Guy Martin on racing a BSB bike at Scarborough

On Sunday Guy Martin racked up his seventh straight Scarborough Gold Cup race win. He did it the hard way.

Instead of riding his regular superbike – which has a kit ECU and plush suspension – he raced the Hydrex Honda that Tommy Hill raced in the recent BSB Croft, with a super-stiff chassis set-up and an electronics package that incorporates traction control.

Martin said: “We tried the traction control on Saturday to help MCN with a feature (see Wednesday’s paper for the full story) but traction’s not good for around here.  Take the uphill section after the first corner (Mere Hairpin).

“If you take the smooth line then the traction works perfect and after a few laps on the bike I got my head around keeping the throttle pinned (and letting the electronics manage the wheelies and tyre spin).

“But once I was in traffic and off that smooth line, the traction couldn’t catch the wheelies or the tyre spin fast enough.

“I was head-butting the screen where I was rolling the throttle and the traction was cutting in at the same time.

“I was better off without the traction on so we turned the lot off on Sunday!

“I reckon it would be really good at the Ulster where the track is a lot more flowing and I can understand why it’s so good in BSB but, fuck me, it’s hard work here and would definitely not work at the TT.

“The BSB bike handles well but I reckon the perfect set-up for me would to be to have my regular bike (with kit ECU) and these (K-Tech) forks.”