Dundrod gears up for UGP bike week
With less than a week to go until the MCE Insurance Ulster Grand Prix, organisers are adding the final preparations around the world’s fastest road racing circuit.
Last updated 4th Aug 2017
By Aaron O'Neill
The MCE Ulster Grand Prix bike week runs from the 6th to the 12th August with events organised throughout the week.
There will be a classic bike and vintage car display, trials championships, sponsored walks, as well as an evening with Belfast boxing legend Carl Frampton and road-racing star, Lee Johnston. Johnston has recently declared himself fit to race at the Ulster Grand Prix next week, marking the Fermanagh man’s return to racing, for the first time since his horror crash at the Isle of Man TT back in May.
The event will take place in aid of the, ‘F13K Cancer’, a charity founded by Lee Johnston a number of years ago, which supports Marie Curie NI. A minimum donation of £200 per table will go towards the charity.
The Ulster Grand Prix has presented road-racing fans with the chance to watch some of the closest on track battles around the 7.3 mile, Dundrod circuit. With a star-studded line-up set to compete at the event, huge crowds are expected to line the hedgerows around the track. Michael Dunlop, Peter Hickman, Bruce Anstey and William Dunlop are amongst some of the road racing stars set to do battle at the 2017 MCE Ulster Grand Prix.
Manx Man, Dan Kneen, will make his debut on board the Tyco BMW in the Superbike and Superstock classes. Phillip Neil’s team to replace the injured Ian Hutchinson who is set to miss the rest of the season after a horrific leg injury sustained during the Senior TT. Hutchinson tasted success at the Ulster GP in 2016 with four victories on the Saturday last year.
Tyco BMW boss Phillip Neil commented on the move, “Hutchy is almost an impossible man to replace, but Dan has shown great form of late on BMW Motorrad machinery and very much deserves this opportunity at the Ulster Grand Prix. He’s a former winner and has shown recently that he can mix it with the best on the roads on the S1000RR, so we are looking forward to working with him at this year’s event.”
Kneen has enjoyed a wealth of success on the roads this year on board BMW machinery. Kneen has had some stellar results during 2017 including a 5th place finish in the RST Superbike TT as well as a strong showing at the Southern 100 Road Races back in July. Kneen joins the Moneymore based Tyco BMW outfit from fellow BMW competitors Penz13.com.
Dan Kneen said, “First of all, it’s nice to be asked to ride for Tyco BMW. Obviously, the opportunity has come up, due to Hutchy’s injury, so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best with his recovery.”
“It’s also nice to be given the chance on merit, because of the results I’ve been getting recently and how I’m riding. Things have been going well for me on BMW machinery, so that in itself, should make things easier jumping onto the TAS Racing prepared Tyco BMWs.”
New Zealander, Bruce Anstey is set to ride the iconic Clive Padgett backed, Honda RC213V-S at the Dundrod circuit for the second year running. Road racing fans, overwhelmed by the presence of the iconic MotoGP bike in 2016, will be waiting in anticipation to see what Anstey can muster on board the RCV at this year’s event.
The Dundrod 150 Road Races will feature during the bike week festival.. Racing for the Dundrod 150 will take place on Thursday and the event will highlight the Irish National road racing profile with many of the sport’s biggest stars set to compete.
Gary Dunlop is back at the Dundrod 150 after making his debut at the event in 2016. The Ballymoney man is set to compete in the ultra-lightweight/lightweight class as he aims to better his fourth place finish from last year.
Gary said, “It was easier to learn than I’d expected, I already felt like I knew it well, but you never really learn a track until you’re on it and using both sides of the road and travelling at speed but I was surprised how well I took to it, like a duck to water really.”
He continued, “I didn’t enjoy the first day because the weather wasn’t so great and I was a wee bit nervous but whenever it came to the dry sessions it was by far the best place I’ve ridden a motorbike round. I didn’t expect to get anywhere near to fourth place, it was awesome and I couldn’t speak for about 10 minutes whenever I got back into the paddock.”The Dundrod 150 races will take place on Thursday of race week with practice due to take place on the Wednesday.
The main event will take place on Saturday 12th August. The 2017 MCE Ulster Grand Prix marks the 64th anniversary of the event, which is sure to provide the road racing die-hards with more memories to cherish for years to come.
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