Ryan Farquhar made the perfect start to his Irish road race season after dominating the Cookstown 100 races winning all 5 that he started.
Taking wins in the Grand Final, Open, Supersport 600, 450 and Super Twin races Farquhar couldn’t have asked for more around the 2.1-mile Orritor circuit.
His opening victory of the weekend came in the Open race as he dominated from the start fending off pressure from Cameron Donald, Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop. An easier victory came in the combined 400/450 race followed by the Supersport 600cc race which saw Farquhar battle with Donald and Dunlop.
Despite building an early lead in the Grand Final a mistake at the first road end at mid-race distance saw Dunlop slip in to the lead. Farquhar wouldn’t give up and fought back before making his move on the final lap to take his fourth win of the weekend.
A win in the Super Twins race rounded off his perfect weekend despite a blown head gasket. Speaking afterwards Farquhar said: “5 wins from 5 starts – it doesn’t really get any better than that. And when you add in the wins at Scarborough, I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year. The races today were again very tough and I had to work extremely hard for them as all the top riders were here, which makes them even more satisfying. In the first Open race, Cameron got by me along the start and finish straight as his Superbike had a bit more speed than the Superstock bike but I got by him soon after and just rode as hard as I could to keep him at bay.”
“In the Grand Final, I was leading the pack but then outbraked myself going into the first corner which allowed Michael Dunlop to overtake me but I dug deep, followed him for a couple of laps and then made my move on the final lap holding him off until the end. The Supersport race was also close between myself and Cameron, and I caught my knee on the grass at one stage, but, again, I just had enough to hold on. The 450 and Super Twin races were a bit more comfortable whilst it was great to see Sandor take 2nd in his final race of the day. I was well impressed with how he performed and he just got better and better as the day wore on. Adrian’s bike had a problem with the head gasket otherwise we could have had the team’s first 1-2 but we’ll get that sorted for Tandragee. Like I say, it’s been a brilliant day and I’ll be looking for more of the same at Tandragee.”
Farquhar’s next race is the Tandragee 100 road races on Saturday 7 May.