Lougher reflects on home race
Ian Lougher has admitted it was a ‘shame’ he couldn’t win a fifth Welsh Open title, but shrugged off his disappointment.
He said:
‘It was a shame I missed out on the Welsh Open title, having won it four times before, but only getting a third place finish in Saturday’s leg meant to get the overall win would be difficult, but that's racing.’
Lougher was back on home soil for the Aberdare Park Road Races at the weekend. Despite not claiming the Open title, he put in a dominant performance, taking 15 wins from 19 starts in front of his home crowd.
He said:
‘For many of the spectators, this is their only chance to see motorcycle racing, at close quarters and certainly their only opportunity to experience “pure” road racing.’
‘Although the weather had been awful for weeks on the run up to the event, leaving the paddock quite water logged, the organisers did a sterling job trying to rectify the problem and fortunately we got sunshine on both race days.’
On Saturday, in dry conditions, Lougher started from the front row in all of his races. At the end of the day, he had finished first and second in the 125cc races and first in the single cylinder race riding the Honda RS125 of Matt Jackson, his first race win of the year for the Blackpool-based sponsor.
In the 250cc race, on the Stewart Smith Racing Honda RS250, Lougher battled hard with Derek Welch for the 10 lapper, however, by the eighth lap and with back markers coming into play, Welch managed to eek out a small gap on the twisty circuit and just held his advantage to the finish.
In the 600cc Park Challenge races, on the Team Black Horse Honda CBR600RR, the spoils were split between Lougher’s longstanding adversary and fellow TT competitor Chris Palmer and himself, with Palmer narrowly taking the win in the first race by half a wheel and Lougher taking the overall win after a convincing victory in the second race.
The first leg of the Welsh Open, the feature race of the weekend, was red flagged on lap four, after Lougher had pulled out a healthy lead on the RS250. At the restart Lougher was boxed in off the line and, despite his best efforts, could only manage a close third position.
In the final race of the day, The King of the Singles, Lougher was on the RS125 Jackson Honda. Back to his winning ways, he got a flying start, taking an early lead and steadily increased his advantage throughout the 10 laps to take the flag with a four seconds in hand over Palmer.
Overnight rain made for a damp start to Sunday’s first race, but Lougher’s tyre choice for the difficult conditions proved perfect, allowing the Team Black Horse machine to lead the 600cc event from start to finish.
In the second leg of the 600cc race, in dry conditions, Lougher led for nine and half of the 10 laps, but a somewhat wild move by fellow Welshman Jay Bellers-Smith at the Lake Esses forced Lougher to take avoiding action, running him wide and relegating him to second spot. His resounding victory from earlier in the day ensured Lougher and Team Black Horse still lifted the overall 600cc Park Challenge trophy.
Lougher continued his good form in both 125cc races, staving off a determined challenge from Palmer on his Mannin Honda, to win both legs.
The 250cc event was a little harder for Lougher, with Welch providing some stiff competition on his TZ250 Yamaha. Welch led for the first four laps before Lougher was able to make a move and take the lead, which he held to the finish.
Lougher needed a win in the final leg of the Welsh Open feature race to take the title. However, it was Welch who led from the off, with Lougher tucked in close behind and Palmer in third. That remained the position for 11 of the 15 laps until Lougher made a move that put him in front. He had to hope Palmer would follow his lead and snatch second from Welch, but it wasn’t to be – while Lougher took a comfortable race win, Welch;s second place was enough to secure his second successive Welsh Open title.