Marty Nutt Racing

 

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British Superbikes 2010 Calendar
Round Circuit Date 
1 Brands Hatch 2/3/4/5 Apr
2 Thruxton 16/17/18 Apr
3 Oulton Park 1/2/3 May
4 Cadwell Park 21/22/23 May
5 Mallory Park 25/26/27 Jun
6 Knockhill 2/3/4 Jul
7 Snetterton 16/17/18 Jul
8 Brands Hatch GP 6/7/8 Aug
9 Cadwell Park 28/29/30 Aug
10 Croft 10/11/12 Sep
11 Silverstone GP 24/25/26 Sep
12 Oulton Park 8/9/10 Oct
                                                        

 

Nutt continues strong form with another top ten finish

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 01/09/2010

Castlerock's Marty Nutt continued his strong run of form at Cadwell Park on Bank Holiday Monday when he finished in 10th place in the latest round of the British Supersport 600cc Championship. The Nutttravel.com/Dawn/T&G racing rider was consistently in the top 12 throughout the weekend and his pace was rewarded with his second top ten finish of the year and, had it not been for a slow getaway from the line, he could well have replicated his 7th place finish from Snetterton in July.

A solid start on Saturday saw Marty set the 11th fastest time in the opening free practice session and this was where he ended up 24 hours later in the first qualifying session, which was held in wet conditions. The weather had improved considerably by the afternoon and the rain had been replaced by sun although strong winds meant that the riders now had another factor to take in to consideration. Grid positions would be determined in the afternoon's second session though and with Marty improving his time to a 1m31.265s, he took 11th place on the grid, which would see him line up in the middle of the fourth row.
 
Race day was still very blustery, but dry and, after going quicker still in morning warm-up, Marty was in confident mood going in to the 16-lap race. However, a poor start saw him down in 17th place at the end of the first lap and in danger of being cast adrift but by lap 3 he was into his stride and, a lap later, he overhauled a number of riders to move up to 13th place. On the following lap, he passed Luke Mossey and Joe Dickinson to move into 11th place and with a great chance of getting in to the top ten. Sure enough, on lap 7 he moved up in to tenth having found a way by Allan-Jon Venter and was soon on the back of the three-rider dice for seventh. At one stage, it looked like Marty would pass each and every one of them to take seventh but a few rear wheel slides in the closing laps prevented this and, with the red flag bringing the race to a premature end on the penultimate lap, he had to setle for the tenth place.
 
Speaking afterwards, Marty said: "I'm pleased to be back in the top ten again but a bit annoyed with myself as I got a poor start and it took me about three laps before I finally got going properly! I had to come from a long way back but once I got going I was able to pick them off one by one and once I was inside the top ten, I was confident of getting by the group of 3 in front of me. However, I started to struggle with the rear tyre when the grip went off although rather than getting slides when I was feeding on the power, I was getting them when I was on the brakes and tipping in to the corner."
 
"The back end came round on me a few times, particularly at Hall Bends and the Gooseneck and it made me a bit wary in the closing laps. Karl (Harris) then ran on to the grass in front of me and it spaced us all out a bit. Tenth is a good result but I'm a bit frustrated as it's another case of what might have been. The bike's working really well though and Croft is one of my favourite circuits and, traditionally, somewhere where I've always gone well so I'll be aiming to go one or two places better there." 

Round 10 of the British Supersport 600cc Championship takes place at Croft, North Yorkshire in two weeks time, September 10-12.

Nutt denied strong result at Brands

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 01/09/2010
Marty Nutt's points scoring run came to end at Brands Hatch on Sunday when he crashed out of the latest round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship. The Castlerock rider had been in strong form throughout the two days and was enjoying an excellent ride when he slid off the Nutttravel.com/T&G Racing Dawn Yamaha on the seventh lap, fortunately without injury. 
 
Free practice couldn't have gone any better for Marty and the team and he was never outside of the top ten in any of the three sessions. Fifth and ninth in Friday's free practice sessions was followed up by an excelllent third place in Saturday's third and final practice session, which was held in the damp, and this set him up nicely for the solitary 30-minute qualifying session. However, what had been a troublefree weekend thus far suddenly went wrong and Marty was only able to complete a solitary lap due to a dropped valve with the Yamaha engine. This meant he would have to start the 16-lap race from the back of the grid and with lots of work to do.
 
