Derek McGee signs for KMR Kawasaki
Ryan Farquhar has signed multiple Irish road racing champion Derek McGee to contest the Supertwin class in 2018 including the Bennetts Lightweight TT at the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.
‘Mullingar Missile’ McGee won the Superbike, Supersport and Supertwin championships at the Irish nationals during a title-laden 2017 and he will open his campaign at the Cookstown 100 next April.
“I’m just running Supertwins this year and Derek will ride for me for the whole season. He has the bike for the year and he can do pretty much whatever he wants – any national races he chooses – and he’ll do the North West 200, Isle of Man TT and Ulster Grand Prix,” Farquhar said.
“He’s in a good position for the nationals and I’m fairly confident he will do a good job on all of his bikes, but especially on the twin. Hopefully we’ll be able to get him onto the podium again at some of the international races next year. IEG are on board again as my title sponsor for the TT and the agreement with them is that I have to run four Supertwins,” added Farquhar.
Farquhar’s team enjoyed a hugely successful 2017 with Michael Rutter turning back the clock as he won the second Supertwin race at the North West 200, clinching his 14th victory around the Triangle course. Rutter also finished as the runner-up in the opening Supertwin race on the KMR Kawasaki. There were more celebrations for Farquhar at the TT after Peter Hickman claimed a podium with third in the Lightweight race, while Australia’s Josh Brookes finished sixth.
“We had a fantastic year with a first and second at the North West and a third and a sixth at the TT,” said Farquhar. “It went well but a lot more development has gone into the bikes and they’ll be even more competitive next year than they were this season.”
“There is a new model out but at the moment I know there is a lot more potential in the older bike so I’m going to put all our effort into it,” he added. “I’m not going to risk the new bike at this stage because I’m not convinced that it’s a better package at this minute in time.”
Farquhar, meanwhile, has again ruled out racing himself in the immediate future. “I’m still waiting to get an operation on my ankle and I wouldn’t be fit enough to get on a bike and ride it the way I would want to. At the minute it’s just a no-go.”