Nutt extends his lead at the top with brace of podiums

Castlerock’s Marty Nutt was back in action at the weekend, contesting round five of the Ducati 848 Challenge at Oulton Park and it proved to be another profitable two races as a brace of third place finishes extended his lead in the Championship to nine points and maintained his 100% podium record.

Riding the JHP/Nutttravel.com Ducati Coventry machine, Marty took pole position in a shortened qualifying session prior to Saturday’s first 10-lap race and a good start saw him grab the lead on the opening lap. Together with Dennis Hobbs he was able to open up a slight gap over the chasing pack but by half race distance, the gap had closed and the top six riders were separated by just 1.5s. Positions changed hands regularly until Hobbs made the break and Marty had to battle hard for a podium place. Indeed, he crossed the line in fourth place but with Ben Field having overtaken under a yellow flag, the positions were reversed and so Marty was promoted up to third.

With the sixth fastest lap of the race, Marty had to start Sunday’s second race from the second row of the grid but a good start meant he completed the first lap in third. The top six were close together but as the race progressed they became three groups of two with Marty in third. He was pushed him back to fourth on the eighth lap and it looked like Marty would miss out on a podium spot but Field crashed out on the final lap, gifting him third place extending his lead to nine points.