Starting from 34th place was going to be a tall order for Marty but he proved to be more than up to the task and by the end of the first lap, he had already moved up to 25th place. Over the next few laps, Marty continued to make excellent progress - 21st on lap 2, 19th on lap 3 and 16th by lap 5 - and his efforts were rewarded on just the sixth lap when he moved up into 14th place. However, no sooner had he moved in to the points, then his race was over as he slid off at Druids and with the bike too damaged to continue he reluctantly had to watch the rest of the race on the sidelines.
 
Speaking afterwards, Marty commented; "Free practice had gone brilliantly and I was more than hopeful of getting inside the top ten in qualifying but the engine problem put paid to that and I knew it was going to be hard work from the back of the grid. However, I knew that if I got a good start and immediately made up some places, I might just be able to sneak in to the points and that's exactly how the race was panning out. I made up a load of places on the first lap and just gradually picked them off one by one and to be in 14th after just half a dozen laps was brilliant. I was hopeful at that stage of getting in to the top ten but Jack Kennedy crashed out just before I got to Druids and I just took a bit too much front brake and it was enough to tuck the front end. It was a real shame as the bike was flying and there was definitely a chance of some good points but it was just one of those things. On the plus side, the bike is working really well and I'm pleased with my form so I'm confident we'll be back in the top ten next time out."
 
The next round of the British Supersport Championship takes place at Cadwell Park the end of the month, August 28-30.

Superb ride by Nutt at Snetterton

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 20/07/2010

Castlerock’s Marty Nutt put in his finest performance of the season so far on Sunday when he finished in 7th place in round 7 of the British Supersport Championship at Snetterton. The NuttTravel.Com/Dawn/T&G rider had been in fine form throughout the weekend around the 1.95-mile circuit and he converted his strong qualifying form into an excellent race result, his first top ten finish of the season. 

Marty's weekend got off to a fine start in free practice on Friday when he placed 11th and 15th in the two free practice sessions around the 1.92-mile circuit and, with a number of improvements made to the machine, he felt confident of improving his times during Saturday's qualifying sessions. Problems with the track surface meant that just one qualifying session took place but after placing 11th once more in the final free practice session, a brilliant lap of 1m07.556s in the 30-minute qualifying period saw Marty take fifth place on the grid, just 0.561s off pole position and ensuring he would head up the second row of the grid. 

Sunday saw warm conditions for the 20 lap race and a solid start saw Marty complete the opening lap in 7th place although in the inevitable bumping and barging for positions in the opening few laps he was shuffled back to ninth a couple of laps later. When James Westmoreland crashed out on lap 4 he was back up to 8th although he was back down to ninth just a lap later when Glen Richards came by. For a brief moment it looked like Marty was going to lose touch with the group battling for fifth position but he was soon on the back of Richards and up to 8th at half race distance. Fifth place was anyone’s and the result could have gone either way but, on lap 16, Marty overtook Billy McConnell for 7th and it was here where he finished for 9 excellent championship points, The result means that he’s now up to 13th place in the Championship table.

Talking afterwards, a pleased Marty commented: “It’s been a great weekend for me and the changes we made to the bike on Friday allowed me to make the jump up to the group of riders who’ve been quicker than me all year. Qualifying fifth was a huge boost for my confidence going in to the race and although I made an ‘ok’ start, I had to make sure I didn’t lose contact with the riders in front sogot on to their back wheel as soon as I could. I felt really strong through the first two corners and also through the final chicane so I utilised my advantage there to close right in and was able to run quite comfortably with people like Billy McConnell, who’ve been at the front, and winning races, all year.”

Marty now has a three week break before his next meeting with th 8th round of the British Supersport Championship taking place at Brands Hatch, Kent over the weekend of 6-8 August.

“It was nice to be able to mix it with them and put a few passes in on people that I feel I’m capable of running with all the time. I’ve got to say a big thanks to Andy for all his work on the set-up of the machine and also to John for his work on the electronics and we’ve now got a package that’s working really well. I’ve proved today that I can run in the top 8 and race with some of the leading guys in the Championship so I’m firmly looking at getting these kinds of results between now and the end of the season.”

