Ryan Farquhar's successful start to the 2011 road racing season continued on Saturday when the KMR Kawasaki rider took a double victory at the Tandragee 100 road races. The Dungannon rider took the wins in the Super Twins and Moto 450 races whilst he also scored a brace of close seconds in the Open and Supersport 600 races before heavy rain caused the final Tandragee 100 feature race to be abandoned.

Despite heavy rain the evening before, that saw practice curtailed, conditions were good for the Open race and a good start saw Ryan take an early lead before Michael Dunlop, having his first outing on his Superbike, nosed ahead a lap later. There was little to choose between the two around the demanding 5.3-mile circuit and Ryan closed right in on Dunlop with two laps to go but, try as he might, he was unable to find a way through and had to settle for second on this occasion. Meanwhile, fellow KMR Kawasaki teamster Sandor Bitter took a creditable 17th place on his Tandragee debut. It was an almost identical story in the Supersport race too, with Ryan and Dunlop again going head to head. Dunlop took the lead on the opening lap before Ryan took over for the next couple of laps but Dunlop wasn't to be denied his 2nd race win and Ryan had to again accept second place.

As the clouds rolled in, Ryan was soon back out on his 450 Kawasaki for the Moto 450 race and he was able to take a comfortable start to finish victory in the 4-lap race, aided by a new lap record of 93.917mph. By mid-afternoon, light drizzle had begun to fall but it had stopped when the Super Twins race came to the line and it saw Ryan enjoy a terrific battle with team-mate Adrian Archibald. There was little between the two over the 4 laps but, despite Archibald setting a new class lap record of 101.146mph, Ryan held on by just 0.186s for his second win of the day with Adrian in second and the third KMR Kawasaki of Trevor Ferguson in 8th. That proved to be the last of the race action though as heavy rain caused the feature Tandragee 100 race to be abandoned.

Speaking later Ryan said;

"It's been another busy weekend and another good meeting for myself and the team. The evening and overnight rain meant there were a few damp patches on race day but Michael and myself had a good battle in the Open race. It was a close race and there wasn't much difference in the speed of the Superbike and Superstock machines whilst we were both riding hard. I had a wee problem with the clutch but rode as hard as I could but it just wasn't good enough to win. Meanwhile, Sandor rode well for a good finish so it was a good ride and a good experience for him. The 600cc race was another hard race and it was a similar story to the Open event - Michael just beat me fair and square, it's as simple as that! The 450 was a straightforward, enjoyable race whilst the Super Twins race panned out exactly as I'd hoped. Adrian and myself were wheel to wheel all the way through the race and the two 650s were working really well. I think it was the first time we'd lapped quicker than the 250s and I really enjoyed the race. I just managed to hold Adrian off on the run in to the line and to get the first 1-2 for KMR Kawasaki was brilliant. When the rain came, it just wasn't possible to continue racing though. The organisers have a done a great job with the circuit but there's a couple of places around Tandragee where the tar is really shiny and when it gets wet, it's like ice so it was the right decision to call it a day. We've got a lot of work to do now between now and the North West and my priority is to get my Superbike finished so, hopefully, we can have another good meeting there."

Ryan and the team will next head to the Causeway Coast for the International North West 200 road races, with first practice taking place on Tuesday 17th May.



Phil Wain - Freelance PR