Farquhar dominates season opener at Scarborough

Ryan Farquhar got his 2010 road racing season underway in scintillating fashion at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough, on April 18^th 2010 when he won all eight of the races he started.

The KMR Kawasaki rider dominated proceedings winning both legs of the Ian Watson Trophy (retaining the trophy he won in 2009), both legs of the Supersport 600cc, both legs of the Mini Twins and both legs of the Singles.

The victories also saw the Sunoco-sponsored ace move on to 52 race wins around the 2.43-mile woodland circuit, making him the third most successful rider ever.

After taking victory in his Superbike heat, Ryan opened his race win account with a 4.5sec win on his KXF450 Kawasaki in the Singles race, getting the better of all the 125cc machines, and he followed this up with a harder fought win in the first 600cc leg, fellow Irishman Michael Pearson pushing him hard.

Another comfortable win came in the first Mini Twins race and it was then on to his Superstock bike for the first leg of the Ian Watson Trophy, which he duly won from Pearson by more than four seconds.

The little KXF450 took him to his fifth win of the day and the sixth soon followed in the second 600cc race. This, however, was probably the toughest race of the day as he got the better of Pearson by just 0.287s.

The second Mini Twins race saw Ryan take the chequered flag by over 10 seconds and he ensured it would be a 100% success story in his final race of the day, the second leg of the Ian Watson Trophy, as he took the victory by over four seconds once more.

Speaking afterwards a delighted Ryan said, “Eight wins from eight starts - it doesn't get much better than that. It's been the perfect start to my road racing season and I couldn't have asked for any more, the day went exactly to plan.

“I had a slight problem with the 600 as I'd fitted a new seat cover and the foam padding was really slippy so I kept sliding forwards when I was on the brakes, but apart from that everything was really good. I knew at the beginning of the year that the little 450 would work best at Scarborough as the 125s don't get the opportunity to use their top speed advantage and I'm already loving riding it.

“I'm a little bit race rusty and got a wee bit tired towards the end of the day so I'll be training hard again this week in readiness for the Cookstown 100. I'm just looking for a safe, steady day there and then look to get a couple of outings on the Superbike in preparation for the North West 200.”

Ryan’s next meeting is the first road race in the Irish Road Racing Championship season, the Cookstown 100, with the races taking place on Saturday April 24th.