Michael Dunlop opened up Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix with a thrilling victory in the six-lap Superstock race, seeing off the challenge of Guy Martin on the final lap. A rain shower before the start made tyre choice critical but with parts of the circuit dry and others wet, all manner of combinations were seen on the grid. It was Dunlop’s first UGP win.

“There’s been pressure on all week so it’s great to finally complete the set of wins at all of the International road races. The tyres worked really well and once I’d got a good start I just sat with Guy and watched what he was doing. He came by on the fifth lap but I put the hammer down on the last lap and edged away so it’s good to get the monkey off my back," said the Ballymoney man.

Dunlop opted for dry tyres with Martin going for intermediates but, ultimately, it was the speed of Dunlop’s bike that gave him the upper hand. However, it was Gary Johnson who led on the opening lap by over a second from Dunlop, Martin and Ryan Farquhar, up from the fifth row of the grid. Johnson had gone for a wet front and intermediate rear and he soon began to drop back, losing time out the back part of the circuit, particularly on the brakes, where a dry line was rapidly appearing.

On lap two Dunlop led for the first time but Farquhar was a retirement seemingly not happy with the handling of the front end of the Kawasaki. That meant that Ian Lougher was now up to fourth with Keith Amor circulating in a lonely fifth. Further back there was a good four-man dice for sixth between William Dunlop, Conor Cummins, Steve Mercer and Cameron Donald.

At half race distance, Dunlop and Martin were away at the front with Lougher and Johnson equally close together for third but the front two were continually changing places. Lap 5 saw Martin take over at Tournagrough but Dunlop soon retaliated, steaming by along the Flying Kilo and he pulled away for the rest of the final lap to take the victory by almost two seconds.

Lougher looked like he had third sewn up but Johnson sneaked through at the hairpin and held him off on the run back to the flag whilst Amor took fifth. Cummins just edged out Mercer for sixth, the latter’s best ever UGP result, with Donald, Stephen Thompson and John McGuinness completing the top ten. William Dunlop retired at the end of lap four whilst Michael Pearson was a non-starter.

1 Michael Dunlop 21m15.901s

2 Guy Martin (Suzuki) +1.775s

3 Gary Johnson (Honda) +11.623s

4 Ian Lougher (Kawasaki) +11.714s

5 Keith Amor (Honda) +18.901s

6 Conor Cummins (Kawasaki) +23.889s

7 Steve Mercer (BMW) +24.217s

8 Cameron Donald (Honda) +26.419s

9 Stephen Thompson (BMW) +32.023s

10 John McGuinness (Honda) +38.932s

Fastest lap: Michael Dunlop 128.980mph