[visordown.com] - Southern 100 victory for Guy Martin

[Ninjette Newsbot]

Guy Martin ... Set a new lap record at the Southern 100


AFTER smashing the lap record numerous times, Guy Martin raced his way to victory in the Southern 100 Manx Gas Solo Championship 0.454 seconds ahead of last years winner, Michael Dunlop.

It may not have been the closest race that spectators had seen this week, but Guy Martin was thrilled to have finally taken the top step he'd been working towards all week.

With the weather conditions on the Isle of Man perfect for racing, this led to quicker times and faster speeds. On lap 5 of 8, Guy set the new absolute lap record of 114.245mph and became the first ever rider to reach the 114mph barrier around the 4.25 mile Billown circuit.

However, an earlier fatal incident in the Supersport race halted proceedings due to the investigation, leading to a 3 hour delay with 5 races left. All race distances were reduced with the Manx Gas Solo Championship now 8 instead of 10 laps starting at 3:10pm even though there was an understandable somber atmosphere amongst riders, teams and spectators.

Dean Harrison started on pole position who had been putting pressure on the likes of Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop all week. However, Guy was quick off the line, closely followed by Harrison and Dunlop, but it didn't remain like this. Dunlop quickly found a way through and Guy found himself in third position behind Harrison.

On lap 4, Dunlop was only 0.3 seconds ahead of Guy and despite Dunlop's best efforts, Guy clenched the lead on the sixth lap before crossing the line, 0.4 seconds ahead of Dunlop. Harrison finished third after a solid week on the podium at the Southern 100 for him. Jamie Hamilton finished fourth ahead of Ian Lougher, who announced his retirement at the end of this road racing season at the 2013 Isle of Man TT.

Tim Reeves and Dan Sayle finished first in the Petrochem Fuels Sidecar Championship with the Birchall brothers second, but unfortunately this race was then red flagged and the Southern 100 had to be abandoned due to another fatal incident.



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