Steve Plater: “I can’t believe that. We had one or two issues in practice and I gave my teammate Ian Hutchinson the best engine as he stood a good chance of actually winning the race. But I got my head down at the start and tried to be as smooth as possible.
“I had no idea I had finished second. I didn’t have any boards around the circuit but one of the Phase One guys waved their board at me to say I was P5 a couple of times and I thought that would be a good result.
“But then when I went through on my last lap it said P3 and I thought, flipping heck that’s good, and thought I had better try to be as smooth as possible to hang onto third. But then coming out of Ramsey and up May Hill I made a mistake on the approach to the hairpin so I was a bit cross with myself.
“All I wanted to do was keep it smooth over the mountain and bring it home in third so I couldn’t believe it when they ushered me into the second place spot.
“Its just awesome, my head is in a big snowball right now and I can’t believe what I have just done.”
But after the post race scrutineering test Anstey was disqualified and Steve pronounced the winner and is now even more amazed. “It was a surprise to find out I was second but now I have to take in the fact that I have actually won the race. It’s all too much for me to take on board right now. Today has been such an emotional rollercoaster I just need a bit of peace and quiet to realise exactly what has happened here today.”
John McGuinness: "It was a bit iffy on the first lap of the Superstock race and with quite a lot of mist, as well as some damp, slippery patches, I was a bit too steady over the Mountain. It’s always difficult in those conditions as you never know how hard to push but I concentrated hard and tried all the way to the end. We struggled a bit for time on the bike during practice as I only got 3 laps on it but it never missed a beat in the race and it’s a fantastic bike - it was good enough to win today but the rider wasn’t!"
"The Supersport race was going really well until the steering damper broke and with oil all over my visor and screen for almost two laps, it was tricky out there. It was a bit of a handful through the bumpy parts of the course and, after it broke, I just concentrated on bringing the bike home safely. After 8 laps of racing today, I was out of puff by the end of it but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself. It’s been a good day and with two second place finishes, I’ve got to be happy."
Guy Martin: "I can’t complain with this morning’s result - I just didn’t get my act together early enough. When I went over the Mountain on the first lap I was thinking ‘this ain’t going to last 4 laps’ as you couldn’t see your hand in front of you up on the Verandah - the fog was really bad and I had a major slide at Brandish but it gradually cleared and we got the race done and dusted."
"I don’t know why but I was struggling to keep the bike in gear in the first couple of laps and that, coupled with a slow start, meant I was playing catch up all the time. 6th at the end of the first lap was woeful and although I’m never going to be happy with 3rd, we got a decent finish in the end and a big thank you to the whole team for all their hard work."
"I was hoping to make amends in the Supersport race and we’d even taped a lucky penny to the airbox but my race was over before I’d even got going and it was hugely disappointing and frustrating to be parked at the side of the road again. There’s nothing we can do about it now though and we’ll be giving it all in the final two races of the week."
