Farquhar and Archibald join forces at KMR Kawasaki

After another brilliant year in 2010, Ryan Farquhar today (Thursday) launched his KMR Kawasaki team for the forthcoming 2011 season where he will again be contesting the three International road races and the majority of the National road races. As has been mooted for some time, Farquhar, the most successful rider in Irish National road race history, will also run a second rider this year with Adrian Archibald, another legend in Northern Ireland, joining the squad on a Super Twin machine.

Farquhar will run under the KMR Kawasaki banner for the third successive year and has taken delivery of two of the all-new ZX-10R Kawasaki machines, one for the Superstock class and one to be run to Evo-spec rules for the Superbike races, which he hopes will enable him to add to his International tally of wins, especially having come so close in 2010 when he finished 2nd in the Superstock TT. He again has the use of two 600cc machines for the Supersport class whilst he'll once more campaign a full season on the ER6 Super Twin.

Having expressed his desire to run a 2nd rider during 2011, a number of discussions since took place and it's regular rival Archibald that has secured the ride with the duo relishing the prospect of working together and giving the fledgling Super Twin class an even bigger boost. All machines under the KMR Kawasaki stable will be campaigned in the customary red and black colours with the exception of Ryan's Superstock machine which will be run in traditional Kawasaki green.

For 2011, Ryan is delighted to welcome a number of new sponsors to the team, notably Manx Gas and BA Components. Manx Gas supply gas for both domestic and commercial purposes across the Isle of Man and the Island-wide provision includes central heating, fires, cookers, tumble driers, lighting, barbecues and many other appliances. Established in 1990 and operating from Cookstown, County Tyrone, BA Components has grown steadily to become a major manufacturer of kitchen and bedroom door accessories in the UK and Irish furniture components industry. In addition, Dawson Engineering (Portadown), Manx Telecom, Donaghy Motorhomes (Letterkenny), Arrow Exhausts and Furygan Leathers are also new sponsors for KMR Kawasaki in 2011 which should further add to the presence of what is one of the most professional teams within the sport.

Naturally, the three International road races - the Isle of Man TT, North West 200 and Ulster GP - will be Ryan's main focus but in what promises to be another busy year he'll also contest the Southern 100, all races at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough, the Manx Grand Prix and the majority of the Irish National road races. He also hopes to run a couple of riders at the Manx GP in September.

Speaking about his year ahead, Ryan commented: "I'm delighted the new season is almost upon us and it's great to have everything in place for, hopefully, another strong year. I've been fortunate enough to retain my loyal sponsors from 2010 whilst it's great to welcome so many new ones on board, particularly Manx Gas, BA Components and Dawson Engineering. The last two seasons have been superb and we're in a great position to challenge for even more race wins this year. I've got fantastic support behind me, probably more than ever before, and the success at the International races will be the main aim, particularly the TT."

"Kawasaki have again helped tremendously and wanted me to run a 2nd rider this season and, after discussions didn't work out with another rider, I spoke to Adrian. I wanted to run someone who I knew I could rely on, works hard and puts in 100% effort and commitment. Adrian fits that bill and is the perfect man for the job. We go back a long way and have the utmost respect for each other so I'm really looking forward to it. It can only be good for the class."

New team-mate Archibald commented; “It’s going to be a very interesting year for me and I’m really looking forward to working with Ryan and his team. We spoke about working together a while ago and we’ve always been friends so it’s something that can only be good for the sport and, obviously, for the Super Twin class. It’s a new class for me but I’ve liked what I’ve seen so, all being well, I’ll be able to run at the front and gain more publicity for Ryan’s team. He’s always been very professional so I think we can have a good season together. I’m still as hungry for success as I’ve always been so I’m very excited about 2011 and can’t wait for the first race.”

Michael Johnstone, Kawasaki UK's Sales and Marketing Manager added; “We’re very excited about Ryan working with Kawasaki again, especially with the launch of the new ZX-10R. We very much hope he can continue his recent run of success, particularly at the Internationals where the Kawasaki in Superstock trim will be the bike to beat. Bringing in Adrian is a great move and to have a rider of such stature in the team is superb and we’re delighted that he and Ryan will be working together in 2011, further increasing our presence in the Super Twin class. We’ve had an excellent working relationship with Ryan for some years now and we’re proud to be associated with him and his team once more so we’re all eagerly looking forward to the 2011 season.”

The first outing for the team and both riders will be the Ian Watson Spring National road races to be held at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough on Sunday 17th April.

