Ryan Farquhar ended his 2010 Isle of Man TT campaign with a brilliant second place in Friday's Senior race, the Blue Riband event of the fortnight. The first attempt to run the race was stopped after an incident involving Guy Martin who, thankfully, wasn't seriously injured, and Ryan had retired at Cronk y Voddy but with the race declared null and void, he was able to take part in the re-start and grabbed the opportunity with both hands to record his ninth TT podium finish.

It was a fuel pump problem that stopped Ryan in the first start but with the problem rectified, he was able to take his place on the line for the new, shortened, 4-lap race. A good start saw Ryan occupy fifth place at Glen Helen and he completed his opening lap at 129.613mph to hold onto the position, only 0.9s adrift of HM Plant Honda rider Keith Amor. On lap two, John McGuinness retired and Conor Cummins crashed, promoting him up to third although Cummins' crash on the Mountain had delayed Ryan slightly, but the Manxman was, thankfully, reported to be conscious with arm and leg injuries.

As the riders went into their fourth and final lap, Ryan was comfortable in third, 18 seconds behind Amor now but almost 50 seconds clear of fourth placed rider Bruce Anstey. However, there was more drama in store when Amor coasted to a halt in the identical spot to McGuinness so Ryan was now in a superb second with three quarters of the final lap left to complete. A final lap of 128.970mph saw Ryan duly cross the line in second place behind 5-times winner Ian Hutchinson and the celebrations could begin.

Speaking afterwards a delighted Ryan said:

"This is absolutely brilliant and after sitting on the grass bank at the end of the Cronk y Voddy in the first part, to be sitting here now is unbelievable. The fuel pump had broken in the first race but the marshals let me ride the bike back and the boys in the team did a great job in fitting a new fuel pump and we were ready to go again. The changes we made to the bike in terms of slotting the Superbike engine into the Superstock chassis worked really well so I just rode as hard as I could throughout the race and I'm over the moon to finish 2nd."

"I got gifted a couple of places but I've led races and broke down in the past so with second in the Superstock race and second again today, I've had a good TT and I've got to say a big thank you to Nick Morgan, Kawasaki, Dunlop and everyone who helps and supports me as I wouldn't be sitting here today if it wasn't for them. It was great to stand on the Senior TT podium and meet Moto GP star Jorge Lorenzo's whilst it's a good job I didn't get stuck into a beer when I retired in the first start!"

Ryan now has a week break before his next race, the Bush Road Races, which take place on Saturday 19th June.




Words: Phil Wain - Freelance PR