In the hills overlooking the city of Belfast, the Dundrod roadrace circuit has been home to the Ulster Grand Prix since 1953. It was once part of the FIM world championship and boasts an impressive list of racers in its history – Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, Joey Dunlop and Carl Fogarty to name but a few.

Known as “The World’s Fastest Roadrace,” the Ulster Grand Prix sees Superbikes reach speeds up to 196mph along the straight known as The Flying Kilo. It is one of the main International roadraces and never fails to produce lots of action and talking points.

On Saturday the weather was good for most of the day and this allowed for some fantastic, closely-fought battles across all classes. Lap records were broken as Northern Ireland’s Lee Johnston (shown above) took the Man of the Meeting award with a superb three wins and a third place throughout the day.

The main event of race day, the Ulster Grand Prix Superbike race, was won by New Zealand’s Bruce Anstey with Ian Hutchinson in second place and Lee Johnston finishing off the podium.

Following his roadracing debut here last year, British Supersport star Glenn Irwin also had a very impressive day out with a couple of podiums.

Unfortunately, the second Supersport race was red-flagged after three laps and the news was not good….

In all high-speed motorsport there is always an element of risk and sometimes along with the ultimate highs of racing, there are devastating lows.

Sadly, 24 year-old Scottish rider Andy Lawson was fatally injured at an accident on a part of the circuit known as Deer’s Leap. At the request of his family and team, the final two races were completed, but it was a very sad end to the day.

R.I.P Andy

The Green Machine: Derek McGee on his way to a Supertwin win.

William Dunlop chases the leaders in the main Superbike race.

The chase is on.

More from the Ulster Grand Prix on the next page: