By Ian Watson spring cup road races – Spring cup race 1 report
The opening leg of the Ian Watson spring cup road races started in cold but dry conditions all round. Guy Martin who took pole position got the start he wanted by taking the lead on lap 1 with Michael Pearson, Kiaran Hankin, Dean Harrison and Jamie Hamilton all in close attendance.
At the end of lap 1 Guy Martin had a lead of roughly 1 second over Michael Pearson in second place with Ian Lougher holding third place on the WA Corless Joinery/Jackson racing Honda Fireblade superbike. Jamie Hamilton was in fourth place with Dean Harrison now into fifth place with Kiaran Hankin completing the top six.
Lap 2 saw Martin extend his lead at the front showing the same great form he had showed at the Scarborough gold cup in 2012. Michael Pearson still held second position with Jamie Hamilton now into third place on the KMR Kawasaki powered by Vauxhall superstock bike, Ian Lougher held fourth place with Dean Harrison close behind in 5th place.
On lap 3 Guy Martin took his lead at the front up to over 2 seconds over Michael Pearson whilst Jamie Hamilton held third place, Ian Lougher was still in fourth place with Dean Harrison still occupying fifth place but getting faster and faster as the race went on.
Laps 4 & 5 didn’t see many changes throughout the race apart from Dean Harrison moving into fourth place in front of Ian Lougher who was in 5th place. At the front Guy Martin kept up his strong pace and built up a gap of over 4 seconds over Michael Pearson in second place.
Onto lap 6 and positions throughout again stayed pretty much the same but there was a great battle for third place beginning to develop between Jamie Hamilton and Dean Harrison, the gap between them was around 2 seconds but Dean was on a charge with his lap times getting faster as the race went on.
Lap 7 saw Guy Martin hold a lead of over 8 seconds over Michael Pearson who was having a consistent ride on the team Hotties Thermal Packs racing team BMW SR1000 superstock bike. Jamie Hamilton still held third place on lap 7 but Dean Harrison was beginning to reel him in the gap between them at the end of lap 7 was underneath a second.
On the final lap Guy Martin was over 10 seconds in front of the chasing pack and at the end Guy took race victory by over 11 seconds from second placed Michael Pearson. Jamie Hamilton managed to just hold off Dean Harrison to take third place but it was an encouraging result for Dean who was competing in his first race on the RC Express racing Kawasaki powered by MSS performance superbike.
Ian Lougher took fifth place whilst Kiaran Hankin, Mick Goodings, Dan Frear, James Coward and Ben Wylie rounded out the top 10. But the race belonged to Guy Martin who once again showed just how good a rider he is around Oliver’s Mount.
