Ryan Farquhar's brilliant 2010 road racing season continued on Saturday when he dominated the Mid Antrim 150 road races. Competing on the 3.6-mile Clough circuit, the KMR Kawasaki rider won no less than five races, including the Grand Final, extending his tally for the season to 38 victories. The five wins also took him to a total of 22 at the Mid Antrim, comfortably the highest in the 64-year history of the event whilst he now has the unique distinction of holding five lap records, including the outright.

It was another wet day for competitors whilst they also had to contend with a surface that was wet in parts, damp in others and then dry elsewhere making tyre choice constantly tricky. Ryan opened his account for the day with victory in the Open race where, after leading at one stage by over 12 seconds, he eased back in the closing laps to lead Adrian Archibald home by 6 seconds. Next up was the Super Twins race where he was pressured in the early stages by fellow Dungannon man John Burrows. As the race wore on, the circuit, which had started fully wet, began to dry up in places but Ryan, despite struggling for grip, was able to edge clear for another comfortable win.

The 600cc race saw a repeat of the early Open encounter only this time Archibald led to begin with. Having sat behind him for a couple of laps, Ryan made his move and was able to take his third win of the day. His penultimate race was the 125/450 race where the 450s started in their own group and it was Seamus Elliott who led on his 450 Yamaha until the third lap when Ryan found his way through. Elliott pushed Ryan all the way but eventually pushed too hard and slid off, fortunately without injury, on the final lap and Ryan was not only able to take the 450 win but was also the fastest rider on corrected time. The final race of the day was the Grand Final and with conditions again tricky, it was another close race between Ryan and Archibald. There was little to choose between the two riders as Archibald sat on the rear wheel of Ryan but on the last lap he crahsed out at speed, again escaping injury, allowing Ryan to take an unprecedented fifth win of the day.

Speaking later, Ryan said:

"It was really tough conditions out there today and very difficult to know what tyres to choose. Some parts of the track were wet, some dry and some were very dirty with mud running on to the course and stuff so it was really slippy out there. Adrian pushed me hard in the Superbike races none more so than in the Grand Final where I just couldn't shake him off. He was there all the way through and it's probably the toughest race I've ever had in those conditions. I've won in the wet before but have always had a bit of a buffer whereas this time he was on my bike wheel throughout and there was no let up. It was a real shame his race ended in a crash so I'm pleased he's ok."

"Seamus also pushed me hard in the 450cc race and our bikes were pretty evenly matched so that was another tough race although I was really chuffed to beat all the 125s on corrected time too. I've taken 22 wins now at the Mid Antrim and it's certainly a circuit that's been kind to me over the years, it's just a shame that today's been spoilt by the weather a bit. We've all got a mad dash now to get all the bikes, truck and the like all cleaned up before Armoy this weekend!"


Ryan now has just a few days before his next outing with the Armoy Road Races taking place on Saturday August 7th.




Words: Phil Wain - Freelance PR