Editorial Note: American Patricia Fernandez, riding her Magic Bullet Motorsport Yamaha YZF-R6, finished 15th in Supersport Race One and 27th in Supersport Race Two, and riding her Magic Bullet Motorsport Kawasaki ZX-10R, finished 31st in Superstock and 27th in the rain-shortened Superbike race.
Smith’s BMW star claims second consecutive Man of the Meeting crown as rain cuts action short at Dundrod
Peter Hickman added another accolade to his stellar 2018 roads season as he claimed the Man of the Meeting crown at the MCE Ulster Grand Prix for the second year in a row.
The 31 year-old was declared the winner in a reduced distance MMB Surfacing Superbike race, which combined with his earlier win in the Centra Whitemountain Supersport race and second place in the earlier Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Superstock race, was enough to see him take the title ahead of Manx man Conor Cummins.
The results meant he lifted the Darran Lindsay memorial trophy for the second year running, in a day that proved challenging for Clerk of the Course Noel Johnston amid constantly changing conditions.
In the first race of the day, the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Superstock race, it was Silicone Engineering Racing’s Dean Harrison that took top honours by just 0.203 seconds from Hickman, with Cummins continuing his strong form from Thursday in third and Davey Todd a close fourth after a shortened race due to a red flag.
And while Harrison was setting a new Superstock lap record at the front, further down the pack there were some standout performances from Paul Jordan, who took sixth in only his second race on the Dafabet Devitt Kawasaki, and another Manx racer Ryan Kneen in 11th.
Speaking in parc ferme, Harrison said:
“It was a great battle. It’s such close racing round here at the moment with the amount of slipstream involved, and I was expecting a battle as the bikes are very evenly matched. I just kept going and going, we got the lap record which proved we were on a really good pace. I just thought get behind Peter, sit on him and figure out where I could make a move.”
The Centra Whitemountain Supersport race followed, which Hickman duly dominated after Harrison retired early on, breaking clear of the chasing pack to take the chequered flag 7.935 seconds ahead of the Padgett’s duo of Lee Johnston and Cummins.
It was a tight battle behind Hickman’s Trooper by Smith’s Racing Triumph, not only between Johnston and Cummins, who finished just 0.041 apart, but between Jordan and Michael Sweeney for fifth and Joey Thompson and Dominic Herbertson for eighth.
Commenting on the race, Hickman said:
“The Triumph has been running really strong and I had a good run out of Joey’s Windmill so I thought if I can pass Dean, which I did do, and if I can pass Adam at the same time then I could put a gap into them all.
“We all know Dean’s really strong on the Supersport bike and I don’t know exactly what happened, but I knew I got a gap and the gap kept growing so I kept my head down and kept hitting my points and managed to pull away.
“The Supersport bike’s not really my strongest class and I’ve had three wins here so it sounds daft me saying that with two wins last year and one this year but the bike just works really well and it suits me down to the ground.”
Then in the day’s only Superbike outing, the MMB Resurfacing race, it was Hickman who was declared winner ahead of Lee Johnston and Davo Johnson, who claimed his maiden international road racing podium on the Tyco BMW HP4-R.
It was a challenging session as the action was cut short twice – initially after Davey Todd slipped off at the Deer’s Leap with the Cookstown BE Racing rider later confirmed to have suffered suspected fractures, and then again in the restart due to inclement weather.
Lastly, in what ended up being the final racing of the day, the Plant Lubrication (NI) Ultralightweight / Lightweight race, Shaun Anderson took the spoils in the Lightweight class, while Michal Dokupil went one better than his result on Thursday when he took his first ever international win in the Ultra-lightweights.
