TT stars Farquhar and Dunlop dice at Tandragee
TT winner Ryan Farquhar suffered his first defeat of the season at the weekend as he prepares for the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.
The Dungannon star headed to Saturday’s Tandragee 100 with a 100% record in 2011, after taking victory in every race he contested at the Spring Cup and Cookstown 100.
Farquhar did secure two more wins, but had to settle for second place in two other races.
He took the wins in the Super Twins and Moto 450 races and a pair of close seconds in the Open and Supersport 600 races. Heavy rain caused the final Tandragee 100 feature race to be abandoned.
In the Open race a good start saw Farquhar take an early lead before Michael Dunlop, having his first outing on his Superbike, nosed ahead a lap later. There was little to choose between the two around the demanding 5.3-mile circuit and Farquhar closed in on Dunlop with two laps to go, but, try as he might, he was unable to find a way through and had to settle for second.
Fellow KMR Kawasaki racer Sandor Bitter took a creditable 17th place on his Tandragee debut.
It was an almost identical story in the Supersport race, with Farquhar and Dunlop again going head-to-head. Dunlop took the lead on the opening lap before Farquhar took over for the next couple of laps. However, Dunlop wasn’t to be denied his second win and Farquhar had to again accept second place.
As the clouds rolled in, Farquhar was back out on his 450 Kawasaki for the Moto 450 race and took a comfortable victory in the 4-lap race, aided by a new lap record of 93.917mph.
By mid-afternoon, light drizzle had begun to fall, but it had stopped when the Super Twins race came to the line. Farquhar enjoyed a terrific battle with teammate Adrian Archibald and there was little between the two over the 4 laps, but, despite Archibald setting a new class lap record of 101.146mph, Farquhar held on by just 0.186s for his second win of the day, with Archibald second and the third KMR Kawasaki of Trevor Ferguson in eighth.
That proved to be the last of the race action as heavy rain caused the feature Tandragee 100 race to be abandoned.
Farquhar said:
“It’s been another busy weekend and another good meeting for myself and the team.”
“The evening and overnight rain meant there were a few damp patches on race day, but Michael and myself had a good battle in the Open race. It was a close race and there wasn't much difference in the speed of the Superbike and Superstock machines whilst we were both riding hard.”
“I had a wee problem with the clutch, but rode as hard as I could. It just wasn't good enough to win. Meanwhile, Sandor rode well for a good finish so it was a good ride and a good experience for him. The 600cc race was another hard race and it was a similar story to the Open event - Michael just beat me fair and square, it's as simple as that!”
“The 450 was a straightforward, enjoyable race, whilst the Super Twins race panned out exactly as I'd hoped. Adrian and myself were wheel-to-wheel all the way through the race and the two 650s were working really well. I think it was the first time we'd lapped quicker than the 250s and I really enjoyed the race. I just managed to hold Adrian off on the run in to the line and to get the first 1-2 for KMR Kawasaki was brilliant.”
“When the rain came, it just wasn't possible to continue racing though. The organisers have a done a great job with the circuit but there's a couple of places around Tandragee where the tar is really shiny and when it gets wet, it's like ice, so it was the right decision to call it a day.”
“We've got a lot of work to do between now and the North West and my priority is to get my Superbike finished so, hopefully, we can have another good meeting there.”