16 April 2012 Five wins for Farquhar at Scarborough

Ryan Farquhar got his 2012 pure road racing season underway in fine style when he recorded five wins at the Ian Watson Spring Cup meeting at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough.
The KMR Kawasaki rider overcame the difficult conditions to take victory in the Supersport 600cc, Supertwins and Superbike categories whilst team-mate Jamie Hamilton also enjoyed a strong day with a trio of top four finishes.

Like most of the country, the woodland venue enjoyed some bright sunshine but extremely low temperatures and this made life difficult around the 2.43-mile circuit with traction particularly problematical.

After taking runner-up in the Superbike heat, Ryan took his opening win of the day in the first leg of the Supersport 600cc race on his Ninja ZX-6R where he finished 4.5s clear of Ivan Lintin and promptly followed this up with victory in the first Supertwins race on the ER-6f based machine after getting the better of both Lintin and Daniel Frear.

Starting uncharacteristically from the third row of the grid, Ryan had a lot of work to do in the first leg of the Ian Watson Spring Cup Superbike race and with overtaking never easy, he had to bide his time but he gradually moved his way through the pack and eventually took the lead from Derek Sheils on the penultimate lap, eventually crossing the line 2.7s clear.

There was then drama for Ryan in the second Supersport race when the 600cc Kawasaki fell from under him on the warm-up lap but he quickly regrouped to take his fourth win of the day and this soon became five with another start to finish victory in the Supertwins race.

However, just as it looked like he'd win 6 races from 6 starts, Ryan was forced to retire on the second lap of the Ian Watson Spring Cup, his third race in quick succession, as he lost feeling in his hands, thus preventing him from retaining the feature trophy.

Meanwhile, Hamilton, having his second outing at Oliver's Mount, also enjoyed a good day with the highlight being an excellent runner up spot behind Ryan in the second Supertwins race, the gap between Ryan, Jamie and third placed Lintin just 1.9s at the chequered flag.

Third in the opening Supertwins race, Jamie, clearly getting to grips with the course, also had a strong ride on the Ninja ZX-10R Superstock Kawasaki in the second Superbike race as he came home in fourth place. He'd earlier taken ninth in the opening leg.

Speaking afterwards, Ryan said; "It's been a really difficult day with some really challenging conditions and although I'm disappointed not to have taken the Ian Watson Spring Cup, coming away with five wins is very pleasing. With some overnight rain and the low temperatures, it was really hard to know what tyres to go with as some of the track was dry, some damp and some wet and with the likes of the North West 200 and TT coming up,

I knew I had to be extremely careful, especially as I slipped off the 600 in morning warm-up, albeit at low speed. Once the races started though, I was able to get into a good rhythm and with Dan Frear, Ivan Lintin and Derek Sheils all riding well in the various races, I had to work hard for all the wins and it was good to come out on top.

In the final race though, I lost all feeling in my hands with cramp, which was probably a combination of the cold weather, all the heavy braking, three races on the trot and a lack of fitness on my part as I've simply had no time to train due to working flat out to get all the bikes ready!

It was disappointing to end the day like that but five wins is still a good return. Jamie had a great day too and is going about his racing in an excellent manner, taking his time to learn the circuits and building things up gradually.

He was riding really well on the Supertwin but also did a superb job on the big bike, ending up with a strong fourth place in the second Superbike race, and he's a great asset to the team. Overall, it's been a good day's racing so we can now look forward to the Cookstown 100."


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Pictures by Stephen Davison - Pacemaker Press International