Guy Martin admitted a poor tyre choice cost him dearly at the North West 200 as he finished the day's only race in eighth position.
Heavy rain and an oil spillage meant the morning's Supersport race was the only to be completed, and most of the riders chose to run it on wet tyres. Martin took the gamble to start on intermediates which didn't pay off.
The Lincolnshire man was still satisfied with his performance on the roads of Coleraine, and believes the experience will prove invaluable when he takes part in another road racing spectacular in two weeks time.
“It was a tough day for everyone involved and a week’s worth of effort for just one race. Unfortunately I made the wrong tyre choice. To come away with eighth place is nothing to shout about but I am now going to the Isle of Man full of confidence; confidence in the blokes working on the bikes and confidence in the bikes themselves. It was a terrible day for the people who turned out to watch the racing, but a confidence-building day for the bigger picture – the bigger picture being the TT.”
Team Manager Phillip Neill was impressed with Martin's performance bearing in mind the tyres he had raced on, and is expecting big things when his team heads to the Isle of Man.
“Guy made a solid debut on the international roads for our team. Unfortunately he took a gamble with his intermediate tyre choice in the Supersport race and with everyone else on wets, which was the correct choice, makes his eighth place an impressive finish given the conditions. More importantly for Guy is the fact that he now feels really confident with his three GSX-R Suzukis, which he now believes he can take to success at the Isle of Man TT Races in two weeks’ time.”
