Farquhars Ulster Grand Prix

. .Phil Wain PR wrote: Farquhar claims Man of the Meeting at Ulster GP Ryan Farquhar’s remarkable 2009 season continued on Saturday when he claimed the Man of the Meeting award at the International Ulster Grand Prix, the final International road race of the season.

The KMR Kawasaki rider carried his National form on to the International stage and left the Dundrod venue with two wins, two seconds and a sixth from his five races whilst he also claimed a win and a fourth place in Thursday’s Dundrod 150 races.

It was the Dundrod 150 that got the week underway on Thursday with Ryan’s dominance on the ER6 650 Kawasaki continuing when he took the Supertwins race by almost a minute and he followed this up with a superb fourth place in the Superbike race.

Lapping at over 132mph, Ryan was embroiled in a terrific scrap with Conor Cummins, Guy Martin and Ian Hutchinson but a fuel problem in the closing stages saw him drop back and he had to settle for fourth in what was the fastest ever race around the 7.4-mile circuit.

On Saturday, it was the Ulster GP proper and Ryan opened his account for the day with a close second in the Superstock race. Held in two parts, Ryan led the first 3-laps and needed to keep Ian Hutchinson in his sights in the second part but the Yorkshireman put in a stunning final lap of 130.117mph to edge Ryan out by just 0.339s.

The same two riders fought out the victory in the first Supersport 600cc race but this time there were seven more riders in contention and places were exchanged at practically each and every corner. Ryan hit the front on the final run from the hairpin and both he and Hutchinson flashed over the line together at the end of the seven laps.

After a long delay whilst the timekeepers analyzed the finish, Ryan got the verdict by the miniscule margin of just 0.001s! Another dominant win in the Supertwins followed, this time by 37.2seconds, before Ryan switched to Kenny Harker’s Superstock machine for the Superbike race.

A slightly sluggish start saw him lose ground on the front pack but more 130mph+laps saw him take a strong sixth place after a race long duel with Ian Lougher. The second Supersport 600cc race was Ryan’s final race of the day and it was another titanic affair but this time William Dunlop managed to make a break and he took the win with Ryan getting the better of Bruce Anstey and Ian Lougher on the run in to the line for second, a great way to end what had been a truly great day.

 Talking later a tired but delighted Ryan said, “It’s been a fantastic week here at Dundrod and I couldn’t have asked for anything better and whilst it’s been tough going with seven races, it’s been a great few days. I’m slightly disappointed with the result in the Superstock race as I thought I’d done enough to get the win but fair play to Ian, he put in a couple of flying laps to give him the edge. It was nice to get the verdict over him in the following Supersport race but that has to go down as one of the toughest races I’ve ever had, it was so close amongst all of us it was unbelievable.

 I got a bit tangled up with Ian at Jordan’s Cross in one of the races which was a bit scary but most of the races have been like that today. They’ve been really tough and there’s so little between any of us now on the roads, you really have to ride hard and a lot of it is about being in the right place at the right time.”

“I’ve got to say a special thanks to Kawasaki, MSS, Dunlop and all of my sponsors plus all the boys in the team who have worked so hard this week. There was a really good crowd out there around the course so after all the problems with the weather in recent years it was great to get a full day’s racing here at Dundrod and I hope the club have done well from today and have got the Ulster GP firmly back on track.”

 Ryan now heads to the Manx Grand Prix where he will have three outings on vastly different machinery, a 500cc Paton, a 350cc Honda and a GS1000 Suzuki. Practice gets underway on Saturday 22nd August. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpH4rS2IS0o