By Phil Wain
July 4 2005

Guy Martin took the Cock o’ the North trophy at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough this weekend, reclaiming the crown he last won in 2003. In a faultless display of riding, the 23-year old saw off the early challenges of Ian Hutchinson and Ian Lougher to take the chequered flag by over eight seconds, much to the delight of the thousands of race fans who had flocked to the Yorkshire venue.

Guy also had two runaway victories in the Superbike races, although he was forced to settle for second in both 600cc races - a lack of bottom end power hindering his performance. The problem was rectified for Sunday’s race and he led into the final corner only for a backmarker to baulk him on the exit, which allowed Ryan Farquhar to squeeze by. The only downside to the weekend was a fifth lap retirement in the Barry Sheene Classic Superbike race, a blown head gasket on John Sims’ Triumph forcing him to pull out.

After a weekend of excellent racing, a satisfied Guy commented: “I’m really pleased to have won the Cock o’ the North trophy again and the big bike was flying throughout – she never missed a beat and we had no problems at all. The 600 had a new engine fitted on Friday and it wasn’t running right on Saturday so Ian Lougher was able to get the better of me, but we took the power commander off overnight and it was lot better on Sunday, which should stand us in good stead for the remainder of the season.”

“I got past Ryan on the last lap and thought I’d done enough to get the win, but a backmarker got in my way and allowed Ryan to nip through. I felt really sorry for John Sims as he’s put in so much effort with the Triumph and drove all the way up to Scarborough on Saturday night just for the one race. I so wanted to win for him but hopefully we’ll have better luck with it at the Southern 100, as it’s a great bike to ride. Overall it was a good weekend and it’s all go now until the end of the season.”

Guy has just a few days off before his next outing at Snetterton, where he will be reunited with the Barron Transport Suzuki for the British Superstock championship race, the meeting taking place on the weekend of 9th/10th July.