26/06/2011
Farquhar was in imperious form, taking four laps records
By Phil Wain
Image by Stephen Davison/Pacemaker
Dungannon’s Ryan Farquhar made his return to racing in the best possible style when he dominated the Bush Road Races on Saturday winning all five races he entered.
Still recovering from the injuries sustained at the Isle of Man TT, the KMR Kawasaki rider was in imperious form around his home circuit and took victories in the Open, Grand Final, Supersport, Supertwins and 450cc events as well as setting four new lap records!
After practice was hit by heavy rain, race day began with cloudy, damp conditions around the 3.3-mile circuit and Farquhar opened his account with a commanding victory in the 450cc race, leading from start to finish and coming home 27 seconds clear of Seamus Elliott, also setting a new lap record in the process.
It was a similar story in the Supertwins race, a new lap record of 84.666mph heading his way along with a comfortable 18.6s winning margin over fellow Kawasaki rider John Burrows.
An oil spill in another race meant there was a lengthy delay but when racing resumed, conditions were a lot better and although it was close in the early stages of the Supersport race, Farquhar soon saw off the challenge of Michael Dunlop and gradually pulled away over the course of the shortened four-lap race, eventually winning by 6.5s.
He also notched up a new lap record at 89.101mph. Using the same 600cc ZX-6R Kawasaki for the Open event, Farquhar’s biggest challenger was again Dunlop, who was out on his Superstock bike, but Ryan again had the upper hand and led his rival home by over six seconds for his fourth win of the day.
The final event was the Grand Final and it was once more Farquhar and Dunlop who battled it out for the win, the latter on his Supersport machine this time. On this occasion, it was nip and tuck all the way and Ryan had to work extremely hard but, aided by a new outright lap record of 90.763mph, he was able to get the verdict by 0.547s at the end of the six, high-speed laps to complete a terrific five-timer.
“Today’s been spot-on and, to be honest, it’s gone a lot better than I thought it would have done. I’ve been resting up since the TT but my back was still a bit sore and when I saw the rain and mud on the Friday evening I decided to leave the big ZX-10 in the truck and just concentrate on the smaller bikes,” said Farquhar.
“The first race was the hardest in terms of my back and ribs but you’re always a bit stiff when you’ve been off the bike for a couple of weeks so once I loosened up a bit and the adrenalin kicked in, it was a lot better. Everything went well in the races and to lead them all from start to finish and take a few lap records along the way was brilliant.
“The Grand Final was very difficult though as Michael was riding really well and pushing me hard so I had to ride the wheels off the bike to keep him at bay but luckily I did and it completed a really good day for me.
“Obviously, conditions were tricky with the rain and mud spilling onto the circuits from the fields but the Clerk of the Course made all the right decisions, particularly delaying the racing whilst the oil spillage was cleaned up and it all worked out for the best.
“I’m now taking a bit of a break from the Irish scene and am taking the family away for a few weeks holiday but I’ll still be racing at the two Scarborough meetings that are coming up along with the Southern 100 so July’s still going to be a busy month for me.”
Click here for results
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