Ian Lougher has taken his winning tally at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough to a remarkable total of 124 following two days of frantic action at the annual Cock o' the North meeting.

Ian was successful in the 125, 250 and 600 races on Saturday and was denied a chance to add further to this when an electrical problem with the team's R1 meant he missed his qualifying heat but was allowed in the second heat, albeit from the back of the grid and on the R6, undeterred he rode brilliantly to finish 5th!

Warm sunny weather was the order of the day as practice commenced at 09.00am.

Racing proper got underway in the afternoon and Ian's first outing was in the first leg of the National 600.

Pole-setter was Daniel Frear but it was Michael Pearson who grabbed the hole-shot and led by a tenth of a second from Frear, Ian, Kiaran Hankin, Richard Gibson and Mark Buckley at the end of the first of eight laps.

A lap later and Frear was in front by 0.747 of a second, with Lougher still third.

At two-thirds distance Pearson was in front but only 0.328 of a second ahead of Lougher who was now second with Frear third, a further half a second adrift.

At the flag though it was Lougher from Pearson and Frear.

Ian was straight out again for the 8 lap combined 125cc and 400cc event and immediately grabbed the lead on the potent Barnes/Jackson Racing bike and at the end of the opening lap it was Ian and his regular lightweight class sparring partner Chris Palmer dicing for the lead. On lap two Ian opened up a gap of two seconds over Palmer, positions remained this way for another lap and by lap four Ian had extended his lead by a further two seconds and a lap later he not only led the 125cc race but was also fourth overall on the circuit.
Positions remained unchanged for the rest of the race and at the flag it was Ian from Chris Palmer.

Ian was a retirement in the first leg of the National Superbikes and then reverted back to the smaller 250cc Barnes/Jackson machine for the combined National 250GP and Mini (Super) Twins.

He led at the end of the first lap by 1.3 seconds over Palmer with Paul Owen third and by lap three he had increased his advantage to 2.2 secs, Ian was setting a pace not dissimilar to the hot temperatures and by the penultimate lap he had entended his lead to 7.96 seconds, and at the flag it was Lougher, Palmer and Owen.

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Following overnight rain, practice got underway for the second day of racing, a lunch break then followed with the first of the eight races getting underway at 1pm.

The second leg of the eight lap National Superbikes saw Keith Pringle in pole position and it was Pringle who was first into Mere Hairpin and he led by 0.637 of a second at the end of the opening lap. Michael Pearson was second and Kiaran Hankin third. Ian was down in ninth.

Positions were the same at the conclusion of the second lap, although the gap was down to 0.273 of a second, as Lougher disappointingly retired to the paddock.

Race three of the day was the second leg of the combined 125GP and 400cc classes and it was Ian who got the hole-shot in the Ultra-Lightweight race on the Barnes/Jackson Racing machine.

At the end of the second lap just 0.7 of a second separated the two rivals and by half distance Ian not only still led the 125cc race but was sixth overall on the road, on lap five things remained unchanged in the top four, as Lougher was up to fifth on the road with Palmer now out of contention having lost the tow due to backmakers.

At the chequered flag two laps later it was Ian Lougher who took the 125cc honours and third place overall.

Next up was the feature Cock o’ the North Race over an eight lap distance instead of the scheduled ten laps. The race was re-scheduled due to the weather forecast being poor for later in the day.

However, a tangle with Michael Pearson at Mere Hairpin brought both Ian and Keith Pringle's race to an abrupt and premature conclusion.

Undeterred, Ian came to the line for the second leg of the combined National 250GP and Mini-Twins race. This time it was Chris Palmer who got the hole-shot into Mere Hairpin, followed by Ian and David Guiney. Positions remained the same a lap later, with Lougher taking a tenth of a second out of Palmer's lead, which came down to 0.208 of a second. A lap later and Palmer had extended his lead by 5/100ths of a second but Ian was on the move and on lap four he led Chris by 0.420 secs. This he increased to 1.351 seconds at the end of the fifth lap and at the chequered flag Ian Lougher took his 123rd race win at Oliver’s Mount, with Chris Palmer second and David Guiney third.

It was a determined Ian who brought the Team Blackhorse Yamaha Supersport R6 to the line for the penultimate race of the programme, the second leg of the National 600s.

Daniel Frear was in pole position, but it was Lougher who was first up Sheene’s Rise and at the end of the lap he led by 0.234 secs from Pearson, Frear, Hankin, Buckley and Gibson in that order.

By half race distance Ian had widened the gap to four-tenths of a second from Pearson who reduced the lead to 0.178 secs on lap five, but Ian responded and on the next lap the lead was back up to 0.533 secs with Daniel Frear in third, just under a second behind.

Ian wasn't going to be denied and on the seventh lap he increased his lead to 1.719 seconds and at the chequered flag he took his 124th victory from Michael Pearson and Daniel Frear.

A great two days racing around the seaside circuit where once again Ian Lougher proved to be the man to beat.

It was a quick trip to Heysham for the Isle of Man ferry as the team take part in the ever popular Southern 100 Road Races. The 'friendly races' run from July 13-16.