McGuinness and Martin podium in Superstock thriller




Cameron Donald made it two wins out of two in Monday’s Scottish Life International Superstock race when he came home 15.07seconds ahead of John McGuinness after 4 laps of hard racing. Riding the Relentless by TAS GSXR1000 Suzuki, the Australian continued where he had left off on Saturday and, despite tricky conditions on the opening lap, he was able to move to the front of the pack to take his second win of the week. McGuinness, who led up until Ramsey on the opening lap, had to settle for second but it got his week up and running whilst the same applied to third placed rider Guy Martin.

With low cloud over the Mountain the race got underway, a little surprisingly, on time at 10.45am and it was McGuinness who had his customary charge over the first 9 miles to lead at Glen Helen but the sensational news was that it was Gary Johnson in 2nd, just 1.3 seconds behind. Bruce Anstey, winner for the past 3 years, was a further second back in third followed by Ryan Farquhar, Donald and Martin. McGuinness still led at Ramsey but it was Donald who was now in 2nd and he got through the mist on the mountain quicker than anyone else and he led at the completion of the first lap by 1.76 seconds. McGuinness, Farquhar, Johnson, Conor Cummins and Martin weren’t far behind though with less than 6 seconds covering the sextet.

Donald was motoring on over the course of the second lap though and he was able to extend his lead between all of the timing points and, with the fastest lap of the race, 127.54mph, he was forging clear. Teammate Anstey was out of luck though retiring in the pits at half race distance after feeling unwell out on the bike. There was also disappointment for Johnson and 8th placed Keith Amor, as they both ran out of fuel on the drop down the mountain.

The flying Donald had no such worries though and with a great pit stop, his advantage jumped up to 9.4 seconds by the time he reached Glen Helen on the third lap. McGuinness was only 4.9 seconds ahead of Martin who was finally getting into his stride whilst Farquhar and Cummins were secure in 4th and 5th. With conditions getting better and better all of the time, 30-year old Donald pressed on and with his lead approaching 17 seconds he was able to easy back a little and ride to his signals around the course for another TT win.

He eventually ran out victor by 15.07 seconds with McGuinness just holding off a charging Martin by 2.7seconds, the duo upholding Honda’s honour. Farquhar’s strong week continued in 4th and Cummins overcame his Superbike disappointment to record another fifth place in his short TT career. Adrian Archibald, third in Saturday’s Superbike race, hauled himself up to 6th ahead of Ian Lougher, Steve Plater, Carl Rennie, Dan Stewart, Les Shand and Ian Pattinson, the latter 4 riders again the best of the privateers.

No incidents were reported in the Scottish Life International Superstock race.


Superstock Result - Lap by Lap

Superstock Result