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Super seven for Farquhar at Oliver's Mount

Ryan Farquhar got his 2011 road racing season underway in perfect style on Sunday when he dominated the Ian Watson Trophy races at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough. The KMR Kawasaki rider was again in imperious form around the woodland circuit and won all 7 races that he started including the feature trophy race for the fourth consecutive year.

With the 2.43-mile seaside venue bathed in glorious sunshine, Ryan’s day started with a comfortable heat win for the feature race and he followed this up with a hard fought victory in the first leg of the Supersport 600. Fellow countryman Michael Pearson pushed him hard in the opening laps but by mid race distance, he began to edge away and when he took the chequered flag at the end of the 8 laps, his winning margin was some 7.1s. It was a similar story in the first Super Twin race where this time the pressure was coming from Ivan Lintin but, again, Ryan, pulled away to take another comfortable victory, this time by 7.2s.

The opening leg of the Ian Watson Trophy event saw a three-way tussle between Ryan, Pearson and Derek Shiels with little to choose between the trio in the first couple of laps. However, with the fastest lap of the race, 1m46.595s, Ryan opened up an advantage and continued to extend his lead for the remainder of the race, taking the victory by just over 4 seconds on the new ZX-10R Kawasaki Superstock machine. His fifth win of the day came in the second leg of the Supersport 600, again from Pearson, whilst he also made a double in the Super Twin event with Lintin again having to settle for second.

That just left the second leg of the Ian Watson Trophy and the first four laps saw very little between Ryan, Pearson and Shiels. All the time though, Ryan was leading and doing enough to keep the other two behind him but, in the second half of the race, he increased his pace to pull over 3 seconds clear and thus take his 7th win of the day and his 74th in total around Oliver’s Mount.

Speaking afterwards, a delighted Ryan said: “It’s been a really good day although I’m absolutely shattered now! With it being the first race of the season, it takes a while for the muscles to get working again whilst my races were all back to back today and I was jumping off one bike straight on to another! It’s been a very worthwhile meeting today and I’ve certainly learned a lot with the new ZX-10R. It was a bit lively over the bumps and crests around the course so we’ve got a bit of work to do with set-up but we were making changes all day and have found a good direction to work in so I'm confident we’ll get there.”

“I was really happy with how the 600 was working and the improvements that we’ve made to the bike over the winter appear to have moved us forward so that was very positive although the ultimate test will, of course, come at the likes of the North West 200 and TT. The Super Twin was also working well although I’ve a few changes that I want to make before the Cookstown 100. You can’t expect everything to be 100% right at the very first race but that’s why they're invaluable as we now know what areas we need to work on and improve in time for the next race. It’s been hard work today with the warm weather but 7 wins from 7 starts is the perfect start to the season and I’m really happy with how it’s all gone.”

Ryan’s next race will be at the opening round of the Irish National Road Race Championship, the Cookstown 100 on Saturday 30th April.

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Lougher raises the bar to 130 wins at Oliver's Mount

Blackhorse Kawasaki's competitive season got underway at the weekend when Ian Lougher competed in the Ian Watson Spring National Road Races at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough. And the circuit's most successful ever rider raised the bar even further when he came away from the meeting with another two wins to his credit and a total of seven podiums from eight starts.

Good weather was forecast for the meeting and thankfully this was indeed the case as practice got underway promptly at 8.30am in near perfect conditions for the first road race of the 2011 season and the opening round of the Duke Road Race Rankings Championship.

Ian got his day off to the best possible start when he won the Northern Lightweight 125cc race from his regular sparring partner Chris Palmer. Reunited with the Repli-Cast Racing 125cc machine which he rode to great effect in 2010, Lougher always looked comfortable in the 6-lap race. He got the holeshot, but it was Palmer who led into the Mere Hairpin and was holding a good lead at the end of the first lap, with Daley Mathison in third spot. Ian was getting down to business though and on the second circuit he took 1.3 seconds out of Palmer’s lead to reduce the deficit to just under half a second and this was reduced further by another two tenths of a second at the end of lap three, with Lee Vernon now in third. On the fourth lap the inevitable happened as the fast moving Lougher took the lead and soon opened up a gap of just under a second. His advantage was up to 1.6 seconds at the end of the fifth lap, with Mathison re-taking third spot. At the chequered flag it was Ian who took the honours crossing the line with just under three seconds to spare from Palmer with Lee Vernon just claiming third from Daley Mathison. Fastest lap of the race also went to Lougher with a time of 1:59.04 seconds.

