the Ian Watson Spring Cup

Conditions were described as near perfect when practicing got underway promptly at 8.30am for the Ian Watson Spring Cup at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough, the first road race of the 2011 season and the opening round of the Duke Road Race Rankings Championship.

At the conclusion of qualifying, Chris Palmer headed the 125’s; Lee Vernon the 250’s, with Daniel Frear topping the 400 class.

Ryan Farquhar, the current Duke Champion heads the Supersport and Superbike classes, with Ivan Lintin leading the 650 Super twins.

Ian and Karl Bell head the Sidecars.

The first of the 14 races, the six lap 125 race got away on time at 12.30pm sharp.

Ian Lougher got the hole shot, but it was Chris Palmer who led into the Mere Hairpin and was still in front at the end of the first lap, with Daley Mathison in third spot.

Lougher took 1.3 seconds out of Palmer’s lead on the second lap, the gap coming down 0.5 of a second.

The gap was cut by another 2/10ths of a second at the end of lap three, with Lee Vernon moving into third spot, demoting Mathison to fourth.

Lougher took over the lead at the end of the fourth lap and opened up a gap of 7/10th of a second.

The leader’s 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 Lougher by 2.9 seconds from Chris Palmer and Lee Vernon claiming third by 2/10ths of a second from Daley Mathison.


The six Lap first leg of the F2 Sidecars were next. Ian and Carl Bell got the hole shot into Mere and led at the end of the lap going on to win by 7.4 seconds.


Race three Was the first heat of the Ian Watson Spring Cup over four laps. Ryan Farquhar was first into Mere and was still in front at the end of the opening lap from Michael Pearson and Keith Pringle.

Positions were the same at the end of the half distance lap with half a second separating the leading pair.

Lap three and the gap had increased to 2 seconds.

At the flag it was Farquhar from Pearson by 3 seconds with Pringle third.
Heat 2 followed and was won by Derek Sheils from Ian Lougher and Dave Hewson.


Race five Was the first leg of the combined 250cc and 400cc over eight laps.

Dave Guiney got the hole shot and led at the end of the first lap from Lee Vernon and Chris Palmer.

Lap two and Palmer had moved into second place, one second down on new 250 leader Vernon, with Guiney down to fourth, Davy Morgan having moved into third.

Daniel Frear was the highest placed 400, in sixth overall.

Positions remained the same on the third lap.

At half distance it was Palmer from Vernon and Morgan in the 250’s with Frear still heading the 400’s from newcomer James Cowton.

Positions remained the same on lap five with only 3/10th’s of a second between the leaders Palmer and Vernon, with Frear now up to fifth overall.

Lap six and Palmer’s lead was just one hundredth of a second as the crossed the line and at Mere on the seventh lap Vernon was now in front, as Frear moved into fourth.

At the end of the penultimate lap it was Palmer back in front by two-hundredths of a second.

At the flag it was Lee Vernon by 7/10ths of a second from Chris Palmer with Davy Morgan third.

The 400 race was won by Dan Frear from James Cowton and Ross Johnson.


Race six Was the first leg for the 600cc Supersport machines, over eight laps. Ryan Farquhar got the hole shot from ‘team-mate’ and rival Adrian Farquhar with Ian Lougher 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.

Lap three and the leading pair had pulled out 5.5 seconds on third place man Lougher.

Half distance and Ryan had trebled his lead to 1.5 seconds as Lougher dropped a further two seconds off second place man Pearson.

Lap five; positions remained the same with race leader Farquhar now 4 seconds ahead of Pearson.

Three-quarter distance and Ryan was now 6 seconds ahead with Lougher dropping back by the lap.

Lap seven and the pattern continued and at the all important chequered flag Ryan’s advantage was 7.114 seconds from Michael Pearson with Ian Lougher third.


The F2 Sidecars were out again for their second leg, again over six laps.

Once again it proved to be a Bell benefit. Ian and Carl heading home Conrad Harrison and Lee Patterson with Carl Fenwick and Mark Sayers in third.


Race eight And the 650cc SuperTwins were in action for the first of their eight lap legs.

Once again it was Farquhar who got the hole shot into Mere Hairpin and was leading the pack and the end of the lap from Ivan Lintin, Daniel Frear and Adrian Archibald.

