AARON CLARKE - OULTON PARK

After improving his lap times by over five seconds during the weekend Aaron Clarke was anticipating a good result from round two of the British Superstock 600 championship at Oulton Park on Monday; but his race was over on the first lap when the front tucked under at Hizzy's chicane causing him to crash and although uninjured he was forced to watch the race from the safety of the marshal post.

It was always going to be a tough weekend for Aaron as he has very little track knowledge having only ridden at Oulton once in the past. But the weekend was made even more difficult for the Kirton rider as he missed a fair amount of laps in the free practice session when the bike developed a gearing problem.

He said: "We got a few laps under our belts in free practice then I discovered I couldn't get fourth gear and in the end I had to pull in so lost over half the session."

But with the gear problem rectified Aaron improved his lap times and started the 14-lap affair from row 13. Getting away to a good start the Kirton rider moved ahead of a couple of riders but as they went into Hizzy's the front tucked under and that was the end of his race.

"It was just a racing incident," said Aaron. "I was going well and really thought I could do well but then lost the front, collected another rider on the way to the gravel trap and we both went down.  But it’s not all doom and gloom and we have to take the positives from the weekend. I have only been to Oulton once before and had to learn the track but once I got to grips with it my lap times came down in every session. In morning warm up I shaved a further 1.1 seconds from my best time so despite the crash I have improved by a massive five seconds."



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Farquhar breaks the 200-win barrier at Tandragee

Ryan Farquhar's return to Irish Road Racing saw more records broken at the Tandragee 100 road races last Saturday as he became the first rider to record more than 200 wins in the history of Irish Road Racing. The KMR Kawasaki rider was victorious in the Classic race and followed this up with the same result after another dominant performance, this time in the Moto 450cc race, to make it a staggering 201 Irish road race wins in total.

Practice around the demanding 5.3-mile circuit saw the Dungannon rider top the timesheets in the Supertwin, Classic 1000cc and Moto 3 categories, unofficially breaking the lap record in all three, and Ryan opened his account on race day when, riding Roger Winfield’s 500cc Paton, he dominated the Classic race, winning the 500cc category and the race outright.

It was his 200th victory in Irish Road Racing and it soon became 201 when he took a start to finish victory in the combined Moto 3/Moto 450 race. Riding his 450cc Kawasaki, Ryan also set a new lap record of 95.418mph. Hopes of a 202nd win evaporated though when, with spots of rain falling, Ryan opted out of the closing Supertwin race. However, third team member Connor Behan did contest the shortened three-lap race and he went on to claim his first Irish National road race victory having earlier taken a fine fourth in the Supersport 600cc race.
 
Sadly, the meeting was overshadowed by the death of Republic of Ireland rider Noel Murphy and everyone at KMR Kawasaki would like to pass on their condolences to all of Mr Murphy's family and friends.

Ryan Farquhar: “First of all, and on behalf of the whole team, I’d like to express my sympathy to everyone who knew Noel, as it, naturally, put a whole dampener on the meeting. Everyone regrouped as best they could and I was pleased to take my 200th and 201st wins, particularly the first win of the day on Roger’s Paton. He’s played a big part in my racing for a good number of years so I felt proud to have taken the 200th Irish race victory of my career on one of his bikes. I hadn’t ridden the 450 for a while but dusted it down and she never missed a beat so it was nice to get a double.”

“The new Supertwin I rode was flying in practice and having lapped inside the lap record I was really looking forward to the race. However, with the NW200 and TT being on the horizon I decided to sit the race out when the spots of rain fell whilst Keith pulled out after learning of the tragic accident. I told him there was no pressure from me to ride as we’d already got enough signatures for our Mountain Course licence so we’d done what we needed to do. Connor wanted to go out and I was delighted to see him take a great victory so we’re all now really looking forward to the North West 200 where all three of us, as well as Jeremy McWilliams, will line up in the two Supertwin races.”


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Team Direct CCTV SBR have mixed reactions from Oulton Park round 2!

