From manx.net:

Kirmington's Guy Martin endured an up and down weekend of racing at Oulton Park where he was competing in round 2 of the British Superbike Championship. The Hydrex Bike Animal Honda ace finished in a solid 12th in Monday's opening race but was forced to retire in the 2nd encounter and, with two crashes over the weekend, it was a tough few days for Guy and the team.

Practice and qualifying went well for Guy and 13th on the grid was a more than encouraging sign. However, a spill on the slow down lap after qualifying left him with a sore wrist and a damaged Honda Fireblade and both were aggravated in the first Superbike race when he fell on the opening lap, a sudden rain shower catching 5 riders out on the first corner. The race was subsequently aborted and a new, wet race declared.

Guy made a great start and moved up to 10th place at quarter race distance but, as the track began to dry, Guy, like most of the field, found grip hard to come by. He battled on and was rewarded for his efforts with 12th place and 4 more championship points. Race 2 saw the circuit a lot drier and in the opening lap Guy was lying in 14th place. However, after a major slide at Island Bend, he overshot Hizzy's chicane and he toured back to the pits, his race coming to an early end.

Speaking afterwards, Guy said:

'It's been a tough weekend and I'm still struggling for confidence in the front end despite the whole team's best efforts to make everything work for me. With the first race being wet, grip was always going to be an issue as the race wore on and we were all sideways in the final few laps so 12th was ok given the conditions although I was a bit disappointed to have slipped back from tenth.'

'In the 2nd race, I had a couple of major front wheel slides and I eventually overshot the chicane so we may have to go back to the drawing board to sort out the problems I'm having. I could have done without the 2 spills but they weren't anything major and my wrist felt fine on the bike so we'll re-group in time for the next round and make sure we're in good shape heading in to the North West 200.'

'Finally, I'd like to offer my deepest condoloncies to all the friends and family of Martin Finnegan who sadly lost his life at Tandragee on Saturday - Martin was a good friend and the big man will be sorely missed.'

Guy's next race will take him back to Brands Hatch this coming weekend for the latest round of the British Superbike Championship, the meeting being re-scheduled after the intended round was snowed off in early April.