Martin secures pole for Ulster GP

The Lincolnshire rider, who has won 11 times at the fastest road race in the world but has yet to break his duck in the Superstock class, lapped at 129.510mph to hold off Scotland’s Keith Amor on the Rig Deluge BMW by 0.3 seconds.

Amor clocked 129.317mph to keep his nose ahead of Martin’s Tyco BMW team-mate William Dunlop, who completed the front row positions with a lap of 129.264mph.

Isle of Man TT hat-trick hero Ian Hutchinson heads up the fourth row after a speed of 129.196mph on the PBM Kawasaki and is joined by Northern Ireland’s Lee Johnston (East Coast/Burdens BMW) and Michael Dunlop on his MD Racing BMW as only one second separated the top half dozen.

Bradford racer Dean Harrison was seventh on the R1M for Ulster team Mar-Train Racing ahead of Louth man Peter Hickman (Briggs Equipment BMW) and Ivan Lintin on the RC Express Kawasaki.

New Zealand’s Bruce Anstey, a double winner last year, was 11th on the Valvoline Padgetts Honda.

Meanwhile, Fermanagh rider Johnston was quickest in the Supersport class to seal pole on the East Coast/Burdens Triumph.

The 26-year-old lapped at 127.375mph to finish ahead of Kiwi Anstey (127.510mph) with Guy Martin filling the front row on the Tyco Triumph – the same machine he rode for Smiths Racing at the TT – after a lap of 126.694mph.

Ulsterman William Dunlop was fourth fastest on the Chris Dowd/Ivan Curran Yamaha (126.610mph) followed by Amor and British Supersport star Glenn Irwin on the Gearlink Kawasaki.

Irwin, who only made his Dundrod debut in 2014, is competing at the Ulster Grand Prix in the Supersport class for the first time and threw his hat into the mix with a brilliant lap of 125.946mph to clinch a second row start.

Row three consists of Supersport TT double winner Hutchinson on the Team Traction Control Yamaha (125.221mph), Mar-Train Yamaha’s Harrison and Manx rider Dan Kneen (Valvoline Padgetts Honda).

Michael Dunlop finished down in tenth place and is joined on the fourth row by Ramsey’s Conor Cummins (Jackson Honda) and Irish Supersport short circuit regular Robert Kennedy in a fine 12th place.

RESULTS OF ULSTER GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING / SUPERSTOCK CLASS

1 STK 4 Guy MARTIN BMW - Tyco BMW Motorrad Racing 3:25.729

2 STK 24 Keith AMOR BMW - Rig Deluge Road Racing 3:26.036

3 STK 6 William DUNLOP BMW - Tyco BMW Motorrad Racing 3:26.121

4 STK 9 Ian HUTCHINSON Kawasaki - PBM Kawasaki 3:26.229

5 STK 13 Lee JOHNSTON BMW - ECR/Burdens 3:26.678

6 STK 1 Michael DUNLOP BMW - MD Racing 3:26.806

7 STK 2 Dean HARRISON Yamaha - Mar-Train Racing 3:27.300

8 STK 60 Peter HICKMAN BMW - Briggs Equipment BMW 3:28.234

9 STK 72 David JOHNSON BMW - Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade 3:28.428

10 STK 15 Ivan LINTIN Kawasaki - RC Express Racing 3:28.507

11 STK 5 Bruce ANSTEY Honda - Valvoline Racing by Padgetts 3:28.

12 STK 66 Russ MOUNTFORD Kawasaki - Silicone Engineering 3:29.134

13 STK 122 Alan BONNER Kawasaki - thepeoplesbike.com 3:29.334

14 STK 51 Derek SHEILS Kawasaki - BikeBitsNI Racing 3:29.634

15 STK 7 Dan KNEEN Honda - Valvoline Racing by Padgetts 3:30.000

16 STK 52 James COWTON Honda - VRS Racing 3:33.419

17 STK 97 Seamus ELLIOTT Honda - Wilson Craig Racing 3:33.755

18 STK 11 Paul SHOESMITH BMW - Ice Valley by Motorsave Trade 3:34.636

19 STK 27 Phillip CROWE BMW - Handtrans/Sheffpack 3:35.015

20 STK 77 Mark GOODINGS Kawasaki - IPG Power Generation 3:35.621

21 STK 47 Alistair KIRK Kawasaki - AKR / McCurry Motorsport 3:36.015

22 STK 12 Daniel COOPER Honda - Cooper Racing/Space Centre 3:36.390

23 STK 71 Davy MORGAN Kawasaki - Magic Bullet CSC Racing 3:36.741

24 STK 14 Tom McHALE Honda 3:36.773

25 STK 56 John INGRAM Kawasaki - Morello Racing 3:37.543

26 STK 86 Derek McGEE Kawasaki - McNally Racing 3:37.578

27 STK 76 Horst SAIGER Kawasaki - Team ILR 3:37.724

28 STK 26 Ben WYLIE Bimota - bimota.uk.com 3:38.643

29 STK 53 Jonathan HOWARTH Honda - DTR 3:38.977

30 STK 37 Nuno CAETANO Kawasaki - KS Team of Portugal 3:39.888

31 STK 80 Darren COOPER Kawasaki - Flue Stox 3:39.968

32 STK 25 Fabrice MIGUET Kawasaki - Optimark Road Racing 3:40.432

33 STK 30 Jochem van den HOEK Yamaha 3:41.241

35 STK 36 Dennis BOOTH Kawasaki 3:42.304

21 Alan CONNOR Suzuki - Connor Racing 3:42.168

36 STK 17 Dave HEWSON Bimota - Bimota UK 3:44.044

37 STK 42 Andy LAWSON Kawasaki - Shirlaw’s Motorcycles 3:44.222

38 STK 57 Forest DUNN Kawasaki 3:44.385

39 STK 40 Matthew REES Kawasaki - GT Superbikes 3:47.206

40 STK 19 George SPENCE Honda - Dod Spence Racing 3:50.442

41 STK 33 Paul CRANSTON Suzuki - P & J Fuel Haulage 3:51.859

42 STK 82 Xavier DENIS Kawasaki - Optimark Road Racing 3:52.112

43 STK 23 Andrew TAYLOR BMW - Reid Plastering 3:52.937

44 STK 20 Hubert KALTHUBER BMW 3:53.783

45 STK 67 Gary MILLER Honda 3:54.398

46 STK 29 Eric WILSON BMW 3:54.471

47 STK 43 Andrew SELLARS Honda 3:55.655

48 STK 84 Maria COSTELLO BMW - ESM/Hol-Taj 4:00.453