SUZUKI GSX-R HAT-TRICK AT SUNFLOWER

2011-10-24 10:19
Ian Lowry took a hat trick of Superbike victories for Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing during the Sunflower Trophy Races at Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland at the weekend.

Lowry, also a winner of the main Sunflower Trophy race back in 2009 aboard a TAS Racing prepared GSX-R1000 Suzuki, was drafted in to partner the team's British Supersport Champion Alastair Seeley for the event.

After finishing second to Lowry in the opening Superbike race, Seeley was unfortunately involved in an incident with Dublin's Jack Kennedy on the final lap of Supersport race one. After sustaining rib injuries and concussion, the team withdrew him from the meeting on safety grounds.

In the feature race, the Sunflower Trophy, Lowry won by 10.558 seconds from Sam Lowes and Danny Buchan, also setting a new track record for the Bishopscourt Circuit at 1min: 23.508 [92.082mph] on his Pirelli-shod Relentless Suzuki. He took his third and final race victory in wet conditions by four seconds over David Haire and Michael Dunlop.

Ian Lowry:

"It was great to be back riding for Relentless Suzuki by TAS this weekend and I clicked straight away with the Suzuki, so thanks to Hector and Philip for the opportunity. It's always nice to end the season on a high but to come away with a Superbike hat-trick and the main Sunflower Trophy again is fantastic. The first race was a real battle with Alastair and it's a pity he got injured in the Supersport race as I was really looking forward to racing with him. Thankfully he's not too badly injured. Hopefully this will let people see what I'm still capable of on top class machinery and there's no better way to go into the winter than finishing off with some champagne and silverware."

Alastair Seeley:

"I was looking forward to evening things up with Ian in the Sunflower race but my luck ran out in that Supersport race. We were forced onto the dirty stuff to get around the backmarkers and when Jack high-sided I'd nowhere to go and hit his bike. I can't remember too much about it to be honest but I'm okay today. My friend who I'm going to Australia with saw the crash and thought, 'that's the end of the holiday' but I'm fine. My ribs and elbow are a wee bit sore but that's it. I was really looking forward to the event but there's always next year."

Philip Neill - Team Manager:

"I'm delighted for Ian to have come away with three wins this weekend, also giving us our sixth Sunflower win as a team, but am also bitterly disappointed for Alastair. After such a great year he was looking forward to capping it with a good performance in front of his home fans, but for some reason Bishopscourt doesn't seem to be that kind to him. Thankfully he's not too badly injured as he's off on holiday next week to Australia.

"All in all a good day for us as a team and it's always satisfying to sign off the season with some success on home soil. We've had a pretty satisfying season so big thanks must go to Suzuki, Relentless and all our team partners, and also thanks to Came for coming on-board this weekend for the Sunflower races."

Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story