Thursday at the Ulster Grand Prix with Tony Goldsmith

Having travelled to Indianapolis through Dublin, it seamed only right upon my return to make the short trip over the border into Northern Ireland for the Ulster Grand Prix.

Having only visited The Ulster once as a spectator back in 2007, I’m pretty much a novice to the circuit. The corner names are not familiar, so I didn’t have much of a clue of were to shoot Thursday’s action from. One place I did know from my previous visit was the Deers Leap section, so I based myself there for the day.

The riders come onto the Deers Leap through a quick right-hand bend before wheeling over the crest at Deers Leap itself, and down under the trees into Cochranstown. There is a huge elevation change trough the section. Standing at the top looking down to Cochranstown it looks like the riders are dropping off the face of the earth as they the crest Deers Leap.

The racing on Thursday is actually the Dundrod 150, the traditional warm up to Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix. After long delays due to two incidents in the early races, Guy Martin won the feature race of the day, after a race long battle with Bruce Anstey. Martin crossed the line only 0.244 seconds ahead of Anstey with Michael Dunlop 2.5 seconds further back in third.

All of the results of the days racing can be found on the Ulster Grand Prix’s official website.

Dan Kneen about to drop off the face of the earth…

Ian Hutchinson is still trying to find his form following his come back from his horrific broken leg.

Guy Martin leads Bruce Anstey during the Dundrod 150 feature race.

Michael Dunlop at Deers Leap during practice.

Lee Johnston leads Ivan Linton during practice.

Bruce Anstey blasts past the spectators at Deers Leap.

Guy Martin leads the pack at the start of the Dundrod 150.

British Supersport regular Glen Irwin is have a fantastic road racing debut. He didn’t get very far during this practice session though.

The new kid on the block, Dean Harrison at Deers Leap.

Guy Martin at Deers Leap.

Michael Dunlop at Deers Leap, on his way to third in the Dundrod 150.

Dan Kneen leads Bruce Anstey over Deers Leap during practice. The two spectators on the right are looking pretty relaxed.

Davy Morgan on his lightweight machine during practice.

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.