2016 Ulster Grand Prix.

Mr Excitement

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The world's fastest road race is on and it's not surprising MD is the fastest on the Superbike. However, this field is stacked with some of the best road racers on the planet so MD is going to be challenged for sure. As usual, the weather is and is going to be an issue.

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http://www.motorcyclenews.com/sport...es-pole-in-close-fought-superbike-qualifying/

Ulster GP: Dunlop takes pole in close-fought Superbike qualifying

Published: Today 16:26


Michael Dunlop will start Saturday’s two Ulster Grand Prix Superbike races from pole position after topping the timesheets in the week’s first dry superbike session.

After hours of delays due to fog, the Superbikes got out for their session with the circuit in the best conditions so far this week, largely dry with wet patches under the trees.

The Hawk Racing BMW man, who started the session on intermediate tyres before switching to slicks, lapped the Dundrod circuit with an average speed of 131.783mph to beat GBmoto Kawasaki’s Peter Hickman to the top spot.

Dunlop didn’t have it easy in the 40-minute session with the Ulsterman facing stiff competition from Hickman, Bruce Anstey on the screaming Honda RC213V-S and Tyco BMW’s Ian Hutchinson.

Dean Harrison placed fifth on the Silicone Engineering Kawasaki, ahead of Honda Racing’s Conor Cummins and Burrows Suzuki’s Derek Sheils.

Gary Johnson, deputising for the injured Lee Johnston on the ECC BMW, was eighth with the Yamahas of William Dunlop and Dan Kneen rounding out the top ten.

Ulster Grand Prix – Superbike Qualifying

  1. Michael Dunlop – Hawk BMW – 131.783mph
  2. Peter Hickman – Gbmoto Kawasaki – 131.063mph
  3. Bruce Anstey – Valvoline Padgetts Honda – 130.220mph
  4. Ian Hutchinson – Tyco BMW – 130.136mph
  5. Dean Harrison – Silicone Engineering Kawasaki – 129.921mph
  6. Conor Cummins – Honda Racing – 129.335mph
  7. Derek Sheils – Cooksdown BE Racing – 128.352mph
  8. Gary Johnson – ECC Burdens BMW – 127.873mph
  9. William Dunlop – ICC Racing Yamaha – 127.728
  10. Dan Kneen – Mar-Train Yamaha – 127.699
 
2016 Ulster GP: Anstey switches off RCV electronics
12.08.2016| Author: Phil Wain at the North West| TT and Road Racing
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No electronics so far mean more faster for Anstey Picture: Derek Wilson
Bruce Anstey’s affinity with the Dundrod circuit and Ulster GP meeting has showed no signs of coming to an end this week and despite only having half a day’s testing at Mallory Park since the Isle of Man TT, the Kiwi was well to the fore in all of the qualifying sessions on Thursday.

But the Valvoline Padgetts rider, who is also the lap record holder, has opted to run his Honda RC213V-S with the electronic aids turned off and the bike is working well, especially in the fast turns.

Having finished on the podium at least once a year since making his debut at the event in 2003, the Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Honda rider is keen to maintain that streak and now back to full fitness after his spills at the North West 200 and TT, he took an excellent pole position for Saturday’s two Supersport 600cc races as well as third for the Superbike encounters.

Anstey has won the feature Ulster GP Superbike race for the last two years and has a new challenge this time around with the RCV-213S MotoGP replica bike. Quickest through the speed trap at 196.3mph during qualifying, the 47-year old lapped at 131.603mph in the shortened Dundrod 150 Superbike race and is well placed for Saturday’s racing.

“I’ve had a good day and to get pole on the 600 is a great bonus,” Anstey told Bikesportnews.com. “We haven’t changed anything on the bike and I had a good run during the session but I could see the weather was closing in a bit so got my head down from the start and managed to reel off a succession of quick laps. I didn’t want to get caught in any traffic and with the rain coming in, it all worked out perfectly.

“The RCV’s still work in progress and Clive’s made a few changes to the bike since the TT whilst we had a few little problems with the electronics during the sessions as they didn’t seem to like the ups and downs of the course. It kept resetting itself so I’ve turned everything off now and it’s working really well through the fast stuff and I’ve been able to build up my speed each and every lap.

“It was a shame the Dundrod 150 race got red flagged as I’d just set my fastest lap on the bike and we were fighting it out for the lead but it showed the pace of the bike and we should be there or thereabouts come race day.”

- See more at: http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/n....com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.Z7tVh0G4.dpuf
 
Weather continues and as always seems to be a prob at the UGP. Bruce Anstey as usual ,is wicked fast at the UGP and took the Supersport pole.


2016 Ulster GP: Anstey takes top spot in Supersport qualifying
11.08.2016| Author: Phil Wain at Dundrod| TT and Road Racing
anstey_supersport.jpg

Picture: Derek Wilson
Bruce Anstey ended Michael Dunlop’s dominance of qualifying for Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix with the veteran taking pole position for the two Supersport 600cc races, his speed of 125.944mph seeing him finish ahead of Ian Hutchinson and team-mate Conor Cummins.

It was Hutchinson who went to the top of the leaderboard on the first flying lap, his speed of 123.016mph seeing him take an early lead from Michael Dunlop and Dan Kneen but second time around it was William Dunlop who took over the top spot with a lap of 123.655mph. He only held the top spot for seconds though as Anstey went quicker at 123.825mph.

The Kiwi was clearly enjoying life on the Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Honda and he continued to get faster as the 30-minute session wore on, lapping at 124.778mph on his fourth lap and improving further still fifth time around to 125.944mph. Hutchinson had briefly got ahead of him with a speed of 124.901mph on the CAME/BPT Yamaha but Anstey’s near 126mph lap gave him a 1.7s advantage and with rain falling towards the end of the session, the red flag came out to bring it to an early end.

Dan Kneen was as high as third in the early stages before dropping back and it was Anstey’s team-mate Cummins who eventually took the final spot on the front row with a lap of 124.530mph, 2.4s behind Anstey. Dean Harrison took fourth, the only other rider to lap in the 124mph bracket, with William Dunlop and Peter Hickman rounding out the second row.

Michael Dunlop dropped back to seventh with Kneen also slipping back, this time to eighth. Gary Johnson took ninth, despite only posting three laps on the injured Lee Johnston’s Triumph, with Paul Jordan, none the worse for his spill in the preceeding Ultra-Lightweight race, in tenth.

Rain began to fall towards the end of the session and it was red flagged due to an incident at the Flowbog where John Walsh had crashed, suffering a broken arm.

Click here for times

- See more at: http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/n...in-supersport-qualifying#sthash.QoLnr1kn.dpuf
 
Ian Hutchinson continues his amazing comeback with 4 wins today.

Ulster GP: 'Dream day' for Hutchinson at Dundrod
Published: Yesterday 19:10


It was an almost-perfect day for Ian Hutchinson at this year’s Ulster Grand Prix as he stormed to victory in four of Saturday’s five main races.

The Bingley Bullet won the Superstock race and both Superbike outings for the Tyco BMW team and also took a Supersport win for the CAME bpt Yamaha squad. It could have been a full house too, had the opening Supersport encounter not been halted early by a red flag.

While rivals Bruce Anstey and Michael Dunlop pushed him hard throughout the day, Hutchinson was simply unstoppable with some incredible last lap riding. As Anstey pushed on towards the end of the final race, Hutchinson responded to set the fastest ever lap of the Dundrod circuit with an average speed of 133.089mph.

The day also saw him take his first Superbike victories of the year for Tyco BMW, having been beaten by Michael Dunlop at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT.

“It’s been an amazing day,” he said after the final race. “It would have been nice to win all five but I can’t be too greedy! Four races in a day, double Superbike win, Supersport, Superstock – a win in every class. It’s been a dream day.

“I was thinking after the first race that I can’t believe we’re still not as fast as we were in 2010 but now we are! I came on to the line with +0.3 so I got my head down and did everything right! The lap felt really good considering it was the last lap, the Metzeler tyres held up really well. The team have put so much effort in with the bike and I’ve never been as happy with it as I was here today, it was phenomenal.”

Man of the meeting.
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