters Club / People's Race Superbike Race 2
Lougher put the disappointment of a first lap crash at the hairpin on the opening lap of the previous second Supersport race to finish ninth in the final race of the day for Superbikes and again he was in the mix for a top six finish. One of the quickest through the speed trap at 191mph, Ian rode well to finish ninth after a race long battle with Dean Harrison, Adrian Archibald and Bruce Anstey, to bring the curtain down on yet another a satisfying Ulster Grand Prix for himself and the team.

Ian Lougher:

''The Ulster GP is the best pure road race in the world, and the great weather this year produced some excellent racing. I was delighted to present another rostrum position to all my sponsors and the rest of my team who worked really hard during the meeting. I was always going to be up against it riding my Superstock bike against full blown Superbikes, but despite this I ended up with two top ten finishes including seventh in the first race, not bad for someone in only his fifth outing of the year! My fastest lap at 130.87mph on the Superstock bike was my quickest ever round Dundrod so that was particularly pleasing. On a sadder note, on behalf of everyone at ILR Kawasaki I would like to pass on our condolences to the family and friends of Lee Vernon who tragically lost his life at Dundrod.”





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