Amor beats Farquhar in Athea Open race

Scot Keith Amor recorded yet another win on the Irish roads at the weekend when he won the Open race at the Athea road races.

The Wilson Craig Racing Honda rider also finished a close second in the Grand Final and third in the Supersport 600cc race to make it a successful day’s racing, ensuring his strong 2009 season continued.

On a day that saw intermittent drizzle throughout, all races were cut to six laps and Amor opened his account with third in the Supersport 600cc race where he was riding his 2006 machine as the 2009 bike was being rebuilt after the TT.

The Grand Final was shaping up to be another battle royale between Amor and regular sparring partner Ryan Farquhar as they both broke the outright lap record but the red flag came out due to a crash that left fuel and debris on the circuit and the race was declared, somewhat controversially, a result at just three laps.

However,  Amor made amends later in the day, turning the tables on Farquhar with a close-run victory in the Open race by just 0.180seconds and said: “It’s obviously been great to grab another win but it’s also been an extremely frustrating day for me as some of the decisions made by the clerk of the course have baffled me.

“I was just sitting behind Ryan in the Grand Final and felt confident of getting the win until the red flag came out but how it could have been called a result when two thirds race distance hadn’t been completed is a strange one, to say the least.

“The Open race was another good battle so I was pleased to come out on top there whilst I knew I’d be down on top speed in the Supersport race with the older bike so had to settle for third.”

“The conditions were really iffy as there were puddles and mud flying everywhere – the bikes look like they’ve done a motocross race rather than a road race – but the Dunlop tyres were working really well and I must also thank the boys at Arai.

“They gave me some new visors for the weekend and they were given a serious test by the weather but they came through with flying colours.

“The club also deserve praise for putting on a great meeting and they’d done a terrific job in making the circuit a lot safer. They looked after me all weekend so a big thanks to them and to all the team for their hard work and effort once more.”