A breakdown of the top five in each class is included below, but for full results visit http://ulstergrandprix.net/the-race/results/
Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Superstock race
1. Dean Harrison, Silicone Engineering
2. Peter Hickman, Smiths Racing BMW (+0.203)
3. Conor Cummins, Padgett’s Honda (+4.928)
4. Davey Todd, Cookstown BE Racing (+0.401)
5. Lee Johnston, Padgett’s Honda (+7.607)
Centra Whitemountain Supersport race
1. Peter Hickman, Trooper by Smith’s Racing Triumph
2. Lee Johnston, Padgett’s Honda (+7.607)
3. Conor Cummins, Padgett’s Honda (+0.041)
4. Adam McLean, McAdoo Kawasaki (+0.867)
5. Michael Sweeney, (+19.114)
MMB Surfacing Superbike race
1. Peter Hickman, Smith’s Racing BMW
2. Lee Johnston, Padgett’s Honda
3. David Johnson, Tyco BMW
4. Paul Jordan, Dafabet Devitt Kawasaki
5. Brian McCormack, TAG Racing BMW
Plant Lubrication N.I. Ultra-lightweight race
1. Michal Dokoupil, Ariane Moto 3
2. Christian Elkin, Bob Wylie Racing
3. Paul Robinson, CB Racing
4. Nigel Moore, Honda Moto 3
5. Melissa Kennedy, K.N.R. Moto 3
Plant Lubrication N.I. Lightweight race
1. Shaun Anderson, CB Racing
2. Neil Kernohan, Logan Racing
3. Darryl Tweed, M&D Racing
4. Gareth Keys, Keys Racing
5. Paul Owen, Team #98
More, from a press release issued by Smiths Racing:
Two Wins And Man Of The Meeting Award For Hickman At Ulster GP
Peter Hickman and the Smiths Racing BMW team enjoyed an excellent Ulster Grand Prix meeting today with wins taken in the Superbike and Supersport races as well as a close second place in the Superstock encounter, results which earned the Louth-based rider the Man of the Meeting trophy.
After taking a steady fifth place in a damp Supersport race on Thursday evening, when the first Superbike race was cancelled due to fading light, the Superstock race got proceedings underway on a sunny morning today where, starting from second on the grid on the Smiths Racing BMW, a good start saw Peter take the lead on the opening lap from Dean Harrison.
There was little to choose between the two riders as they both broke the old class lap record and although Harrison took the lead on lap three, Peter was content to sit in his slipstream before he made his move in the closing stages. This he duly did as he took the lead at the beginning of lap five, but the race was stopped shortly afterwards and with the result being taken at the end of four laps, Peter had to settle for second.
The opening Supersport race immediately followed and Peter moved into the lead half way round the first lap which he was never to relinquish with a dominant performance. Increasing his lead on each of the six laps on the Trooper Beer Triumph, his fastest lap of 128.838mph was just 0.2 seconds outside the lap record and he dominated the race, eventually winning by a commanding 7.9 seconds.
With the forecasted poor weather closing in, the feature seven-lap Superbike race was then brought forward on the schedule and Peter completed the first lap in second place, just half a second behind Conor Cummins as just over a second covered the leading quartet. Second time around Peter took the lead and was 1.3 seconds clear as he headed into lap three.
By this time, spots of rain had begun to fall, and the race was soon stopped on safety grounds with the result ultimately declared at the end of the second lap which saw Peter awarded his fifth Ulster Grand Prix victory, his winning margin over Lee Johnston 1.399 seconds.
Unfortunately, the weather then worsened, and organisers had little option other than to cancel the remaining three races, two of which – the second Superbike and Supersport races – Peter had been due to contest.
With two wins, a second and a fifth, Peter duly picked up the Man of the Meeting trophy for the second year running whilst he also ended the domestic International road racing season with at least one victory at each of the North West 200, Isle of Man TT and Ulster Grand Prix.
Peter Hickman: “It’s been a bit of a stop-start meeting with the weather conditions making it difficult for everyone and we ended up losing three of our scheduled races but to come away with two wins and a second today has been very pleasing. It could have been three wins as I felt really comfortable in the Superstock race and was just biding my time behind Dean before making my move on lap five. As soon as I got by, I opened up a lead but with the red flag coming out and the result going back a lap, I had to settle for second. It’s swings and roundabouts though as good fortune smiled on me in the Superbike race, being awarded the win after just two laps which felt a bit weird to be honest. There were no such issues in the Supersport race and I just got my head down from the start. It’s difficult to make a break around here but I managed to do that, and the little Smiths-prepared Triumph was flying. It’s such a shame the rain brought an end to the day but I’m happy for myself and for the team that we got the results we did whilst it’s also nice to win races at each of the International road races.”
Darren Jones, Team Co-ordinator: “We arrived here on the back of an excellent set of results at the Thruxton BSB round despite Peter being ill and he had to spend another night in hospital this week as the weekend’s efforts saw his condition worsen. Fortunately, he improved as the week wore on and we kept the laps down in qualifying to keep him as fresh as possible for the races. We had a small problem with the Superbike in qualifying and conditions were a bit iffy in Thursday’s Supersport race, so we were satisfied with a solid fifth place. Today started well with a good second place in the Superstock race although like Pete says, he felt really comfortable and felt confident of taking the win had it gone the full race distance. In the Supersport race he just got his head down from the word go to take a great win and although it was another victory in the Superbike race, it did feel a bit strange with only two laps having been completed. We were obviously happy to get the win though and felt in a good place for the rest of the day so it’s disappointing for everyone concerned that the weather intervened, and we got no more racing. The whole team did a great job this week in difficult, ever changing conditions so it’s great to complete our domestic road racing programme with more success.”
More, from a press release issued by Tyco BMW:
DAVID JOHNSON PILOTS TYCO BMW HP4 RACE TO MAIDEN INTERNATIONAL PODIUM IN ULSTER GP SUPERBIKE RACE
David Johnson rounded off the Tyco BMW team’s International roads campaign with a third place podium finish in the opening Superbike race at the MCE Ulster Grand Prix today.
Following an 11th hour signing between the Australian rider and the Moneymore-based TAS Racing team and with virtually no pre-event testing, ‘Davo’ delivered an impressive performance during his debut outing in Tyco BMW colours. This marks Davo’s first podium at one of the world’s fastest road races and secures a maiden International podium for the stunning all carbon framed BMW HP4 RACE.
With weather conditions deteriorating at the County Antrim circuit and with no signs of improvement, further racing was abandoned before the full race programme could be completed, bringing the 2018 MCE Ulster Grand Prix to a close.
“To have the opportunity to debut the HP4 RACE Carbon machine was another great honour for Tyco BMW and we enjoyed every minute of the experience. We already had an idea how good the machine is with some early season circuit testing. However the potential the machine has shown with only a handful of practice laps at one the fastest road racing circuits in the world has really impressed us, we only wish there were more opportunities to race the bike this season.
I’m especially pleased for Dave Johnston to record his first ever podium finish at the International Ulster Grand Prix although it was disappointing we did not have the chance to complete the full race distance as Davo was looking really strong and the HP4 RACE was absolutely flying. Having sat on the bike for the first time on Wednesday Davo can be very satisfied with his efforts and TAS Racing are extremely proud to present the BMW HP4 RACE with a maiden International road racing podium in the Tyco BMW colours.”
Philip Neill – Tyco BMW Team Manager
“What can I say. Taking the weather into consideration and the limited time we had to prepare I really think it’s been a successful week working with the Tyco BMW boys. The team worked hard to make me comfortable on the bikes and in the team and despite the weather I’m pretty pleased to have taken a third place back to Australia. I feel very honoured to have been given the chance to ride the HP4 RACE for the Tyco BMW team and to give the bike its first ever international road racing podium is a real buzz. Thanks to Hector and Philip and the boys for a big effort. Hopefully we can do it again.”
David Johnson #9