Ulster GP: Peter Hickman dominates opening Supersport race

Hickman finished second in the earlier Superstock race, which was declared a result after a red-flag incident at the end of lap four, with Dean Harrison sealing the win after the pair had swapped places throughout.

British Superbike contender Hickman made no mistake in the Supersport race as he won comfortably in the end by almost eight seconds.

Fermanagh’s Lee Johnston got the better of his Padgett’s Honda team-mate Conor Cummins to clinch the runner-up spot after a race-long battle, with Adam McLean from Tobermore finishing a close fourth.

Harrison was a retirement on four on the Silicone Engineering Kawasaki, while Davey Todd also failed to finish on the Burrows Engineering Racing Honda when he was in the mix for a top-six result.

Hickman, who won both Supersport races at Dundrod last year, took the lead on the Trooper Beer Smiths Triumph by the end of the opening lap after making a less than perfect start.

McLean had set the early pace on the McAdoo Kawasaki before he was overtaken by Hickman and Harrison, with Johnston, Cummins, Michael Sweeney and Paul Jordan giving chase.

Hickman began to edge away from Harrison at the front, opening a gap of 1.1 seconds by the end of lap three. With Harrison retiring on the following lap, a battle raged for the runner-up spot involving Johnston, Cummins and McLean.

Cummins, who won Thursday’s Supersport race, had moved into second place on the penultimate lap, but it was Johnston who had enough in reserve as he moved back in front of his team-mate to snatch second place.

McLean crossed the line in a solid fourth, while Skerries man Michael Sweeney narrowly held off Jordan as they rounded out the top six.

The Supersport race was run after a delay of 1hr 45mins following an incident in the Superstock event. Two riders were involved in the crash past the Joey Windmill section.

One was described as ‘up and walking’ while the other was taken to hospital. No details were provided on the injured rider’s condition.