Courtsey of Phil Wain - Freelance PR
Pictures by Alan Armstrong Photography
Kirmington's Guy Martin racked up two top five finishes at the Kells Road Races on Sunday, where he was competing for the first time since 2007. Fresh from his victory in the Southern 100 Championship, the Hydrex Honda rider finished fifth in both the Open and Grand Final races despite having to start from the second group of riders.
With poor weather hitting the 2.25-mile venue during practice, organisers decided to make the practice sessions untimed with the grid formation being decided by championship position. Having not contested any of the previous rounds that meant Guy had to start from the second wave of riders for the two 8-lap races whilst race fans also saw him competing in the unusual helmet colours of fellow competitor Adrian Archibald, his own AGV model having sustained damage from flying stones at the Southern 100 just days earlier.
Starting from the second wave was always going to be a difficult task for Guy as although he was comfortably quicker than those riders in his wave, he found himself circulating on his own in both races. With no riders to race against, there was no one to gauge himself against nor any target to aim for and he ultimately finished fifth in both 8-lap races although he wasn't too far behind the leading group of riders on corrected time.
Speaking later Guy said: "It was a steady weekend and with all the weather problems on Saturday, 5 laps of practice on Sunday morning on the Superbike wasn't really enough. The lack of a 600 machine held me back as well as I really needed to get some laps in so that I could get dialled back in to the circuit. If I'd been in the first group, I would have had people to battle with and that always drags you along but I was just riding ride on my own. I did enjoy the weekend though and Aileen and Lester Ferguson looked after me good and proper so big thanks to them. The results weren't what I was looking for but I had a nice ride in both races and the bike never missed a beat so I'll look forward to the Mid Antrim now."
Guy now has a two-week break before his next meeting, which will be at the Mid Antrim '150' races, a venue that he last competed at in 2005. The races take place on Saturday August 1st.