Ian then had a short break before bringing the Ninja ZX-10R to the line for the second heat of the feature Ian Watson Cup event over four laps. In this one he finished a comfortable second behind Derek Shiels and almost four seconds clear of third place man, fellow Kawasaki mounted Dave Hewson.

Race six on the busy programme was the first leg for 600cc Supersport machines which would see four Kawasakis occupy the top six places. Ryan Farquhar led from Adrian Archibald with Ian third as they headed up Sheene’s Rise. At the end of the first lap it was Farquhar from Michael Pearson with Lougher third and Archibald relegated to fourth. Lap two and placings remained the same with the gap down to half a second between the leading duo with Ian still third. Content to let the leading pair go, at half distance Ian had dropped back a bit but was still in third and he comfortably held this position until the chequered flag.

There was eager anticipation around the circuit as Ian lined up for the first of two races for 650cc SuperTwins. This year Ian has reprised his association with Stewart Smith, this time on his new Kawasaki ER-6. Again it was Farquhar who was first into Mere Hairpin and was leading the pack at the end of the opening lap from Ivan Lintin, Daniel Frear and Adrian Archibald with Ian chasing down Archibald in fifth. By lap three Farquhar was under pressure from Lintin with Lougher now up to third from Archibald. By two-thirds distance the positions had remained relatively unchanged with Ian eventually coming home in a pleasing third place on his first outing on a SuperTwin.

Next it was the first leg of the Ian Watson Spring Cup, which saw Adrian Archibald a non-starter. Farquhar led at the end of the first of the eight laps, followed by Michael Pearson, Derek Sheils, Ian Lougher, Keith Pringle and Dave Hewson completing the top six. On the second lap it was still Farquhar from Pearson with with Sheils a further three tenths of a second down in third whilst Lougher was some three seconds back in fourth and positions remained this way at the flag.

The six-lap second leg for 125’s was next up. Ian was looking to complete the double having won the first leg earlier in the day and, as in the first race, it was the same two suspects at the head of affairs with Chris Palmer this time getting the holeshot and again leading at the end of the first lap from Lougher by the narrowest of margins with Daley Mathison third two seconds adrift. The gap had doubled a lap later and it looked as though Palmer was going to reverse the first leg result, but at half distance Ian had the gap reduced to three tenths of a second with Mathison a distant 11 seconds in arrears down in third. At the front it was becoming a real see-saw affair, on lap four Palmer added a further tenth of a second to his narrow lead over Lougher and on the penultimate lap the gap was down to only two tenths of a second. As the duo raced to the flag it was Ian Lougher taking his 130th win at Oliver’s Mount, by six-tenths from Chris Palmer with Daley Mathison third.

Ian had barely time to catch his breath as next up was the second leg of the 600cc event and here he again finished on the podium in third behind Farquhar and Pearson. Then it was the second leg for 650 SuperTwins and it was Lougher who got the initial holeshot, but while running close behind the leaders in third at the end of the first lap, he accidentally hit the kill switch on the ER-6 and dropped back to fifth. However, having tested the bike just briefly pre-season, Ian was enjoying some more valuable track time on the new bike and he battled his way back to eventually finish a comfortable third to bring a successful day's racing to a close for the ever popular Welshman.

It has been a busy pre-season period for Blackhorse Kawasaki, team manager/rider Lougher has spent the first few weeks of the season overseeing a very successful and encouraging testing schedule for the team. Along with BSB Superstock runners Victor Cox, Conor Cummins and Brad Anderson, Ian tested in Spain and then it was on to a weather-hit Darley Moor with Cox and Cummins before the recent BSB tests at Brands Hatch and Snetterton. On the pace at every test, Cox has looked particularly impressive whilst Cummins is showing renewed confidence with every outing and was unfortunate to be knocked off his bike at Snetterton with just eight minutes to go in the final session. Meanwhile the team's new signing Brad Anderson has also impressed on the Ninja ZX-6R and has quickly settled in with his new team.

Ian now heads to the Isle of Man for the TT press launch tomorrow (Tuesday) and then it's on to Brands Hatch for the opening round of the BSB Metzeler National Superstock 1000/600 Championships over the Easter weekend.

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Disappointment and Encouragement at Brands

Connor Cummins at Brands HatchIt was a weekend of both disappointment and encouragement for Blackhorse Kawasaki at Brands Hatch.
Disappointment as one of the pre-race favourites Victor Cox crashed out of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 race, but encouragement as returning-from-injury Conor Cummins came through his first race since June last year with a solid ride to 18th place in the same class and new signing Brad Anderson rode a mature race to come from the eighth row of the grid in the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race to finish 14th on the Ninja ZX-6R.

