By Phil Wain BSN at Dundrod,
Peter Hickman’s phenomenal run of success at this year’s Ulster Grand Prix ended exactly as it had started with the Smiths Racing rider taking Saturday’s second Superbike race to make it a record-breaking seven wins from seven starts.
With conditions the driest they had been all day, Hickman lapped at more than 134mph to win by almost seven seconds from Dean Harrison with Conor Cummins again and he equalled Phillip McCallen’s long-standing record of five wins in a day.
The race got underway at 7pm and it was Harrison who got the jump off the line but Hickman soon moved to the front and he led at the end of the first of six laps by just over a second on the BMW S1000RR. Cummins slotted into third ahead of Davey Todd, David Johnson and Derek Sheils.
Second time around and a lap of 133.807mph saw Hickman double his advantage over Harrison with Cummins remaining in third and the trio had broken away from the rest of the field with Todd still at the head of the chasing pack.
He had David Johnson for close company whilst Sheils, Brian McCormack, Jamie Coward and Michael Sweeney were locked in battle for sixth.
Another near 134mph lap on the third lap enabled Hickman to maintain his lead at half race distance but Harrison wasn’t letting him get away and with a lap only marginally slower, he kept the gap down to 2.195s.
However, Hickman put the hammer down on the fourth lap and despite the light beginning to fade, a lap of 134.504mph, the fastest of the race, meant his lead increased to 3.2s with just two laps to go.
Harrison and Cummins were comfortable in second and third but Todd and Johnson were still disputing third before the latter tipped off at the hairpin on the penultimate lap, fortunately without injury.
With spots of rain beginning to fall, Hickman brought the Smiths Racing BMW home to make it an unbelievable seven wins from his seven starts and he crossed the line 6.849s clear of Harrison with Cummins again having to settle for third, his fifth podium of the week.
Todd had a lonely final lap to end his week with a good fourth place but the battle for fifth place went all the way to the end and it was Coward who came out on top from Sheils, Sweeney and McCormack, the quartet covered by just half a second at the chequered flag. Phil Crowe and Michael Booth completed the top ten.
