Saturday at the Ulster Grand Prix with Tony Goldsmith

Upon arriving at the circuit on Saturday morning it was evident that the weather was going to play a big part in the days proceedings. With light but persistent rain falling all morning, the conditions were far from ideal for racing.

The conditions also caused a problem with my planned shooting locations for the day. I had planned to start at Joey’s Windmill, and work my way to the Lougher’s for the feature Superbike race.

Lougher’s is the fastest corner on the track. On a Superbike the riders are touching in the region 170mph while fighting to keep the front wheel on the ground on the exit — a classic road racing corner, and a place I was keen to photograph.

After photographing the Superstock race from Joey’s Windmill it soon became evident that Lougher’s was not going to give me the shot I wanted, due to the conditions. I decided to abandon my original plan and jumped in the car and drove over to Rusheyhill near the start, as I wanted to get a group shot of the riders leaving the line.

Arriving in Rusheyhill I was surprised to find that part of the circuit was completely dry. There was only two miles between the two locations but the track conditions could not have been any more different. The feature Superbike race was run in arguably the best conditions of the day with Bruce Anstey taking victory after a great battle with Guy Martin and Lee Johnston.

After the Superbike race had finished I headed back to the car and drove over to Tornagrough for the 2nd Supersport race.

After a lengthy delay following a crash on the opening lap, the organisers decided to cancel the Supersport race and send out the Supertwins. By this time the weather had deteriorated all round the track and the organisers abandoned the meeting once the Supertwins race had finished.

For those that don’t know the Ulster GP circuit, here’s a map of the course

Superstock winner Dan Kneen chases Dean Harrison out of Joeys Windmill

Bruce Anstey goes past Lean Johnston on the final lap of the Superbike race

Lee Johnston’s Arai helmets being prepared at the Arai service centre

Guy Martin at Tornagrough during the abandoned 2nd Supersport race

Dean Harrison leads through Joey’s Windmill during the early stages of the Superstock race

Steve Mercer’s Team Traction Control superbike being prepared

Guy Martin and Lee Johnston during the superbike race

Lee Johnston and eventual winner Bruce Anstey chase Guy Martin down the Flying Kilo

Tony Goldsmith is an Isle of Man based freelance motorcycle racing photographer specializing in the Isle of Man TT races. He has also covered selected rounds of the British Superbike Championship and MotoGP. His online archive is available at www.tgfphotos.com and he can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.