World’s fastest circuit produces as Cummins wins Dundrod is defined as the fastest road race circuit in the world and on Saturday it lived up to all expectations when in the Stoneyford Concrete Ulster Grand Prix feature superbike race the first eight riders home all lapped in excess of 130mph with Manxman Conor Cummins taking his first international road race win.
A blistering pace was set at the front of the field by Guy Martin, Bruce Anstey, Gary Johnston and Cummins who left the rest of the field trailing as they circulated in high-speed formation chopping and changing position frequently in superb conditions.
Ian Hutchinson, seventh at the end of the first lap, roared back into contention and got among the leading quartet by lap four, half race distance.
Anstey was the first to crack, dropping off the leading pack on lap five.
Cummins, riding for the Cookstown based McAdoo Kawasaki, broke the slipstream of the chasing trio on the sixth lap and made a dash for the chequered flag.
Only Hutchinson could respond with the fastest lap of the race, 133.232mph on lap seven, to close to within half a second of Cummins, but the 6' 6” rider held off the challenge to record his second superbike win at Dundrod having won the 150 on Thursday.
He said: “That wasn’t an easy race. It was similar to Thursday where I just got my head down from the off. On the last lap I just managed to nip past a slower rider at Joey’s Windmill in front of Hutchy and hold on to take that first international win.
“The McAdoo Kawasaki was awesome and it is all credit to them that I pulled this win off,” he added.
Hutchinson commented: “I had a real big slide on the first lap and I was over the front of the screen.
“It took me a couple of laps to build my confidence after that. I closed right up on Conor, but at Joey’s on the last lap Dave Woolams was in the way. Conor nipped through, but I got held up momentarily and although I clawed him back I lost out by a 10th of a second at the chequered flag.”
The Ulster Grand Prix Supporters Club superbike race brought the meeting to a close and this time four riders — Cummins, Martin, Gary Johnston and Hutchinson — served up a thriller, all four lapping in the 132mph bracket with Cummins, Johnston and Martin all having a spell at the front.
In the end it all came down to a dash for the flag on the last lap with Martin getting his nose in front when it mattered, a 10th of a second ahead of Johnston, Cummins and Hutchinson.
Such was the leading four riders’ pace the next finishers — Ian Lougher and Adrian Archibald — were 28 seconds adrift having lost four seconds a lap to the front runners.
Martin said: “My word that was a race and a half.
I was a bit hard on Gary at one stage but I had to do what it takes to win my first major international race of the season,” he explained.
“I’m over the moon, the bike was mega and I’m off for a few brews tonight after that.”
