Guy Martin and Tyco Suzuki lifted the coveted Manx Gas Solo Championship title in spectacular fashion at the Southern 100 Road Races on the Isle of Man.
During the feature race, GSX-R1000-mounted Martin shadowed his main rivals Dean Harrison and Michael Dunlop for five of the eight laps around the 4.25-mile circuit, before edging ahead to take his second career Solo Championship victory and a new absolute lap record in the process.
Martin's lap time of two minutes and 13.923 seconds upped the absolute lap record to an astonishing 114.245mph on lap five. The Tyco Suzuki rider also set a new lap record in the Supersport class on Wednesday night with a lap speed of 110.306mph aboard his GSX-R600, only losing top spot on the podium by 0.077sec. Martin also recorded second and third-placed finishes in the Superbike support races on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"I'm delighted for the boys and everyone involved with the team," Martin stated. I always knew I could do it when we got things bang on and today we've got things bang on.
"There was no re-inventing the wheel; it was just Danny, Mark and me and this morning we were cutting the grass and having a brew - no stress. But we've proved today that it's not a fluke.
"We caught him [Dunlop], passed him; took the win and the lap record. I said yesterday that I didn't mind coming last in those first two Superbike races to win the big one and that's what we've done.
"Suzuki is the bike to be on as we've shown this week, and as for the Metzeler tyres - they were as good on the last lap as they were on the first. Bang on 100%, boy. I'm now looking forward to running the number 1 plate when we return next year," he added.
While it was a positive weekend for Martin and the Tyco Suzuki team, tradgity struck in the lead up to the main race with three riders losing their lives on wide open road race circuit.
David Jukes, from Douglas, Isle of Man lost his life following an incident at Ballakaighan during the 600cc practice session.
Paul Thomas, from Ballasalla, Isle of Man passed away following an incident at Osborne's on the back section of the Billown course on the last lap the Sidecar Championship race on Thursday afternoon and Mark Madsen-Mygdal, from Douglas, Isle of Man following an incident at Stadium Corner during the 600cc Supersport race on Thursday morning.
