Tyco Suzuki’s Guy Martin retained the prestigious Manx Gas Solo Championship title at the Southern 100 Road Races on the Isle of Man yesterday.

The Lincolnshire rider started his day with second place in the Supersport encounter, but lifted the all-important and coveted Solo Championship pot on his GSX-R1000 after a titanic battle with Dean Harrison throughout the nine-lap race.

Said Martin:

“The boys have had late nights tweaking this and that for me with the bikes, so full credit to them for a big effort this week, but what a race. To retain my Solo Championship title is just mint. We dipped inside my old outright lap record, the pace was that hot, but fair play to Dean; he ended-up going that little bit quicker. It’s not a bad trade-off though losing the lap record for the Solo Championship, is it? But to win this again is just mega; absolutely mega. The bike worked well today and the Metzeler tyres were faultless. All good.”


Team Manager Philip Neill said:

“What can we say about Guy Martin? When the chips are down he can pull one out of the bag. The Solo Championship is the one they all want to win, so I can understand why Guy is so pleased. The pace was hot throughout and both Guy and Dean dipped inside the old outright lap record today, showing the continued pedigree of the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike. He really had to fight for that one today, which hopefully shows his critics how much he wants to win the big races. It sets him up well now for the Ulster Grand Prix next month, where he will again be looking to defend his title.”

Manx Gas Solo Championship Results: 1 Guy Martin (Tyco Suzuki); 2 Dean Harrison (Kawasaki); 3 Dan Kneen (Suzuki); 4 James Cowton (Honda); 5 Russ Mountford (Honda); 6 Ryan Kneen (Kawasaki).

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