“You can’t have everything can you?  Everything went well, I had no major problems.  Maybe we could have gained some time in the pits but nothing major, I don’t think it would have changed the end result.”

Martin decided to sit behind some of the more experienced riders during the early laps, but as he admitted he should have made a move on them.  “My problem was me. The first couple of laps I was catching the boys and I should have passed them and I didn’t.  I just followed what they were doing and was taking it on board and learning for the big race on Friday.  I know I need to press harder.”

The race ran under bright sunshine, but there were still some damp patches around the track, as Martin went on to say.  “There were damp patches everywhere on the course, but with the six laps you get them all logged in your head and know where they are.  It didn’t have a massive effect, but coming out of the hairpin and at Bishopscourt there were damp patches so you just couldn’t use all of the road.”

Riding is what Martin enjoys best and he admitted it was a good run.  “It was good and enjoyable to ride around - it was mint really, and I got into a good rhythm.  Getting past Hutchinson and Lougher and Finnegan was hard.  I was screaming at them to get out of my way and that lost me a lot of time.  I was getting a bit frustrated trying to get past them, and when I did I lost a bit of rhythm and it took me ages to get back into it.”

The disappointment was obvious on Martin’s face.  However, he summed things up like this.  “It’s second, isn’t it?  I sound like a right miserable bugger but I don’t want to.  At the end of the day I’m second at the Centenary TT - it’s mint!”

The PokerStars Superstock TT races takes place on Tuesday 5th June at 12:15pm.

Bennetts Superbike TT Race Result
1 John McGuinness HM Plant Honda                                01 48 11.17
2 Guy Martin                     Hydrex Honda                     01 48 37.11
3 Ian Hutchinson                 HM Plant Honda                    01 49 17.33
4 Martin Finnegan              Alpha Boilers Honda            01 49 35.71
5 Ian Lougher                      Stobart Honda                       01 50 34.23
6 Ryan Farquhar                Mark Johns Honda                01 50 54.77
7 Adrian Archibald             Relentless Suzuki                  01 51 27.25
8 Conor Cummins              Millsport Yamaha                  01 52 19.00
9 Ian Armstrong                  Canteen Smithy Yamaha     01 53 07.65
10 Steve Plater                  AIM Yamaha                          01 53 30.84

photo © Simon Patterson www.realroadracing.com

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