Farquhar unhappy over Sunflower entry refusal

Ryan Farquhar spoke yesterday about his disappointment that his KMR Kawasaki powered by Vauxhall Dealers NI team have been turned down for Saturday's Sunflower Trophy meeting at Bishopscourt.

Farquhar had intended to come out of retirement to ride alongside Jeremy McWilliams in the two supertwin races at the event.

Farquhar was speaking at the launch of the Adelaide Irish Motorcyclist of the Year Awards, in association with Enkalon, to be held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel on January 17.

He said: "This was going to be a one-off appearance by myself to evaluate how the supertwin Kawasaki had improved since the last time I rode it during the 2012 Ulster Grand Prix.

"The last time the Sunflower ran in 2011 the KMR Kawasaki Team of Jeremy McWilliams, Jamie Hamilton and I dominated the podium in both races.

"It seems strange the organising club cannot see the value in having Jeremy on the grid, as he is a potential winner even from the back and draws a crowd to watch one of our best ever racers.

"The Hillsborough Club said money was not the issue here it was just that the races were oversubscribed. In effect this means there will now be no KMR machines on the grid come Saturday.

"I had intended to give young Nico Mawhinney a run on one of my machines as well, but that is now a non-starter. I can just as easily stay at home after what has been a really busy season, although it is a disappointment to deny the spectators an opportunity to see the team on the grid."

Farquhar, the record holder for most wins in Irish road races (199), retired from the sport following the death of his uncle Trevor Ferguson in an accident during the 2012 Manx Grand Prix, but switched his attention to team management with McWilliams winning the Thursday supertwin race at the North West 200.

Jamie Hamilton clinched both the Irish supersport and supertwin championships on KMR machines, while Conor Behan, second in the Irish junior support road race championship, Jamie Cowton, Conor Cummins, Joe Faragher and RJ Woolsey were among those who rode under the KMR banner in2013.

For the Hillsborough Club, organisers of Saturday's Sunflower Trophy meeting, Race Secretary Derek McWhirter said:

"If it had been any other class they wanted it would not have been a problem.

"Unfortunately the supertwin class has 50 entries for 35 places on the grid, plus Jeremy could not practise on Friday owing to another engagement and wanted to start from the back of the grid come Saturday, which would have denied the last qualifier a place."

The organisers have confirmed entries from new British and former world sidecar champion Tim Reeves and from his main rival Sean Hegarty, while the injured Ben Wilson will be replaced in the Gearlink Kawasaki Team by new British Superstock 600cc champion Luke Hedger.




By Roy Harris
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