TT winner Ryan Farquhar enjoys 'golden' weekend at Oliver's Mount to end season
Monday 19 September 2011
TT
Isle of Man TT winner Ryan Farquhar has finally claimed the prestigious International Gold Cup, capping an amazing day’s racing which saw him take seven wins from seven starts.
Farquhar was the toast of Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough, with his 100% record and feature race victory. He became the first Irishman to claim the International Gold Cup in its 60-year history, and also claimed the David Jefferies, Darran Lindsay and Phil Mellor trophies.
None of the wins came easily for Farquhar, who had to battle with riders of the calibre of 17-times TT winner John McGuinness throughout.
Farquhar said:
“To have a 100% winning record this weekend is absolutely brilliant and to finally win the Gold Cup is the icing on the cake. I’ve been 2nd and 3rd in the past and it’s been the one trophy to elude me here at Oliver’s Mount, but to win it at last is great and to become the first Irishman to get my name on the trophy makes it even more special.”
“None of the races this weekend were easy though and John pushed me hard in all of the Superbike races. It’s probably the best I’ve ever seen him ride round here and I really enjoyed our battles, he’s such a good rider to race with.”
Saturday’s race action around the 2.43-mile public road course was held in fine conditions. After winning his two heats, Farquhar’s first race was the opening leg of the Darran Lindsay Superbike Trophy, reduced to four laps after an incident.
It was McGuinness who led in the early stages, but Farquhar was able to squeeze through at Mountside Hairpin on the third lap and hold on by just under a second for victory.
Next was the first leg of the Phil Mellor Supertwins Trophy and Farquhar had to overcome the challenge of Ivan Lintin Overtaking him at the Memorial, Farquhar began to pull away and, aided by a new lap record, took the chequered flag by 3.1s.
His final race of the day was the first leg for the David Jefferies Trophy and despite a 3 second lead by the end of lap 3, regular rivals Michael and William Dunlop began to reel him and the trio were soon nose-to-tail.
However, Farquhar was able to keep them at the bay and grab the win from William by 0.838s.
Sunday saw vastly different conditions, starting with fog and rain later, so it was a wet race for the second leg of the Darran Lindsay Trophy.
McGuinness grabbed the holeshot and led for three quarters of the race before Farquhar was finally able to take over at the front on lap 6 to take the win.
It was a similar outcome of the second Supertwins race, although this time he led the race from start to finish.
In the feature Gold Cup race it was again a two-horse race between Farquhar and McGuinness. There was little to choose between the two, but, just after half distance, Farquhar broke the tow and was able to pull away to finally add his name to the highly prestigious trophy.
Farquhar completed his day with another start to finish victory in the second leg of the 600cc event to regain the David Jefferies Trophy.
It proved a successful day all round for the KMR Kawasaki team, with Jamie Hamilton taking third and fourth in the two Supertwins races, which included beating Ian Lougher, the most successful man ever at Scarborough, excellent results for the 20-year old on his circuit debut.
Farquhar said:
“Sunday was especially hard with the weather conditions and it was really slippery out there, especially under the trees, but we had the right tyres in each race and it all came together perfectly.”
“Like I say to win seven out of seven is superb and it really doesn’t get much better than that. I was again really pleased with the efforts of Jamie this weekend too and it’s a pleasure to have him in the team. It wasn’t the easiest weekend for a circuit newcomer, but he did a great job and to get on the podium, and ahead of Ian Lougher, is no mean achievement and something to be proud of.”
“It’s the end of the season for me and, overall, it’s been a good year. There’ve been a few ups and downs along the way, but we’ve taken some wins and been competitive so I can’t complain so a big thank you to all my sponsors and to all the fans who’ve supported me during the year.”