Guy Martin brought a successful Southern 100 meeting to a positive end by securing two more podium finishes, although the much coveted Solo Championship eluded him.
Michael Dunlop proved too strong in the meeting's blue riband race despite a new outright track lap record from the Lincolnshire man who held of Ryan Farquhar for second. Earlier in the day, Martin took third in the 600cc race after finishing in the middle of a fierce battle with William Dunlop and Cameron Donald.
The Relentless Suzuki rider admitted he was hoping for victory in the Solo Championship race but was more than happy with his week's work.
“I thought I’d be able to pull Michael back today in that Solo Championship race but Ryan kept showing me a wheel. Fair play to him though he rode well. That temperature made a bit of a difference today – it must have been the thick end of 25 degrees – but no excuses. He broke the tow and that was it. The 600 race was some battle. At one stage I was second and then I was fourth so I’m happy enough to get on the podium. It’s been a decent enough week. We would have liked more wins, but that’s the way it goes and the boys did a good job.”
Team manager Philip Neill was proud of his rider's performance and believes that it has set the team up nicely for the upcoming road-racing meetings.
“We obviously would have liked that Solo Championship victory but you can do no more than break the lap record trying to do so. That tells you how hot the pace was, so fair play to Michael. Guy had a decent week: we got a win, which is always good for our sponsors, and three podiums demonstrates the pedigree of Suzuki’s GSX-R machinery.”
“It’s more mileage and more information as we prepare for the Ulster Grand Prix in August and after a few weekends ticking boxes with his crazy mountain biking trips, Guy will be back super fit for the Armoy Road Races at the end of July. With the entry they are expecting it looks like being a cracking weekend of racing.”
