WINNING PERFORMANCE FROM MILWAUKEE YAMAHA AT ULSTER GP

William Dunlop gave Milwaukee Yamaha their maiden Ulster Grand Prix victory yesterday in Supersport race two after a thrilling battle with Kiwi Bruce Anstey. The 28-year-old also came of age in the premier class with third place in the Ulster Grand Prix Superbike race.

His team-mate Conor Cummins also claimed two podiums with third place in same Supersport race alongside William, and took the same step on the podium in the second Superbike encounter – after Dunlop stopped with a technical problem whilst disputing second place.

Supersport race two was only settled on the final lap on the run to the flag at the famous Dundrod circuit, with Dunlop taking victory by a miniscule 7/100ths of a second; his team-mate Conor, finished third behind Bruce Anstey. William also took the fastest lap of the race with a lap speed of 127.931mph on the sixth and final lap.

William’s best lap in the Ulster Grand Prix Superbike race was 131.983mph with Manxman Conor posting a lap of 131.438mph.

Dunlop said: “Missing out on a certain second place in the second Superbike race is disappointing but I’m delighted with the Supersport win after a tough race with Bruce. Normally if you lead into the hairpin on the last lap you win the race, but fair play to Bruce he came back past me. I was riding so hard and it could have gone either way but I squeezed him into the last corner and we got the win. A podium in the Superbike race proves the progress we have made on the big bike. I made a little mistake and lost the two on Michael and Guy, but we proved we have the pace, although seven laps around here on a Superbike is tough going. Thanks to the Milwaukee Yamaha guys for putting in a such a big effort; I can’t thank Shaun, Dale and the rest of the team enough.”

Cummins said: “The old days of Conor Cummins are dead and buried now. We’ve had a decent day with two podiums and my Superbike was flying in that second race, I just got a bad start. It’s been a great day for Milwaukee Yamaha, so a big thanks to the team and also to my personal sponsors for their continued support.”

Team Principal Shaun Muir concluded: “Overall I’m delighted really. We’ve had a win, a handful of podiums and we’ve come a long way this season on the roads. We started off pretty slowly at the North West and made baby steps at the TT. We haven’t gone backwards and that’s important, but this has been our strongest day on the roads and good progress for us to take into the off-season and the winter. I’m really pleased for William to get that win. He’s growing in confidence all the time and proved it in that battle with Bruce. With Conor it’s maybe just a little too late. He’s found his self-confidence in the latter part of the season, but in saying that, we haven’t signed anyone yet for next season. I think it’s fair to say Milwaukee and Yamaha can be proud of both riders.”

Highs & Lows for Gearlink Kawasaki - Cadwell Park

Gearlink Kawasaki had a mixed weekend at round eight of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship with Ben Wilson taking a stunning first and second place in the two Supersport races. It was a different story for his team-mate Alastair Seeley who crashed out heavily in race one and feeling second hand for race two he was only able to salvage eighth position.

Ben Wilson had a great outing at his local circuit over the weekend and gained a comfortable pole position for the sprint race on Sunday and he dominated that race from the start to win the race by only 0.1 from Stuart Easton. In race two once again Ben was eager to get to the front and took the lead by the end of the opening lap and led until the final stages when Billy McConnell was able to reel him in.

Ben Wilson
"That was a mega weekend, to win the first race in front of my home crowd was an awesome feeling. The support for me was massive and you could really hear them cheering me on which was a huge motivation. I was keen to do the same again in race two and I managed to get another good start and take the lead by the end of lap one, I knew tyres would be a problem in the closing stages so I tried to gain a bit of a gap. I could see the time on my pit board coming down after half distance but even at that point my grip wasn't the best. I pushed hard but Billy rode a great race and took the win. I'm still really pleased leaving here with 45 points in the bag and keen to keep pushing for the good results at the remaining races."

It was a different story for Alastair, the weekend was going well and he placed himself on the front row for the opening race on Sunday in third place. He got a great start and was sat in second behind Ben and looking comfortable but on lap five he crashed heavily on the exit to Mansfield and was taken to the track medical centre. He was badly bruised and beaten up and suffered a cracked rib in the accident but he was eager to be back out on the grid on Monday. Despite his bravery the pain got the better of him and he was only able to finish in eighth place but he still leads the Championship from Stuart Easton.

Alastair Seeley
"I'm really gutted about this weekend as things have been going so well all season and this weekend it took a turn for the worst. I had a good set up and was feeling good during practice and qualifying. I felt strong in the race and even though I was struggling a little with grip I thought it was all ok. On lap five it just came round on me and I landed pretty heavily it knocked the wind out of me for sure. I knew the main race was going to be difficult and I tried to go hard from the start but as the race went on I was struggling and I knew then I just had to secure some points as it might help me at the end of the season. I will be resting now until Donington and getting myself fully fit for there. I'd like to thank all the Gearlink team for all their help and support this weekend."

Pirelli National Superstock 600s

It was a mixed weekend for the two Pirelli National Superstock 600 riders at Cadwell Park for Luke Hedger and Mark Wilkinson. Luke qualified on the front row in second place and suffered a bad start and crashed out heavily, but uninjured, into Charlies, turn two on lap one. Mark Wilkinson struggled with the tough testing circuit but knuckled down and was able to better his times in every session, qualifying in 21st place he did a fantastic job to once again finish in the points in 13th place.

Luke Hedger
"I'm so disappointed with the result today, things had been going really well all weekend at Cadwell for us and I managed to put in a good time during qualifying which put me on the front row of the grid for the race. I was keen to get a good start and that all went wrong and I was about ninth into turn one, I was wanting to get back towards the front and crashed out at turn two."

Mark Wilkinson
"I'm actually really pleased with the race today as at the start of the weekend I was really quite nervous as the track is quite daunting. I was trying to bide my time and learn the track properly but we don't get much time out on track so it was difficult. Every session I managed to improve my time and even more so in the race so I was really happy to once again get some more Championship points, I'm now one of only three people to score points in every round. I'm looking forward to getting back to tracks that I feel more comfortable at in a few weeks time."

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph
"All in all the weekend has been pretty good for the Gearlink Kawasaki team. We're disappointed for Alastair and I hate seeing one of my riders injured, he's had a lot of good fortune this year and sadly it took a downward turn this weekend at Cadwell. He worked hard over the weekend and despite his injuries still went and got some good points for his Championship hope.

Ben was brilliant all weekend and really deserved the results he got here especially more so at his local round. He worked hard and was rewarded with a first and second place, we made a bit of a gamble with tyre choice in race two and I think this caused a few problems in the closing stages and allowed Billy to catch him but it was a choice we decided to go with.

It was unfortunate that Luke came off on the first lap of the race but I do feel that he had a lot to learn. Sometimes being too confident is not a good thing but I know that he will bounce back at Donington.

Mark was lacking in confidence coming into this round this weekend so for him to gain some points here was great. He worked really hard all weekend and even in the race his times improved from his previous sessions. I'm confident he will be back up near the top end of the pack at the final three Superstock rounds."

For more information on Gearlink Kawasaki please visit: www.gearlinkracing.com
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