Hydrex

Kirmington’s Guy Martin got his British Superbike Championship campaign off to a great start on Sunday with two point scoring finishes in the opening round at Thruxton. Riding the Bike Animal Hydrex Honda, Guy overcame a difficult two days of practice and qualifying to claim 9th and 15th in the two 20-lap races to slot into joint 11th in the early season Championship table.

The Hampshire circuit was plagued with strong winds, cool temperatures and steady drizzle during Friday and Saturday and Guy could only manage a lowly 24th in the solitary qualifying session. Struggling for front end feel, the team worked hard on Saturday evening to find a solution and a few adjustments were made in readiness for morning warm-up, where he immediately looked better in 11th place.

The track was dry for the opening race, with conditions improving as the day went on and Guy moved through from his sixth row start to finish 15th in the first race with his lap times improving on each lap. More adjustments were made for the second race and they again paid dividends with Guy up into the points as early as the 6th lap. A lap later the race was red flagged and this meant that Guy started the re-run in a lot stronger position on the grid.

With the combination of man and machine getting better all the time, Guy made steady progress and was soon involved in a 6-rider strong battle for ninth. With some excellent lap times, one by one he overhauled his rivals and he was able to comfortably lead the group home to take a well-deserved ninth at the chequered flag, his best BSB result to date.

Speaking afterwards, Guy commented:

"We’re definitely getting there and we’re improving all the time. We’re moving forward with each session and now I’m riding the bike rather than the other way around! The changes we made in the morning were a step in the right direction for the first race and it was again the case before the second race."

"The second race set-up was a lot closer to where I wanted to be so I’ve got to say a big thank you to the team – especially Warren, Kate and James – for all their work as I put them through it a bit this weekend. Rome wasn’t built in a day but the second race was a lot more like it and I really enjoyed myself out there – I was revving all the way!"

Guy now has a two-week gap before the second round of the British Championship take place at Oulton Park in Cheshire on Monday May 5th.