Round-Up: Hickman scorches to success in Ulster
Hickman scorches to success in Ulster
The fastest road racer in the world – that’s FUCHS Silkolene-backed Peter Hickman.
Following on from his record-breaking performance where he took a double victory and upped the outright lap record, Smiths Racing rider Hicky continued where he left off at the 2019 fonaCAB Ulster Grand Prix by scorching to an unbeaten five wins at the 7.4-mile Dundrod track to make history with a seven-win haul.
After the Lincolnshire ace took the opening Supersport victory on Thursday aboard the Trooper Beer by Smiths Triumph for the Gloucester-based team, on his way to winning the opening Superbike race on the Smiths Racing BMW S1000RR, he set a new outright lap record at 136.415mph.
Hoping to continue his success, the 32-year-old got his day underway in damp conditions aboard the Smiths Racing BMW S1000RR in the Superstock class and followed that up with further victories in the Supersport and Superbike races to take his tally to three for the day and five for the meeting.
But Hickman wasn’t finished and was made to work hard for his sixth victory in the final Supersport race when the filler cap on the Trooper Beer by Smiths Triumph came loose on the opening lap covering him in fuel.
As the final race of the day took to the grid, Hickman again was in a class of his own and took an easy win to equal Phillip McCallen’s five victories in a day going back to 1996 and in doing so, became the first man to win an unprecedented seven races in a meeting to rewrite the history books.
The end result is that Hickman, who only made his Ulster GP debut six years ago, is now equal fourth with Bruce Anstey in the all-time winners’ list with 13 victories with only McCallen (14), Ian Lougher (18) and the legendary Joey Dunlop on 24 ahead of him.
BSB heads to Cadwell Park
Round eight of the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire this weekend with the FUCHS Silkolene sponsored Be Wiser Ducati team riders Scott Redding and Josh Brookes first and second in the standings.
Former MotoGP rider Redding and 2015 BSB champion Brookes have won 11 out of the 15 races so far this season for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team aboard their factory-supported Be Wiser Ducati Panigale V4 Rs as they look to secure their title-deciding Showdown slots.
Meanwhile, the new-look Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team will be out in full force.
After signing for the team for the remainder of the season, Héctor Barberá will make his Cadwell Park debut alongside Ben Currie, who will also be competing at the circuit for the first time on a Superbike.
Both riders will be looking to secure as many points as possible to help push them up the table before the triple-header finale at Brands Hatch GP.
Joy for GBSpeedway hotshots
There were tears and cheers for Great Britain’s Under-21 squad as they landed an outstanding silver medal in Manchester.
The promising quintet finished with an excellent 33 points, just eight behind World Champions Poland as they picked up their sixth successive team Gold.
Congratulations to Great Britain's Drew Kemp and Jason Edwards on qualifying for the FIME U19 European Final in Zarnovica, Slovakia.
Drew won the semi-final in Gustrow, Germany, with a five-ride maximum, while Jason scored nine in Pardubice, Czech Republic.
Drew finished sixth in the final, while Jason came home in 15th.
Hampshire calls for Ciceley
The luckless Ciceley Motorsport team head to Thruxton this weekend for round seven of the BTCC.
Ciceley and Adam Morgan have had a rotten time of it recently with all sorts of problems and bad luck.
Here’s hoping things change in Hampshire!
BHRC title contest heads for Ulster
The high-profile Ulster Rally is the next destination for contenders in the FUCHS Lubricants Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship for round six (Saturday 17 August) as the title race builds towards a dramatic conclusion.
The Ulster Rally event marks the second asphalt rally of the championship season before the action returns to gravel for the final round in Yorkshire in late September. Historic cars spanning the 1960s and 1970s will tackle 94 miles of challenging closed road special stages, running three loops of three stages. The rally starts at 8.15am from Newry with the first car due back at the finish from around 6pm.
Five of the six crews in contention for the title are making the trip to Ulster, with only Steve Bennett electing to use this event as one of his two dropped scores for the season.
Currently, just nine points cover the top three drivers while the dropped scores situation brings three more crews into the contest. Competitors count their best five scores from the seven rounds.
Championship leaders after the recent Harry Flatters are Simon Webster and Jez Rogers and they top the six-strong Ford Escort pack before Ulster. None of the six contenders have won the title before and some of them are new to the Ulster Rally, including Webster.
Webster also has the best position when dropped scores are considered, while Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver will be the only crew dropping a score this weekend if they finish well as they have scored strongly on all five rounds to date. Meanwhile, Northern Irish contenders Orr (the only driver in a Mk1 Escort) and Hetherington are on home ground, while Joe Price will be tackling the event for the first time. Price had a late scare with major gearbox dramas the weekend before the event and has borrowed the gearbox from Alan Walker’s car in order to be ready for Ulster.
Current BHRC top scorers:
Simon Webster 101 (drop 0 then 9)
Rudi Lancaster 99 (drop 12 then 14)
Steve Bennett 92 (drop 0 then 14)
Stanley Orr 87 (drop 0 then 16)
Joe Price 85 (drop 0 then 0)
Adrian Hetherington 73 (drop 0 then 0)
Entries open for Trackrod Rally Yorkshire
Entries have opened for the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire (September 27/28) - and more than 30 entries have been placed in little more than a week following the publication of the event regulations.
As has become tradition, the event will feature two key parts. The Trackrod Historic Cup will run over 56 stage miles in six stages as the final round of the FUCHS Lubricants Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship and a round of Northern Historic Rally Championship.
The event organisers are focussed on delivering first class road conditions for all competitors in the famous North Yorkshire forests. Significantly, the event will run historics and all two-wheel drive cars first on the road.
Team Green hit the heights at Foxhill
There was an impressive 5-3 scorecard for the still injured Tommy Searle at the penultimate round of the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship at Foxhill.
Tommy keeps hold of the red plate going into the final round at Landrake in a few weeks’ time, where he will be looking to take his second British MX title.
Meanwhile, Ryan Mawhinney has joined Team Green Kawasaki for the 2020 season.
Ryan will ride the new KX250 in the MXY2 class in the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship and MX Nationals UK,where we hope he will be battling at the front right from the off.
Good results for JSR
JSR Racing enjoyed home advantage in round nine of the AMCA Championship, as the competition headed to Brookthorpe.
And there were awesome results from the MX1 competitors, particularly Jack Timms on his first race meeting back from his shoulder injury.
Jack finished 14thoverall with finishes of 11th, 16thand 14th.
Andy Smart had a consistent day with finishes of P8, P10 and P9, eighth overall.
James Dodd made it to the podium in all three races to finish third overall.
Ashley Thomas had a pretty big off in race one and knocked himself out. The team decided it was best for Ashley to sit the rest of the day out to prevent any further injury.
Drifter heads of Germany
Drifting ace Kirsty Widdrington is in Germany this weekend for the Iron Drift King.
Good luck to our FUCHS ambassador.
RB Motorsport a class act
RBMotorsport tasted success at the CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Championship at Donington Park.
The team qualified in P1 in class and 12thoverall from 40 in greasy conditions on a mixture of different tyres.
And there was another P1 in class (ninth overall) in race one on full slicks in the rain, followed by top spot in class again – and eighth overall – with a new class lap record in the 1:16s.
