Anstey Wins Opening Race at UGP 2015

Aug 7, 2015
1 min read

Kiwi Bruce Anstey drew first blood at this year's Ulster Grand Prix after claiming victory in the opening Dundrod 150 Superbike race. The Padgetts Honda rider came into the final lap in 2nd place.

But pre-race favourite and pole man Guy Martin suffered a nasty crash exiting Ireland's which brought out the red flag and handed victory to Anstey. The Tyco BMW rider was taken to hospital and has since been diagnosed with a broken vertebra. This has ruled the Lincolnshire rider out for the remainder of the meeting.

Martin had been embroiled in a fight with PBM's Ian Hutchinson in the opening stages, but a broken gear linkage on Hutchy's Kawasaki on lap 3 forced him into retirement. Michael Dunlop also dropped out of the race on the following tour as he continues to get to grips with the 2015 S1000RR BMW Superbike.

Connor Cummins opened up his Ulster weekend with a fine 2nd place for Honda Racing, whilst Peter Hickman rounded out the podium on his Briggs Equipment BMW – an incredible result for the Englishman in just his second time at the fastest road race in the world.

Dan Kneen capped off a good evening for the Valvoline Padgetts squad in 4th, with Keith Amor, William Dunlop, Dean Harrison, Ivan Lintin, Russ Mountford and Seamus Elliot completing the top ten.

Multiple red flag delays meant that the other scheduled races for the evening were postponed as a result of fading light. You can catch highlights of the Dundrod 150 on BBC Iplayer from this evening.

Watch Guy Martin's crash here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/northern-ireland/33818081