Hickman ‘chuffed’ with debut Dundrod podium

Peter Hickman says he’s ‘chuffed’ with his first podium position at the Dundrod circuit, after taking an impressive Dundrod 150 third place despite only running on his superstock-spec machine.

“I got a good qualifying under my belt, a good front row spot, and got away nice and solid – and was able to follow Hutchy to start with. I’m still learning bit by bit to be fair; he circuit is really difficult to learn, especially some of the fast bits like Lougher’s, it’s fourth and fifth gear, it’s 140 mph and it’s blind and I’m still trying to figure out where I need to be so its good following these boys that really know where they are going. “

Despite ‘still learning,’ however, the Lincolnshire man was able to lap at well over 132mph average, with a fastest lap of the 7.4 mile circuit only two seconds slower than race winner Bruce Anstey.

Hickman was also quick to praise the significant improvements made to the circuit since last year, after witnessing the aftermath of Guy Martin’s crash at Ireland’s – one of the places where the course has been altered for safety since 2014.

“There have been quite a few changes since last year, and it’s been a nice surprise – it’s good, making it very much like a short circuit. It’s really open, and as far as a road race goes it’s actually quite safe.”