Victor's misfortune was all the more disappointing as he had been consistently quick throughout the weekend, with the Trowbridge rider's Blackhorse Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R the second highest placed Kawasaki in qualifying. Seventh overall in free practice at 47.31 secs was followed by sixth best in first qualifying with a slightly faster lap of 47.21 secs. The team as always were working hard behind the scenes and were rewarded when Victor again went quicker in the second session with a time of 47.16 to cement fifth place in Group B and put him on the second row of the grid as provisional seventh fastest qualifier and optimistic of a good result in the race itself. However it all went wrong on the second lap as Victor, now starting from sixth on the grid, crashed out in spectacular fashion on the exit of Clearways thankfully without serious injury.

With Victor out of the race it was left to his team-mate Conor Cummins to take up the mantle for the team.

Only ten months after his terrible Isle of Man Senior TT crash, Conor enjoyed an excellent race weekend at Brands Hatch to finish 18th in the race. It was the Manxman's first race since fighting back from a catalogue of injuries and he was rewarded with an excellent finish and four solid days of practice and race action on the new Ninja ZX-10R Blackhorse Kawasaki that saw him getting quicker and quicker as the weekend wore on.

With hot, sunny conditions throughout practice and qualifying, Conor got his weekend underway with the 16th fastest time in the opening qualifying session on Saturday but with hotter track conditions on Sunday he was unable to better his time and, subsequently he ended with the 17th fastest time in his group. That meant he had to go into the 14-lap ‘Shoot-Out’ race in order to try and qualify for Monday’s feature race but, grateful for the extra track time to help continue to build his fitness up, Conor put in a great ride to claim second thus taking his place on the grid on Monday.

He lined up in 30th place on the grid for the feature 24-lap race but a brilliant start saw him move up the order only for the red flag to come out after just 3 laps due to the incident involving team-mate Cox and Jonathan Howarth. 18th on the grid for the 16-lap re-start, a solid start saw Conor move up to 16th and on the brink of the points although he just didn't quite have the pace to close the gap to the five-man group dicing for 11th. Instead, he found himself fighting it out with Gerard Kinghan and Seb Bulpin and he ended up crossing the line in 18th position, an excellent effort given he only came out of hospital last August and has spent the entire winter months fighting to get fit.

Speaking immediately after the race, a delighted Conor said: "To get that first race out of the way feels absolutely brilliant and all weekend I've just been getting better and better. Practice went well and although the second qualifying session didn't quite go to plan, I was glad to get the extra mileage in the Shoot-Out race and we were able to try a few more things with the bike which really helped with the set-up. I achieved my goal of getting into the race proper and after that anything else was going to be a bonus."

"As it turned out, I got a mega start and achieved more than I thought I could. It's very much work in progress but I feel like a racer again and to be battling it out close to the points after all I've been through is pretty good going in my book. I've got to say a big thanks to the team for making my life so much easier this weekend as they've absolutely worked their backsides off. I've also got to say a massive thank you to them and all my sponsors for sticking by me through the hard months I've had. To sum it up, I'm chuffed to bits!"

There was more to come as Brad Anderson stepped up to produce a debut performance which pleased both himself and team boss Ian Lougher. 13th and 14th respectively in both qualifying sessions in his group, Brad also found himself in a 'shoot-out' race where he started from pole position. He led from start to finish to qualify 29th for the feature race on Row 8 of the grid. As they swept through at the end of the opening lap, Brad had gained ten places and was up to 19th, at the halfway stage he was still 19th and in the middle of a dicing four rider group. Two-thirds distance and Brad was up to 17th and pushing for a top 15 placing. With a terrific last effort he managed to elevate himself to 14th at the flag and in the points in his first competitive race for Blackhorse Kawasaki.

So very much a mixed bag for Blackhorse Kawasaki but one from which the team can take many positives. Most importantly Victor Cox was relatively unscathed following his crash and is already looking forward to the next round at Oulton Park. For Conor Cummins it was 'mission accomplished' as he once again took his place on a race grid, whilst Brad Anderson will very much look to build on his points score in the rounds to come.

The team would particularly like to thank Joe Grant and his partner Claire from sponsors Solway Slate and Tile Co. Ltd. for all their hard work and assistance at Brands Hatch.

Next up for Blackhorse Kawasaki is Oulton Park this weekend.

