Five out of five for Isle of Man TT winner Ryan Farquhar
Fresh from race-winning success at the 2012 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy, Ryan Farquhar dominated the Mid Antrim 150 road races on Saturday.
Just a week after securing his third TT win, in the BikerPetition.co.uk Lightweight, the Dungannon was back in action at the 3.54-mile Clough circuit.
Despite tricky, damp conditions, the KMR Kawasaki rider won all five of his races, including the Grand Final, by comfortable margins to make it 21 wins so far this season.
Having been affected by bad weather in the last three years, the organising Mid Antrim club brought the meeting forward from their traditional August date to June, but it was still hit by wind and rain.
That meant only five controlled practice laps could take place on Friday, Farquhar completing his on the 450cc Kawasaki.
Saturday was still damp, although a dry line appeared as the day wore on.
First up was the Superbike race. Despite having made a few changes since the TT, the bike was still handling poorly, but, after taking it steady in the first few laps, Farquhar moved up from 3rd and took his first win of the day by 10.44 seconds.
Next was the SuperTwins race, which Farquhar dominated with a start to finish victory, taking the chequered flag some 45 seconds clear of John Burrows in 2nd. He also set a new lap record of 98.735mph.
Riding a borrowed 600cc ZX-6R Kawasaki, Farquhar then completed his hat-trick with a 9.6s victory in the Supersport race and win number four soon followed with another dominant performance in the 125cc/450cc race and another new lap record.
That left the Grand Final and, aided by the fastest lap of the day at 106.501mph, it was another start to finish victory for Farquhar as he beat Derek Shiels by 10.3s.
Teammate Jamie Hamilton took 5th and 6th place finishes in the two Superbike races, but was denied 2nd and a podium in the SuperTwins race when he slid off at the Clough hairpin, fortunately without injury.
Farquhar said:
“After having a few hectic weeks at the NW200 and TT, I wasn't sure if I was going to race this weekend, but I took the bull by the horns, got the bikes sorted and came along and I'm glad I did now!”
“It's tough at the moment for everyone and with a number of meetings being cancelled later in the year, I think it's important I do what I can to support the clubs as best I can as I'd hate any of them to disappear. I think it was appreciated and it's just such a shame for the Mid Antrim club that the meeting was affected by the weather again.”
“We got a full day's racing in though and although it was still quite damp and greasy off the racing line and out the back of the circuit, a dry line was there and I was able to complete most of the day with an intermediate front tyre and slick rear.”
He added:
“The Superbike was still giving me problems and having taken the big fuel tank fitted for the TT off, it changed the characteristics of the bike again. It was a long way off in the first Superbike race so I just took it steady to begin with and managed to take the win, but if it had been dry I wouldn't have been so fortunate.”
“I made some changes for the Grand Final though and it was a lot better so I could push on a bit more.”
“My 600cc bike is still in bits after having it stripped after the Supersport TT race so a big thanks to John Duggan (again!) for loaning me the use of my old 600 and it was another good race for me.”
“In fact, the whole day went really well and I couldn't have asked for any more - five wins and two lap records was pretty good going and I really enjoyed myself out there.”
“I was planning on cutting down my racing a bit this year, but, like I say, I think it's important to support all the clubs as much as possible to keep the meetings going so I've got a busy few weeks ahead at the likes of the Bush, Skerries, Walderstown, the Southern 100 and Scarborough so I'll be hoping to rack up a few more wins there!"
The meeting has cemented Farquhar’s position at the top of the Duke Road Race Rankings, boasting a lead of more than 1,000 points over Michael Dunlop in second and John McGuinness in third.