Archie was up to third on lap two with Ian Lougher chasing Archibald ion fourth.

Lap three and Farquhar was having a hard time getting away from Lintin, the gap down to 4/10th’s of a second, with Lougher some 5.5 seconds adrift of Lintin. Archibald remained fourth.

Half distance lap and the gap remained the same between the first two although Lougher had dropped a further second on Lintin.

Lap five, swathe gap extend between the leading pair to 7/10th’s of a second, with third place man Lougher dropping further back to over 8 seconds.

Lap six and positions remained the same with the time gaps continuing a familiar pattern.

At the chequered flag Ryan Farquhar took his 70th win at Oliver’s Mount by some 7 seconds from Ivan Lintin with Ian Lougher third on his first outing on a SuperTwin.


Race Nine, The first leg of the Ian Watson Spring Cup, had a notable non-starter, Adrian Archibald whose gearbox had broken.

Yet again it was Farquhar who took the hole shot and was leading 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.

Lap two and Ryan had put a half-second gap between himself and Pearson, with Sheils a further 3/10th’s down in third. Lougher was some 3 seconds back.

Lap three, Pearson pulled back a tenth of a second on Farquhar, as the top six remained the same.

Half distance lap, with no change in positions with only one second between the first three.

Lap five and Ryan had pulled out a 1.2 second gap on Michael, with another second separating Michael and Derek, then ten seconds between third and fourth, Ian Lougher.

Lap six, and there was now 3 seconds between first and second, with Sheils now only 2/10th’s behind Pearson.

Positions and gaps remained static on lap seven and at the flag Farquhar took the victory from Michael Pearson and Derek Sheils.


Next up was the second leg of the 125’s over six laps. Chris Palmer got the hole-shot and held the lead at the end of the first lap from Ian Lougher by 3/10th’s of a second with Daley Mathison third two seconds adrift.

The gap had doubled 2.43-miles later.

At half distance the gap was back to 3/10th’s with Daley now nearly 11 seconds down in third.

Lap four, and Chris added a further tenth of a second to his narrow lead over Ian.

Lap five, and the gap was 2/10ths of a second.

At the chequered flag it was Ian Lougher taking his 130th win at Oliver’s Mount, by six-tenths from Chris Palmer with Daley Mathison third.


Race 11 Was the second leg of the Supersport machines, again over eight laps.

Lap one saw the familiar sight of Ryan Farquhar leading Michael Pearson and Ian Lougher, with Ryan enjoying a half second advantage.

Lap two and the gap increased to over half a second with Ian Lougher over two seconds down in third.

Lap three and the gap had increased to over one second, with positions remaining static.

At half distance, the lead was now 63 seconds.

Positions remained the same through the closing laps with the lead improving as the chequered flag approached with Ryan taking another victory by 3.4 seconds from Michael Pearson with Ian Lougher third.


Race 12, The SuperTwins second leg proved to be another Ryan Farquhar benefit, although it was Ian Lougher who got the initial hole shot and Ivan Lintin the early leader.

From a 3/10ths of a second lead, Ryan took the chequered flag 3.495 seconds ahead of Ivan Lintin with Ian Lougher third 12 seconds down.

The second leg of the Ian Watson Spring Cup was the penultimate race of the programme.

Ian Lougher was a prominent non-starter.

Ryan Farquhar had a race long battle with Michael Pearson with the gap between the two down to one-tenth of a second in the early stages of the eight lap race, with Derek Sheils keeping in close contact with the leading pair under a second behind in third.

At half distance Ryan was once again showing his mastery of the ‘Mount’ slowly improving the gap to half a second; at the three-quarter stage the lead had improved to two seconds, and at the flag Ryan’s advantage over Michael Pearson was 3.448 seconds. Derek Sheils was third.


The final race of the meeting was the second leg of the 250/400 classes.
Chris Palmer retired on the opening lap with a sized engine.

Lee Vernon led from the first lap to the chequered flag in a one man race enjoying a 20 second victory.

Similarly the 400 winner Daniel Frear enjoyed a 30 second victory.

A good safe days racing to start the season.

Results in pdf Format.