Farquhar adds another international SuperTwin win to his TT victory
With a third victory at the Isle of Man TT under his belt in 2012, Ryan Farquhar ended a successful international road racing season on another high with a win on the Dundrod circuit.
The Dungannon racer took TT win number 3 in the BikerPetition.co.uk Lightweight TT, riding in the SuperTwin class he has championed.
Victory in the SuperTwin race at the weekend’s Ulster Grand Prix ensured a clean sweep of international wins in the class, starting back in May with the North West 200.
Racing arund the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit got off to a slow start for the KMR Kawasaki rider when he struck problems in practice for Thursday's Dundrod 150 Superbike race. However, Farquhar quickly bounced back to take a commanding 11.5 second win in the day's SuperTwin race.
Team-mate Jamie Hamilton, a star newcomer at the 2012 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy, took a strong 2nd to give the team another 1-2.
Starting from the third wave, Farquhar then took 13th in the Dundrod 150 Superbike race, using the event to further dial in the ZX-10R Superbike. Hamilton took 14th on his Superstock.
Saturday's GP day couldn't have started better for Farquhar as he dominated the SuperTwin race from start to finish, claiming his 9th Ulster GP victory. With a new lap record of 118.461mph, almost 2mph better than his own previous best, he crossed the line comfortably clear of Hamilton as the team claimed yet another 1-2.
With the Superbike working a lot better, Farquhar took 5th and 6th places in the two Superbike races, lapping at almost 132mph on his way to 5th in the second encounter.
Hamilton also took 11th in the Superstock race and 12th and 15th in the two Superbike races.
Farquhar said:
“On a personal note, it's been a successful week and to complete a treble of international wins on the Supertwins machine is brilliant and something I've wanted to do all year.”
“I managed the feat in 2005 on Nick Morgan's 600cc Supersport machine, but to do it on a bike I've built and prepared myself is truly satisfying and very rewarding. I had no problems in either race and to add almost 2mph to the lap record was superb.”
“To get a 1-2 in both the Ulster GP race and Dundrod 150 race is brilliant for the team too so I'm very pleased for Jamie.”
He added:
“I struggled a bit with the Superbike at the beginning of the meeting, but, slowly but surely, managed to get it working better and better. I was struggling to wrestle the bike through the corners in Saturday's first race, but made a few tweaks to the chassis for the second and to lap at almost 132mph on my own and without a tow was very pleasing.”
“It's the best the bike's ever been so if we can keep chipping away, hopefully it will do the business in whatever races I contest in 2013. It was good to see Jamie respond well too after a few recent crashes and I told him after Armoy that he's got plenty of time and he doesn't need to try and do it all at once. You have to treat the roads with respect and know when to go for it and when to settle for a result and he's enjoyed his races again this week.”
Farquhar concluded:
“I've now moved onto 199 career road race wins so, hopefully, I'll be able to make it 200 before the year's out so a big thanks to all the sponsors and to all the lads who've helped me both this weekend and throughout the week.”
Farquhar is next in action at the Manx Grand Prix, which starts this weekend, with rides in the 350cc and 500cc Classic races as well as the Post Classic event.