Oulton Park saw Team Direct CCTV SBR take away some positives, with Adam Jenkinson lying 3rd in the championship and Victor Cox having a lucky escape only sustaining a broken finger from a high speed crash at Island Bend. Both Victor and Adam rode a fantastic race battling in 4th and 5th. We caught up with them both along with Steve Brogan after the race.

Adam Jenkinson ‘We’ve had a good weekend with a good set up and fast lap times. I got a good start and felt confident we could push for the front. I had a good battle with David Johnson and was feeling strong for a podium. We finished the race in 4th, but I was happy with the pace and bike set up, so we can definitely take away some positives from Oulton Park. The bike is working well, although I do feel like there are a few small things we could change for Snetterton. It’s a new team though and everyone is working well together and I feel that with time, we can make really good progress. We are now 3rd in the championship and I’m pleased we got some good solid points to take onto Snetterton in 5 weeks time’.

Victor Cox ‘I managed to get a good start off the line and the bike felt really good. We managed to get a good setup all weekend and I felt confident for the race. I was in a comfortable 5th position and was closing in on my team mate Adam. I really wanted to get involved in the battle between Adam, David Johnson and Jason O’halloran, as we both had good pace. Unfortunately on lap 14 with only 1 lap to go, I hit a false neutral in to Island Bend which caused me to run off the track, so i had to lay it down on the grass as the tyre wall was fast approaching. Luckily I only sustained a fractured finger and was concussed! Overall, up until then, the weekend was great, the team are working really hard and I feel I have a good set up on my bike now. I am already looking forward to getting back on the bike in 5 weeks at Snetterton. In the long break I will be training as hard as ever to make sure i’m in good shape for snetterton!’

Team Manager Steve Brogan ‘A mixed weekend for me really because of the outcome in the race result. All positive though as both Adam and Victor showed they both have the pace and set up to run at the front, and will both be race winners in the remaining races. As it was the teams and Adams home round, it’s always a bit hectic with extra guests, but I’m sure all our guests were happy enough. I’m really proud of the team we have and there is a ‘buzz’ in our awning that I myself have not experienced in many teams I’ve worked with over the years! Now it’s time to re-group and move onto Snetterton in 5 weeks! Hopefully get the boys out for a test before Snetterton.’





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Ups and downs for KMR Kawasaki at NW200

This week's International North West 200 road races saw the SGS International/KMR Kawasaki team experience some ups and downs with solid results offset by a number of technical issues and bad luck.

The two 4-lap Supertwins races around the 8.9-mile circuit linking the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush were always the team’s main target and the week couldn’t have started better with Keith Amor, team boss Ryan Farquhar and Connor Behan securing the top three positions in opening qualifying. However, whilst Amor ended up second quickest overall, a few problems in Thursday’s second session meant Jeremy McWilliams, Farquhar and Behan would start from sixth, seventh and ninth on the grid.

The evening’s race was held in perfect, sunny weather but Behan’s race was over before it had begun as another rider knocked into him at the first corner resulting him to crash out. The problems experienced in qualifying continued to affect Farquhar and McWilliams although they did salvage sixth and eighth so it was left to Amor to challenge for the race win. The Scot was looking good when he posted a new lap record of 108.644mph and started the final lap in second place and with a great chance of a win but a major engine problem forced him to retire at the Mill Road roundabout.

Saturday couldn't have been more different as rain and win hit the north coast of Northern Ireland and all four riders opted for different tyre combinations in the mixed conditions. Behan and Farquhar immediately slotted into first and second only for Behan to enter the Mather’s Cross chicane too hot and crash out leaving Farquhar in the lead. However, when the rain began to fall once more, his wet front tyre and dry rear were unable to cope and a few slides saw him slip back to fifth whilst Amor was an early retirement.

