Team Suzuki Press Office - June 3.
It was a case of 'so near, yet so far' for Tyco Suzuki rider Guy Martin during today's Supersport Race 1 and Superstock encounters in glorious sunshine at the Isle of Man TT.
Martin finished sixth in the Supersport race, run over four laps, on his GSX-R600 Suzuki, but in the Royal London Superstock encounter, it looked like he could produce a podium result, but for a pit-lane penalty while holding second place. Martin dropped to fifth place after the time penalty and retired later into the third lap at Glenduff when his GSX-R1000 suffered a fuel pump problem.
Josh Brookes - who yesterday became the fastest-ever Newcomer at the Isle of Man TT with a lap-time of 127.726mph and 10th overall in the Dainese Superbike TT - had an unscheduled pit stop with a chain tension problem, but later continued to add to his lap count on his debut. He eventually finished 46th.
Guy Martin:
"The 600 job was working okay and the bike was pulling well up-top but we lacked a little bit of punch, so we need a few set-up changes for Wednesday. The boys made changes to the Superstock bike and I could tell the difference by the time I reached the lights at St Ninians - it was brilliant! I didn't know until I retired that I'd received a pit-lane penalty but either way, it inspires confidence for Friday and I'm not too disappointed."
Josh Brookes:
"I still haven't really gelled with the Superstock bike as well as the Superbike just yet. I over-jumped at Ballaugh and knew immediately that I'd stretched the chain and needed to make an un-scheduled pit stop. It broke my concentration a bit and I overshot then at Quarter Bridge on a full tank of fuel, but it's just one of those days."
Philip Neill - Team Manager:
"We were out of luck today, but despite the retirement in the Superstock race, I really don't think the pit-lane penalty fits the crime. We were never quite on podium pace in Supersport although it was encouraging, but in Superstock we really had a fighting chance. Guy was pleased with the set-up changes we made and although I expected him to be disappointed with the retirement, he is taking the positives from it. Josh also had some bad luck, but that's the TT and all part of the experience."