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Farquhar and KMR Kawasaki unveil Bitter for 2011

Hot on the heels of signing Adrian Archibald, Ryan Farquhar and the KMR Kawasaki team are delighted to announce there'll be a third rider running in the familiar black and organge colours during the 2011 road racing season in the shape of Hungarian rider Sandor Bitter.

The move will see Bitter campaign a Superstock-spec Kawasaki ZX-10R at the three International road races - the North West 200, Isle of Man TT and Ulster Grand Prix - in the Superbike and Superstock races. Having already lapped at over 120mph at the TT, Bitter has a great chance of bettering his previous results in 2011 but his first rides for the team, however, will come at the season-opening Irish National road race meetings, the Cookstown 100 and Tandragee 100.

Talking about the signing, Ryan said: "We've been discussing the possibility of running a second rider at the Internationals for some time now and we're all delighted to welcome Sandor into the KMR Kawasaki fold. It's a good move for all concerned and will give the team and all the sponsors a lot more exposure whilst also giving Sandor a tremendous opportunity and experience that he'll benefit from greatly. We've got a bit of work to do to get the bikes ready now we've decided to run Sandor at Cookstown and Tandragee rather than starting at the North West 200 but we're more than up to the task and am eagerly looking forward to the Irish road racing season getting underway next week."

A delighted Bitter added: "Road racing is what it's all about for me and to be joining Ryan's team is a fantastic opportunity and one I fully intend to make the most of. Ryan is a truly great rider and a great guy too so I'm very happy to be riding in the same team as him and it will be a great experience for me. He's an extremely dedicated racer and he runs a very professional team so I'm sure I'll be able to learn a lot from him and improve my lap times and results, especially at the TT. I couldn't be happier and I can't wait for the season to start."

The Cookstown 100 takes place on Saturday April 30th.

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Mixed Weekend at Oulton Park

For the second week in succession Blackhorse Kawasaki's Brad Anderson produced a display which fully justified his team selection, when he once again placed the Ninja ZX-6R in the points in the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race at Oulton Park.

Buoyed by his points scoring 14th place with his new team last week at Brands Hatch, Anderson arrived at Oulton Park in a confident and determined mood. In Saturday morning's Free Practice he posted a time of 1:46.14 secs, but in the first qualifying session Brad went almost a second and a half quicker with a time of 1:44.69s to finish the session in 13th place. Second qualifying saw him improve further by over half a second at 1:43.92s, however such is the competitive nature of this class, Brad still found himself in 13th place and heading the fourth row of the grid for the race.

At the conclusion of the first lap of the race Brad had brilliantly made his way up to fifth, 4.9 seconds behind the leader and leading a chasing group of riders over the line. However he unfortunately made a mistake at the chicane on the second lap which demoted him five places to tenth and at the halfway point of the race he was down in twelfth when the safety car came out.

A lap later they were racing again and Brad had climbed three places to ninth and was really pushing for a place on the fringe of the top six. With just four laps to go he lost a place and eventually finished tenth, fractions of a second behind Ben Grindrod in ninth for a well deserved six championship points. Brad was also joint third through the finish line speed trap and the Blackhorse Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R was the fourth Kawasaki home out of a total of 17 that qualified for the race.

For Victor Cox it was a another frustrating weekend. After posting a time of 1:42.13 secs in free practice for the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 race, an improvement by over half a second in first qualifying to leave him in 15th position in a red flag marred session, did little to satisfy Victor's own high standards. Speaking afterwards with typical honesty he commented 'That wasn't great, and not the place I want to be, or the team deserve to be! The session being red-flagged twice didn't help us as we had about 15 minutes to make the most of the session. We didn't get the best out of ourselves or the bike, but we'll be ready to go in the second session.' The team worked on a few improvements before the session and he again went over half a second quicker to eventually finish 12th overall in qualifying.

However any hopes of a good showing in the race itself were quickly dashed when Victor unfortunately retired in the early stages to continue his early season run of bad luck.

Meanwhile Conor Cummins' comeback from serious injury continued at Oulton Park. The Blackhorse Kawasaki rider declared himself happy with the progress made around the undulating Cheshire circuit and was rewarded with a solid 23rd place in the 15-lap race in the Superstock 1000 race.

Like Brands the previous weekend, Conor got quicker and quicker in each session and after placing 35th in Saturday's free practice session, he took 3 seconds of his lap time in opening qualifying to move up to 26th place. Conditions were again good during Sunday's second and final qualifying session albeit with a stronger breeze but it was only in the final few minutes when the riders were able to go quicker than the previous day. A time of 1m42.760s saw another two tenths of a second come off his lap time and the Manxman was able to qualify straight for the main race on Monday afternoon and line up in 28th on the grid.