Solid finish but frustration for Nutt at Knockhill

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 13/07/2010

Marty Nutt took his second successive 13th place finish in round 6 of the British Supersport 600cc Championship at Knockhill on Sunday but the Nuttravel.com/Dawn/T&G Racing rider was left frustrated having run inside the top 8 for the majority of the weekend. The Ulsterman had been in 9th place in the early stages of the race but got pushed wide on to the slippery rumble strips on two occasions dropping him down the order so he left the Scottish venue wondering what might have been.
 
Free practice and qualifying went excellently for Marty and throughout the four sessions, not only did he reduce his lap times he also edged closer to the front. Eleventh in the first free practice session was followed by eighth in the second and he improved further still in Saturday's first qualifying session, a time of 50.348s placing him in seventh. He went quicker still in the second and final session although he did slip back one spot to eighth. However, his time of 50.131s meant he was only 0.545s adrift of pole position and he lined up on the second row of the grid for the 25-lap race.


 


Sunday's race was held in vastly different conditions though, heavy wind and rain making it treacherous for the 31-strong field although Marty was again riding strongly, placing 8th in the morning warm-up. A solid start in the race saw him end the first lap in 9th place and here he remained until the fifth lap when the safety car came out due to an incident on the track. When it pulled in at the end of 7th lap, Marty was well placed to move in to the top six but on two occasions he got bumped into by another rider and it dropped him all the way back to 14th. He managed to get back up to 13th and was still hopeful of climbing back in to the top ten but another crash caused the race to be stopped 2 laps early and he had to settle for the position.
 
Speaking later, it was a frustrated Marty that said: "I'd had a really good weekend up until the race and had felt strong in both the wet and dry conditions so I'm frustrated to have only finished in 13th as I felt I had the pace to finish in the top six. My mechanic Andy and I had worked hard all weekend on the set-up of the bike and had got it working really well and the times were coming quite comfortably so I was confident of going even better in the race. I got a decent start and was right with the front runners but the slight problem with the Yamaha is that it lacks a bit of grunt out of the corners and on a couple of occasions, I got pushed wide by a couple of riders and with it being so wet, I just had to wait until I was back on the tarmac before getting on the power again."
 
"It dropped me way back but I managed to get by a couple of the boys and was still hopeful of getting back into the top ten only for the race to be stopped early and deny me that opportunity. It's a real shame as, like I say, I felt really confident of getting in to the top six today but it wasn't meant to be. There are a lot of positives to take from the weekend though and I was riding really well so we'll all look forward to Snetterton now and look at carrying the form over to there."
 
The next round of the British Supersport Championship takes place at Snetterton, Norfolk over the weekend of July 16-18.

Mallory disappointment for Nutt

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 29/06/2010

Marty Nutt’s 100% points scoring finishing record in the 2010 British Supersport Championship came to an end on Sunday when he was forced to retire from round 5 at Mallory Park. The Castlerock rider had shown some good form during practice and qualifying and was hopeful of a top ten finish but problems with the rear shock on the NuttTravel.Com/Dawn/T&G Racing Yamaha meant he reluctantly had to retire on the 18th lap whilst holding on to 14th place.
 
Looking forward to the meeting after a 5-week break, the weekend started well for Marty as he ran inside the top ten during Friday’s free practice session and he continued in this vein in Saturday’s first 30-minute qualifying session, a time of 57.482s placing him in tenth. With high temperatures hitting the Leicestershire circuit, a few changes in set-up didn’t quite work as Marty would have liked in the second and final session and although he was running at a similar pace, he was unable to improve his time and he slipped back 3 places to 13th, good enough for a fourth row start.


 


Race day again saw blue skies and hot sunshine, which was good for the spectators but not the riders who had to contend with 25 hard laps around the physically demanding 1.41-mile Mallory circuit. Reverting back to his original settings, Marty completed the opening lap in 17th place but by lap 4 he was up to 16th and when the safety car came out a later it allowed the whole pack to bunch back up. After it pulled in 3 laps later, Marty immediately moved inside the points and by half race distance, he was up to 14th, right on the back of a 7-strong group of riders battling for 8th place. However, all hopes of moving closer to the top ten ended on the 18th lap when Marty was forced to retire.
 
Speaking afterwards, Marty said; “It was a promising meeting for me and I was running top-12 pace for the majority of the weekend but right from the beginning of the race, I was struggling for grip, which we later found out to be a problem with the rear shock. As I was struggling for grip, I was trying to make up time in other areas, most notably the brakes, but I started over compensating and got quite a bit of arm pump. It was getting to the stage where I was making mistakes and I was sometimes going into the hairpin not knowing if I was going to be able to brake so I decided it was best to pull in. It’s a shame as, like I say, I was happy with my form and more points were definitely on the board so we’ll move on to Knockhill and look forward to getting back in to the top twelve.”
 
