Pearson on the podium

HOTTIES Road Racing and Michael Pearson, scored a fantastic podium treble at Saturday’s Around a Pound Tandragee 100 Road Races in Co-Armagh, with Lisburn racer Pearson also recording his fastest ever laps around the five mile circuit in the final race of the day at just over 106mph.

In front of a large crowd, and in cool conditions, Pearson went about his days racing in a professional and calculated style as he took his first podium of the day in the Open Race over six laps.

It was Michael Dunlop on his Hunts/McAdoo Honda who set the pace out front, but an epic battle for second place soon developed between Pearson, Shaun Anderson and Derek Magee..

Pearson had the edge over his rivals, and maintained his runner up position from start to finish with a fastest lap of 105.290mph.

In the Supersport 600 race, it turned out to be a real cracker between five riders. It was Pearson on the Hotties Suzuki who set down the gauntlet as he led a five rider freight train at the end of lap one out of six, and maintained that lead for four laps, before former Manx Grand Prix winner Wayne Kirwan got past Pearson on the penultimate lap with Derek Magee close at hand. With Kirwan opening up a two second lead going onto the final circuit, Pearson somehow managed to reel Kirwan in and at the finish line just 3/1000’s of a second split the pair with the winning position going to Kirwan with Pearson second and Magee third.

In the feature race of the day for the Around a Pound Tandragee 100 Superbike race, it was again Michael Dunlop who set the pace as he produced another one man show out front. Again, a battle royal erupted for second place between Pearson and Sheils, with this pair swapping paint for the eight lap race, with Sheils taking second from Pearson by 0.5 seconds at the line. Pearson on his Hotties BMW Superstock machine produced his fastest ever lap around the Tandragee circuit on lap five with a race time of 3m01.141 seconds, 106.202mph.

Michael Pearson said: “That has to be one of the best days racing I’ve ever had at Tandragee. In the Open race I had a great battle with Shaun Anderson who was riding really well.I had a few wee issues with the BMW with the handling which was giving me plenty of work over the back part of the circuit. The Supersport 600 race was really exciting as it was frantic racing by all of us up front. The Hotties Suzuki was working well but I just did not have the speed to pull away from the guys early on and was losing out on the fast straight sections. This meant that I had to ride the wheels of the wee bike around the corners and I was riding as hard as I could have. Wayne Kirwan came past me as if I was stopped, with his Crossan Yamaha just able to drive past me and there was little I could have done about it. He pulled out a fair gap on me going onto the last lap but again I rode like mad to pull him in and only for a back marker holding me up on that lap, I am sure that I could have won the race. In the end I was only beaten by 0.003 seconds but it was a great race and I congratulate Wayne on a fantastic win for him, which I know meant a lot to him and his partner.

“In the Tandragee 100 Superbike race, it was another titanic battle for second place between myself and Derek Sheils. Michael Dunlop had pulled clear at the front from the start so it was down to us for the final two podium places. I stuck with Derek as close as I could but was conscious about just getting the race over safely and settled into a safe third place. I could have taken Derek on the brakes on the last lap but I didn’t want to make a mistake and take us both out, but third place in the feature race was well pleasing for myself and the team. I was happy, they where happy, and it was the perfect days racing for us all.”

Willis Marshall (MPPR) commented: “What can I say? It doesn’t get much better than that. Michael rode superbly all day and it was clear to be seen early in the morning that he was relaxed, and when he is relaxed, he produces these sort of results. Everything worked really well, with the boys working hard on the bikes all weekend, and that dedication and Team workmanship along with a class rider pays dividends. I was constantly on the phone bringing our sponsors up to date in England and they were really happy with how the day went. Michael now sits in the top three in the Irish Championship standings, but there is along way to go, but if he can repeat his performances at the weekend throughout the rest of the season, I firmly believe that he can reach the top in both Superbike and Supersport Championships.”

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