Isle of Man TT great John McGuinness praises retiring rival Farquhar
Friday 21 September 2012
TT
Isle of Man TT legend John McGuinness has paid tribute to rival and fellow Mountain course winner Ryan Farquhar.
Three-times TT winner Farquhar quit racing during the Manx Grand Prix after 18 years in the sport. He marked his retirement with a series of parade laps at Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough.
Farquhar took all of his KMR Racing machines to the meeting and invited racers past and present to join the parades.
Among those to take part was 19-time TT winner McGuinness.
He said:
“It was a pleasure to take part in the parade laps with Ryan and it was really good of him to invite me - it was a very nice gesture and I felt quite emotional being out there with him.”
“We've had a lot of battles over the years, in all classes, and I've always had the utmost respect for him both on and off the track. He's been a class act and a top professional and what he's achieved in the sport deserves the ultimate praise so good on him.”
“It's a shame he's retired as he's still very much on top of his game, but I wish him all the best and hope he stays involved with the sport.”
McGuinness was also in race action at the International Gold Cup meeting, taking podium finishes in the Superbike classes on the Padgetts Honda Superstock.
Having missed Saturday's races around the 2.43-mile public road circuit due to other commitments, McGuinness was a day behind his rivals, but he soon got into the groove during the morning practice sessions and showed he'd be in contention when he qualified in second place for the 8-lap Gold Cup encounter.
With good conditions all around the woodland venue, the Superbike race was first up for McGuinness and a good start saw him grab the holeshot going into the tight Mere Hairpin. His lead was short-lived as Dean Harrison found a way by and then Guy Martin, on the Tyco Suzuki Superbike, pushed him back to 3rd a lap later.
There was little to choose between the front three for the next two laps, but in the second half of the race Martin was able to us the extra power of his Superbike to edge away. McGuinness was secure in third though and took his first podium of the day.
Later in the afternoon, McGuinness was back on the front row for the Gold Cup race and a lightning start again saw him grab the holeshot and an early lead. This time he was to stay in front for longer and it wasn't until lap three that Harrison and Martin managed to overhaul him. Again, there was little to choose between the trio around the tight and narrow circuit and with all three riders lapping in the 1m45s bracket, the huge crowd were being thoroughly entertained.
McGuinness crossed the line for his second 3rd place of the day, but it was close as just three seconds separated the top three.
He said:
“It was hard work being a day behind the other riders as they'd obviously had a lot more track time than me, but I got stuck in and with plenty of laps under my belt during the day, I was happy with both my pace and results.”
“The Superstock bike is really good off the line so I knew my best chance would be to get good starts in both races and that's what I did. Guy's Superbike was always going to have the upper hand though, but I rode my heart out and enjoyed battling with both him and Dean, who really impressed me with his neat, tidy riding.”
“He can ride a bike and has a big future in the sport for definite.”