Bruce Anstey put in one of his finest ever rides around the Dundrod circuit to defeat William Dunlop in the second Supersport race at today's Ulster Grand Prix. The veteran Kiwi made his move at the hairpin on the final lap but Dunlop fought back before Anstey went ahead once more at the Quarries and held on to take his eighth UGP victory.
"I knew I had to get William at the hairpin to stand a chance but I had to work really hard for that one, " said Anstey. "I had a bit of a battle with Conor Cummins to begin with and William edged away but once in second, I got the head down and got on the back wheel of him. When we caught the backmarkers it got a bit hectic but I got by at tha hairpin as planned only for William to get me back and I wasn't sure if i'd be able to do it. I got him back though and held on and really enjoyed the race."
It was Dunlop who led at the end of the first lap with Anstey only a tenth back closely followed by Conor Cummins, Gary Johnson and Michael Dunlop. Second time around and Dunlop had increased his lead to 0.5s and it was now Cummins in second with Anstey in third whilst Johnston had got the better of Michael Dunlop for fifth. Dan Cooper was going well in seventh just ahead of Guy Martin.
Dunlop increased his lead further to 0.7s but Anstey was back up to second and a series of near 128mph laps saw him get right on to the back wheel of Dunlop when they went into their final lap. It looked like he had it covered but Anstey had other ideas and grabbed the lead for the first time at the hairpin and although positions changed on the last mile, Anstey was ahead when it mattered and so took a superb victory.
Cummins had one of his best ever 600cc rides in third whilst Johnson had a lonely ride into fourth and, after a race long battle, Johnston edged out Michael Dunlop for fifth by just 0.05s. With Cooper retiring at Quarterlands on lap 4, Martin took seventh with Dan Kneen, Dean Harrison and Olie Linsdell completing the top ten.