Marty now heads to Knockhill in Scotland for the next round, with the meeting taking place this weekend, July 4.

Nutt adds more points at Cadwell

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 24/05/2010


Castlerock's Marty Nutt made it three points-scoring finishes from three rides in 2010 when he finished in 13th place at Cadwell Park on Sunday in round 4 of the British Supersport 600cc Championship. The Nutt Travel.Com/Dawn/T&G Racing rider fought his way through from 17th on the grid to claim three more championship points and maintain his 100% finishing record.
 
With the team still searching for more power from the Yamaha engine, subsequent dyno tests revealed that the bell mouths weren't operating correctly and although this was corrected, Marty was still lacking a bit of top end speed along the two long straights at the Lincolnshire circuit. A lap of 1m31.303s in Saturday's opening qualifying session saw him slot into 17th place but the warmer temperatures in the afternoon meant that it was even harder to find time and although he was one of the few riders to improve his time in the final session, it wasn't enough to see him climb up the grid so he lined up on the sixth row.
 
The weather was even warmer for Sunday's 16-lap race and a good start saw Marty move in to 15th at the end of the first lap, a position he maintained until he found a way past fellow Irishman Lee Johnston. Once ahead, his lap times immediately dropped and he promptly pulled away but, by this time, the group in front of him and pulled clear and although he was lapping quicker than them, he ultimately ran out of laps to get on level terms with them. However, with Tom Grant crashing out on the 14th lap he was promoted to 13th place and the three points have seen him move up to 14th in the Championship table.
 
Speaking later, a satisfied Marty said: "We took a bit of a gamble in morning warm-up and made a few changes, mainly fitting a heavier rear spring, and it definitely improved the bike so it was a shame we hadn't made that change in second qualifying as we would definitely have been higher up the grid but I was happy with how I rode in the race. Cadwell's a really physical circuit and it was extremely hard in the heat whilst I got held up in the first half of the race by Lee Johnston. I just couldn't find a way by him but as soon as I did, my lap times dropped by a second a lap and I was able to pull away but by then I was in no-man's land a bit. I kept giving 100% and was reeling the pack in ahead of me but I ran out of laps to get close enough to be able to start thinking about any overtaking attempts so I eventually settled for the 13th place. It's another solid finish and some more points on the board but we still need to do a bit more work on the bike so we'll use the break to do just that and ensure we're back on top of the game for the next round."
 
Marty now has a five week break before the next round with round 5 taking place at Mallory Park, Leicestershire from 25-27 June.

More points on the board for Nutt at Oulton

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 06/05/2010
Castlerock's Marty Nutt was in the points once more on Bank Holiday Monday when he finished 12th at Oulton Park in round 3 of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship. The NuttTravel.Com/Dawn/T&G Racing rider battled through the pack from a lowly qualifying position and overcame some treacherous conditions to record his second top twelve finish of the season and move back up to 16th place overall in the Championship table.
 

Sixth and twelth in Saturday's free practice sessions was a promising start to the weekend and even though he was shuffled back to 14th after Sunday's first qualifying session, hopes were high of getting back into the top twelve later in the day. However, colder temperatures and a busy track meant it was difficult for riders to improve on their times and Marty couldn't better, or replicate his times from earlier in the afternoon, an engine problem also meaning he was experiencing a mysterious lack of power. A small group of riders did manage to go faster and Marty found himself in a slightly disappointing 19th place at the end of the two qualifying sessions thus lining up for the race on the fifth row of the grid.

 
The weather was still cool for Monday's race and, when the Supersport riders came to the line, a number of ominous black clouds were looming overhead. Sure enough, just after the warm up lap started, the rain began to fall and although initially just a few spots, it soon began to fall heavier and the race was rightly delayed. When it did get underway, full wet tyres were the order of the day for the shortened 12-lap race and, with a good start, Marty was already up to 14th by the end of lap 2. Conditions were extremely slippy and staying upright was in itself a major task but, whilst others around him were sliding off in to the scenery, Marty kept a cool head and was slowly but surely, moving up the leaderboard. He was up to 11th on lap 5 when the safety car was deployed to allow debris to be cleared off the track and when it pulled in three laps later, he moved up to 10th. On the penultimate lap he was up 9th and looking extremely good for his first top ten finish of the year but on the final circuit he firstly got overtaken at the chicane and then got 'mugged' at the final corner to be shuffled back to 12th.
 
