Ulster Grand Prix: Peter Hickman wins again in Superbike race two
Image: Pacemaker Press
Peter Hickman's 2019 Ulster Grand Prix domination continued in the second Superbike race, after he resisted an early challenge from Dean Harrison to win by over three seconds.
Harrison's Saturday at the Ulster GP has so far been tough, with a fuel pump issue forcing him out of the Superstock race at the end of the first lap, and he was unable to start the Supersport contest due to a broken engine.
The Silicone Engineering rider looked set to make up for those disappointments in the six-lap SBK race after jumping Hickman off the line.
Harrison - who gambled on an intermediate rear while the other frontrunners were on full wets - defended the lead hard on the opening lap, and led at the end of it by the slender margin of 0.117s.
But Hickman soon powered by the Kawasaki-mounted Harrison on the run through Leathemstown and immediately built a gap of 2.1s aboard his Smiths Racing BMW.
Harrison then came under threat from Padgetts Racing's Conor Cummins, who moved ahead at Lougher's on the same lap.
At the front, Hickman's lead stood at 4.7s at the end of lap three, and was up to 6.1s on the following tour.
Harrison began to reel in Cummins again, and was just 0.093s behind as they crossed the line to start the last lap.
The Silicone Engineering rider slipstreamed past Cummins, and held him at bay across the final lap to secure second.
Hickman's lead dropped over the last lap, but he still got to the line in a comfortable margin of 3.018s, while Cummins was just under nine tenths adrift of Harrison to complete the podium.
Lee Johnston couldn't quite bridge the gap to the podium runners on his Aschourt Racing BMW in fourth, while Davey Todd rounded out the top five on the Penz13 BMW.
Derek Sheils (Burrows Engineering) beat the works Honda of David Johnson to sixth, while Xavier Denis, Dave Jackson and Mike Booth completed the top 10.
Tyco BMW's Michael Dunlop, who missed Thursday's SBK race, was once again absent, with Prez Racing's Jamie Coward also a non-starter.
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