Guy Martin was back in short circuit action over the Bank Holiday weekend, for only the second time since his heavy crash at the Isle of Man TT Races in June, and the Kirmington rider was pleased with his progress at the British Championship meeting at Cadwell Park. The Wilson Craig Racing star put in a strong ride in Monday’s British Supersport 600cc Championship race on his Honda machine to pick up three points for finishing 13th whilst he also had a guest outing in the Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy series recording 6th, 7th and 8th in the three races.

Although he’d ridden superbly at the Ulster Grand Prix in mid-August, Guy admitted he was still feeling his way back into the short circuit style of racing but he steadily improved during practice and qualifying, reducing his lap times in each session. Conditions were mixed throughout with a combination of sun, wind and rain making life difficult for everyone but second qualifying for the Supersport class was held in the dry and a time of 1m32.958s meant that Guy would line up in 23rd place in the grid.

A good start in the 16-lap race saw Guy move up two places by the end of the first lap and, at quarter race distance, he was inside the top 20 in 19th. Lapping comfortably quicker than what he ahd done in qualifying, he quickly overhauled three more riders and as the riders headed into their 8th lap, Guy was knocking on the door of the top 15. Sure enough, a lap later he was up in to the points in 15th and this became 11th on lap 14 when he overtook Dan Kneen, who he’d enjoyed a number of battles with at the Ulster GP. Despite lapping 1.3s quicker than his qualifying time, it didn’t look as if Guy would be able to climb any higher but, on the 15th lap, Joe Dickinson crashed out causing the race to be stopped early and so he was awarded 13th place. Meanwhile, Guy had also been invited to be a ‘guest’ rider in the Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy races, the first time he’d ever been on one of the American machines. Despite his unfamiliarity with the bike, he again got quicker and quicker as the weekend progressed and, after qualifying in 8th place, he went on to finish all three of his races inside the top 8, the best finish being 6th in Monday’s opening encounter.


Speaking later, Guy commented: “I’m still very much easing my way back into my racing and the last thing I want to do is throw the bike down the road so this weekend’s been all about building my confidence back up on the short circuits. It takes a while to get back to the mentality of pushing to the limit all the time but I’ve chipped away steadily and whilst I didn’t uproot any trees, I was getting quicker and quicker all the time and to get in the points in the Supersport race and jump up 10 places from my qualifying position was satisfying. As for the Harley-Davidson races, well, they were certainly an education. I’ve never ridden one of them before and they’re a fair old weapon to get around the track but I was learning more and more with each and every outing, lapping quicker all the time, and I really enjoyed myself out there. Mike Edwards was passing on tips to me all the time so a big thank you to him for all his advice and help whilst a big thank you to Danny and Alistair for doing a mega job with the 600 once more.”

Guy now has a three-week break before his next road race outing, the International Gold Cup at Scarborough, with the meeting taking place on September 18-19.



Picture by Glynne Lewis

Phil Wain Freelance PR