KMR Kawasaki boss Ryan Farquhar pictured with David Haire at the launch of the Sunflower Trophy races.

Farquhar, who is continuing his recuperation following a serious crash at the North West 200 in May, has granted Lisburn’s David Haire the chance to ride one of his Kawasaki machines at the Bishopscourt showpiece alongside Canadian rider Darren James. 

The 40-year-old hasn’t raced since his accident but is eager to try out some new parts on his KMR bikes ahead of the 2017 season. 

Farquhar said: 

“Davy had messaged me a couple of times about riding one of my bikes so it’s an ideal time to give him a ride and see how the bike performs before the winter. 

“He’s always gone well in the Superbike class so I’m sure he’ll not be far away. Hopefully there will be a few competitive bikes so we can get a better idea of how our bike is performing. 

“Darren James is coming over because he wanted to do the Sunflower so I was already going with him, plus there are parts that arrived for the bikes while I was in hospital, so I want to see what they’re like on the bike to get a bit of direction if I’m going to do something next year,” 

he added. 

“Davy’s going to ride my wee 450 as well in the Moto3/125GP class.” 

Five months on from his crash at the North West, Farquhar still has some way to go until he returns to full fitness, although he concedes he is lucky to be alive at all. 

“I’m getting better slowly and I’ve put some weight on again. I’m back to the weight I want to be but I’ve got no stamina or fitness. My ankle is giving me a lot of trouble and I’m struggling to do any exercise, so it’s going to be a while before I can do anything like that,” he said. “I’m going to see the specialist about my ankle on Thursday but I don’t have the see the liver specialist again unless it starts playing up, but it seems to be all healing up well. 

“I had broken my ankle before years ago and it’s been aggravated. I’m not 100 per-cent sure what the problem is and I’ll have to get a scan. There’s either a broken bone that the X-ray hasn’t picked up or there’s some bone fragments in there.” 

Farquhar, meanwhile, has turned down the chance to travel to the Phillip Island International Classic meeting in the New Year, where he has been a regular competitor for Roger Winfield’s team. 

“Roger Winfield had offered me to go as a bit of a holiday but it’s too far away and I’d be wrecked. I know rightly come January or February I still wouldn’t be fit for it,” he said. “It seems this might be the last time Roger will be doing it so it’s disappointing to miss out.” 

Farquhar and his wife Karen are due to appear on Nolan Live on Wednesday night (BBC1 NI at 10.45pm).