TT Stars Help Secure Phillip Island Classic for UK
Tuesday 03 February 2015
TT
Isle of Man TT stars were to the fore as the UK team finally unseated Australia in the Island Classic earlier this month.
The 2015 AMCN Island Classic at Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit has become an important fixture on the classic racing scene and sees national teams compete for victory in a four race series.
"This is all a bit of a shock really," said three times TT winner Ryan Farquhar as he finished as the highest individual point-scorer after the four six-lap races. Fellow Northern Irishman Jeremy McWilliams was second and the Isle of Man’s Conor Cummins third.
"Race four was really all about playing the team game,” continued Farquhar, “but in the latter stages I knew what the equation was and I just really put my head down.
"The victory hasn't really sunk in yet.”
It was no wonder the victory was a bit of a shock as prior to the 2015 event the Australian team had completed a ten-year run of overall wins, despite McWilliams winning the individual title three times.
The Roger Winfield managed team had their fair share of upsets including Jeremy McWilliams stalling his bike on the startline of race three and having to fight his way through the pack for a relatively lowly 17th place.
Despite not winning the individual prize, McWilliams was full of praise for the team and for Ryan Farquhar:
"This is a great day for the UK team, and understandably there's a fair bit of emotion in the pits at the moment. The International Challenge is extremely tough and you've got to be there in every race.
"This weekend, we had solid riders and solid equipment and we proved to be more reliable when it counted.
"But we still had our fair share of issues, but to get past those headaches and take the victory is an absolutely sensational result.
"And congratulations must also go to Ryan, who was incredible all weekend."