McWilliams was the best placed to deal with the wet surface as he had fitted full wets and a rostrum position looked on the cards as he moved up to second half way round the final lap. Sadly though, he got into Mather’s Cross too fast and whilst he was able to stay on board, he had to take to the grass and the resulting excursion saw his hopes disappear and he took the chequered flag in fourth place.

Behan did have some joy in the two Supersport races securing 17th and 21st with a personal best lap of 112.825mph.

Ryan Farquhar: “On the one hand, the week doesn’t look the greatest, but on the other there have been plenty of positives to take from it and everyone in the team have enjoyed themselves, which is our main aim. It couldn’t have started any better with a 1-2-3 in first qualifying but after that, we had a few, niggling little issues with a couple of the bikes which affected us in the first race. Keith was flying though and a new lap record showed what the combination’s capable of so it was a shame he was forced to retire with the engine failure, the first time that’s happened to one of the KMR twins.”

“It meant we had to pack up and head home on Friday to strip all the bikes and get to the bottom of the problems so it was a very fraught day. Jeremy had a faulty spark plug on his bike whilst the problem with mine was most probably the coil but with Keith on a spare bike we were all back on the grid on Saturday. The weather meant it was always going to come down to a choice in the tyres and when the rain came I had little choice to back off whilst there was also a lot of forceful riding going on out there. I gave as good as I got but it’s not how I like to ride and not how road racing should be so, hopefully, it was just a one-off. We all got home safe and it’s all systems go now to get everything prepared for the TT where we'll all be looking to have a good, enjoyable fortnight with some strong results taken along the way.”



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Harrison ends NW200 meeting with strong top eight finishes

Dean Harrison and the RC Express Racing team had an up and down few days of racing at the International North West 200 road races this week but the Bradford rider ensured the meeting ended on a high note with two top eight finishes in the Superstock and feature NW200 Superbike races.

With perfect conditions during qualifying and racing on Tuesday and Thursday, Saturday’s feature race day dawned overcast and by the time the racing got underway, showers around the 8.9-mile circuit had left the road surface extremely damp and tyre choice problematical. Nevertheless, the day started solidly for Dean as he posted an 11th place finish in the opening 5-lap Superbike race.

It was all upwards from there on and Dean and the Kawasaki ZX-10R took an excellent seventh place in the Superstock race, just four seconds adrift of the final podium position. With conditions improving all the time, and the course getting dryer and dryer all the time, Dean opted to continue with the Superstock machine for the final feature NW200 Superbike race. Battling throughout with fellow Kawasaki rider James Hillier, Dean edged away in the closing stages to take a fine eighth place, also posting his best ever lap of the circuit, 119.410mph, in the process.

The results more than made up for a disappointing Thursday evening when he was forced to retire from the Superstock race and crashed out at the Mill Road roundabout in the Supertwins race meaning both he and the team can head to the Isle of Man TT in confident mood.

Dean Harrison: “It all came together in the end and I’m pleased with how the day went on Saturday. Conditions weren’t the easiest but the Kawasaki and Metzeler tyres were working really well and the longer the races went, the more confident and comfortable I felt. I was a bit wary about going out on slicks in the final Superbike race so decided to take the Superstock bike out again and whilst slicks would have been absolutely fine, I can’t fault how the Stocker performed.”

“Thursday is best forgotten about but it was just a bit of bad luck and, overall, we’ve learnt a massive amount with all three bikes. I’ve got quicker and more confident with them as the week’s progressed and we’ve got a solid base to start from when we get to the Isle of Man next week.”

Ben Constable, Team Co-Owner: “The week started off slow for us but it ended really well and I’m proud of Dean’s efforts and professionalism throughout. He deserved the results on Saturday for everything he put in over the few days and the eighth place in the Superbike race, whilst riding the Superstock bike, was very impressive.”

“We had a few issues over the course of the few days, like a lot of other people did, but the good thing is that we resolved everything along the way and found some good settings which will stand us in good stead at the TT. Dean’s happy with all of the bikes whilst the team did a mega job all week, especially Danny and John, so we can’t wait now to get to the Island.”



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