The 2.69-mile course was again blessed with blue skies and sunshine on Monday and another blistering start saw Conor jump up to 21st at the end of lap one. Briefly up inside the top 20, Conor was lying in 21st place at half race distance and part of a six-man group battling for 17th and although at one stage he'd dropped back to 25th, he dug deep in the final third of the race around the physically demanding circuit and took the chequered flag in a more than solid 23rd place.

Speaking later, Conor said: "As I've said all along I'm not looking at the results, I'm just concentrating on putting the laps in and this weekend has been another very good workout with good progress made. I had a few handling issues with the bike but we got things a lot better in time for final qualifying and I was able to qualify for the race without having to go into the 'Shoot Out' which I was delighted with and another cracking start got me up inside the top 20. Obviously, it would have been nice to have stayed there and got close to the points but I experienced a bit of brake fade mid-race and the lever was coming back to the bar and I was on the verge of pulling in as it was getting a bit hairy."

"It was quite an eventful race with lots going on out there so, all in all, I had a lot to consider but the brakes came back though so I stuck in there and worked hard right up until the very end of the race and it's been a really good, enjoyable weekend. It was heavy going to begin with but the team worked really hard and got the bike working how I wanted it to and I'm just pleased to have got another finish under my belt and have another relatively trouble free weekend. That's all I'm interested in at the moment and it's all good progress. I'm getting more and more comfortable and am enjoying my racing so I'll look for more of the same next time out."

It's a welcome break now until the next round at Croft in two weeks time. With three test sessions and three race meetings, to say it's been a hectic four weeks for the team would be something of an understatement!

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Fantastic five for Farquhar at Cookstown 100

Ryan Farquhar got his Irish road race season off to a fantastic start on Saturday when he dominated the Cookstown 100 road races winning all 5 races he started. The KMR Kawasaki rider was again in imperious form and took the Grand Final, Open, Supersport 600, 450 and Super Twin races to remain unbeaten for the 2011 season.

With perfect conditions around the 2.1-mile Orritor circuit, Ryan's day got off to an ideal start when he took a start to finish victory in the Open race despite coming under pressure throughout from Cameron Donald, Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop and that was immediately followed by a more comfortable victory in the combined 400/450 race. Another close race followed in the Supersport 600cc race where it was again Ryan, Donald and Dunlop that were leading at the head of the field. Once again, Ryan was able to keep the others at bay to take his third win of the day.

The Grand Final was Ryan's penultimate race of the day and he signalled his intentions as he took an early lead. A mistake at the first road end at mid-race distance allowed Dunlop to slip by but, determined not to be beaten, Ryan shadowed his rival before making his move on the final lap and he held on for win number 4. To round out the perfedct day, Ryan then took a start to finish victory in the Super Twins race to make it 5 wins from 5 starts.

It was also a good day for fellow team members Sandor Bitter and Adrian Archibald. Bitter, making his debut at the circuit, got quicker and quicker as the day wore and ended with an excellent 2nd in the Cookstown 100 'B' race whilst Archibald took 4th in the Super Twins race despite being hampered by a blown head gasket.

Speaking afterwards, a delighted Ryan said; "5 wins from 5 starts - it doesn't really get any better than that. And when you add in the wins at Scarborough, I couldn't have asked for a better start to the year. The races today were again very tough and I had to work extremely hard for them as all the top riders were here, which makes them even more satisfying. In the first Open race, Cameron got by me along the start and finish straight as his Superbike had a bit more speed than the Superstock bike but I got by him soon after and just rode as hard as I could to keep him at bay."

"In the Grand Final, I was leading the pack but then outbraked myself going into the first corner which allowed Michael Dunlop to overtake me but I dug deep, followed him for a couple of laps and then made my move on the final lap holding him off until the end. The Supersport race was also close between myself and Cameron, and I caught my knee on the grass at one stage, but, again, I just had enough to hold on. The 450 and Super Twin races were a bit more comfortable whilst it was great to see Sandor take 2nd in his final race of the day. I was well impressed with how he performed and he just got better and better as the day wore on. Adrian's bike had a problem with the head gasket otherwise we could have had the team's first 1-2 but we'll get that sorted for Tandragee. Like I say, it's been a brilliant day and I'll be looking for more of the same at Tandragee."

Ryan now heads to the Tandragee 100 road races with the meeting taking place on Saturday 7th May.

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