Three podiums at North West for Martin. Guy Martin and his Hydrex Honda team got their road racing season off to a superb start at the Kennedy International North West 200 in Northern Ireland. Martin scored three podium finishes and two top tens at the high speed pure road race which was attended by 150,000 strong crowd. The first race of the day was the DeWalt Performance Tools Superbike race and Martin finished in 4th. The race was heavily interrupted with two red flags one of which was caused by Bruce Anstey high siding. Despite his crash he was still included in the results which didn’t please Martin. “Bruce caused the red flag so I don’t think he should be in the result and there are a few folk who are thinking the same. I got fourth which is alright; we had a bit of trouble with the bike over heating as they held us a long time on the grid, so maybe it was a good thing the race getting stopped. I wanted a third but that is how it goes,” he said. The next race out was the Club SOI Supersport race and Marin took a fighting 3rd place. He was thrilled with the result saying, “That race was spot on really, I had to battle for it, I had to do some do or die manoeuvres on the last lap but it all paid off and I got a podium.” The CP Hire Limited Superstock race didn’t get off to a good start as Martin explained, “Finnegan put his hand up as he had a problem so I thought it was going to be stopped so I pulled the clutch in and next thing everyone was away. So I tried to rev it off the line and nearly stalled it like Finnegan and I went backwards to about twentieth.” However he pulled it back to finish in 3rd place. “I was going steady and plugging away, I wasn’t really riding the wheels off it. There were all these boys who couldn’t keep up with my Honda. It handles well, we’ve had Javier from Pro-Shock in Spain over and he has it set up so well. What we lack on speed we make up on handling,” he explained. The second Superbike outing of the day the Blackhorse Finance NW200 feature race saw Martin battle hard with the leaders to take 2nd place. This race was also interrupted with a red flag when Cameron Donald crashed out. “I thought I could win it, I lead it from the start, couple of boys came passed me into University and I sat and watched what they were doing. Then Plater made a break on McGuinness,” he said, “I was trying to pass McGuinness as Plater was getting away so on last lap I did a do or die move on him into the Corona Chicane and by then it was too late to get passed Plater. I caught him towards the end of the lap but it was too late, I could have used another lap. I’m happy enough with second.” The last race of the jam packed day was the Ballymoney Council Supersport race where Martin finished in 8th. “I’m a bit gutted. It went off song and just petered out. We are learning and need to tweak the electrics for the TT. The motor is good it is just the electrics letting it down but we will get there with it.” The North West is a good indicator for the TT and that is Martin’s aim this year. The next stop for the Hydrex team is the Snetterton round of the Bennetts British Superbikes where Martin will compete in the Supersport class, “I just want to go and learn a bit more and get ready for the TT that is what it is all about. Everything is in place for a good job at the TT,” he concluded. The fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship and the Metzeler National Superstock Championship will take place on the 18th 20th May at Snetterton. DeWalt Performance Tools Superbike race 1. John McGuinness Honda 123.01 4:22.401 2. Bruce Anstey Suzuki 122.38 4:23.748 3. Steve Plater Yamaha 123.28 4:21.834 4. Guy Martin Honda 122.51 4:23.464 Club SOI Supersport race 1. Bruce Anstey Suzuki 118.41 4:32.598 2. Steve Plater Yamaha 118.22 4:33.038 3. Guy Martin Honda 116.51 4:37.045 CP Hire Superstock race 1. Bruce Anstey Suzuki 121.90 4:24.785 2. Alastair Seeley Yamaha 121.03 4:26.688 3. Guy Martin Honda 119.65 4:29.764 Blackhourse Motorcycle Finance NW200 Superbike race 1. Steve Plater Yamaha 124.02 4:20.268 2. Guy Martin Honda 123.66 4:21.023 3. Michael Rutter Kawasaki 123.53 4:21.300 Ballymoney Borough Council Supersport race 1. Bruce Anstey Suzuki 118.98 4:33.352 2. John McGuinness Honda 117.75 4:34.128 3. Michael Rutter Kawasaki 117.87 4:33.844 4. Steve Plater Yamaha 117.32 4:35.134 5. Ian Lougher Honda 117.59 4:34.483 6. Ian Hutchinson Honda 116.27 4:37.617 7. Stuart Easton Kawasaki 116.25 4:37.654 8. Guy Martin Honda 115.96 4:38.360 More, from a press release issued by publicist Phil Wain: Podium glee for Martin at NW200 Kirmington’s Guy Martin put in a series of superb performances at Saturday’s International North West 200 road races and claimed no less than three podium finishes from his five races. The Hydrex Honda star had never stepped onto the rostrum before at the 8.9-mile Triangle circuit but with both rider and machines working to their optimum, he was in contention in each and every race. With the meeting blessed in sunshine, confidence was high after strong qualifying performances but the first Superbike was interrupted with a series of stoppages and the result was eventually declared at a lowly two laps. A sluggish start meant that Guy was in the process of working his way through the pack but he was still placed fourth when the results were declared. Jumping straight on to the Supersport machine he was able to claim his first ever podium finish and a fine ride into third meant he was also the first of the Honda riders past the chequered flag. In the Superstock race, he had, arguably, his finest ride of the day as he was outside the top fifteen on the first lap but a series of high speed laps saw him work his way through to third by the end of the 5 laps for another brilliant podium finish. Another red flag in the feature NW200 race meant it was a straight three-lap race and Guy was involved in a superb four-way battle for the lead. Although he briefly snatched the lead on the final lap, Steve Plater managed to squeeze by on the final run along the coast road and Guy had to settle for second, just 0.955s adrift of Plater but ahead of Michael Rutter and John McGuinness. A hectic days racing was concluded with Guy taking 8th in the second Supersport race. Speaking afterwards, a delighted Guy commented: “It’s been a good day’s racing and having not had a podium before today, to now have three to my name is pretty satisfying. I enjoyed all of the races and we were competitive in all of them so we’ve been rewarded for a lot of hard work. The Superbike races were a bit short but were fun, although very tough, races and I think we proved we were as competitive as anyone out there. The likes of Plater, Rutter and co are tough competitors but we stepped up to the plate today and got our rewards.” “I didn’t even realise I was on the podium in the Superstock race as I had such a bad start I just concentrated on passing as many people as I could so to get ushered into the winners enclosure was a nice surprise! Everything felt good today and although it would have been nice to have got our first win, we beat some of the top boys and are in excellent shape heading to the TT. The team have put in a tremendous amount of effort this week and they deserved the results as much as anyone so let’s hope we can make it on to the top step of the box at the TT.” Prior to the Isle of Man TT Races, Guy will be out again in the British Supersport Championship at Snetterton, this coming weekend, May 18-20.