Speaking afterwards, Marty commented: "I've got mixed feelings after today's race because although I'm happy with 12th after all the problems I had in qualifying, I've got an overall feeling of disappointment because of what happened on the final lap. If I was standing here now with 9th place to my name, I'd have been well happy but to get mugged on the last lap is hard to take! Qualifying was nothing short of a disaster as the bike wasn't making any power at all for some reason so I didn't really have much hope of getting in to the points today but the rain made it more of a level playing field in the race and I just kept my head and tried to stay as smooth as I possibly could. Conditions were really tricky and it was so hard to stop going in to the corners, it felt like I was going to run on all the time but I concentrated real hard and when I was up ninth it felt like I'd pulled a result out of the bag. On the last lap though, Jenny (Tinmouth) got me at Knickerbrook and although I'd been strong at Druids all race, the one time I was slightly off was on the final lap and not only did it mean I couldn't have a go back past Jenny, it also allowed the two riders behind me to dive by at the final corner! On the plus side, we've come away with some more points again and have two finishes from two starts so we'll work hard between now and the next round to make sure the bike's working at 100% and we can get back in to the top ten."
 
Marty now has a three-week break before the next of the British Supersport Championship with round 4 taking place at Cadwell Park, May 21-23.

Points on the board at Brands Hatch.

Posted by: Marty Nutt Racing Posted Date: 08/04/2010

Marty Nutt got his 2010 British Supersport Championship campaign underway in fine style on Easter Monday when a determined ride saw him finish 12th in the opening round at Brands Hatch. The Castelrock rider had ran in the top 12 throughout practice and qualifying and although he initially dropped back at the beginning of the race, he fought his way strongly through the pack to claim 4 deserved championship points on board the Nutt Travel.Com/Dawn/T&G Racing Yamaha.

 

With Saturday's opening qualifying held in dry conditions, a time of 47.233s saw Marty slot in to a solid 11th place and he was extremely hopeful of climbing into the top ten in Sunday's second and final qualifying session. Heavy overnight rain meant the track surface wasn't as grippy as what it was the day before whilst large black clouds loomed overhead just before the 30-minute session got underway. As the session wore on though, the times gradually began to fall and a time of 47.382s saw Marty get close to his previous day's best. However, just as he pitted for a new tyre in the final 6 minutes, light rain began to fall and any hopes of improving were dashed but he still held on to his 11th place on the grid, good enough for a third row start.

 

Monday's 26-lap race was held in dry, cool conditions but a slightly sluggish start saw Marty slip back to 16th at the completion of the first lap. As the race settled down though, he found himself in a ferocious six-rider battle for 12th place with positions changing with frequent regularity. Moving past Jack Kennedy on lap 4, Marty moved inside the points and although pushed back to 16th two laps later, he was back up to 15th by lap nine as he overhauled Joe Dickinson. Here he remained for the next 5 laps but as the race wore on, he was getting more and more into his stride and he swept by fellow countryman Lee Johnston on lap 14 to move up another spot. When Ben Wilson crashed out on lap 16, he was promoted to 13th and another strong overtaking maneouvre on Luke Mossey on lap 20 saw him take over in 12th. Any hopes of progressing further and into the top ten were dashed sadly when the red flag came out with 5 laps of the race still remaining, an oil spill bringing the race to an early conclusion.

 

Nevertheless, 12th was a strong way to open the season and, speaking afterwards, Marty said; "I really enjoyed that race and there were some good close battles going on out there so I'm pleased to come away with some solid points. I felt like I made a good start but I got swallowed up as we headed into Paddock Hill Bend and dropping back to 16th was disappointing but I got my head down and was able to move forward as the race progressed. I had to put in a few tough moves to get by people and I'm happy with the way I rode so it's good to get the first meeting out of the way with a solid finish. The bike was working really well and I'm feeling confident that we'll soon be running inside the top ten, at least, on a regular basis so I'll be looking to get my starts sorted so that we can achieve that aim."

 

The second round of the British Supersport 600cc Championship takes place at Thruxton, Hampshire on Sunday April 18th.