Clear blue skies and bright sunshine
welcomed competitors and enthusiasts at Oliver’s
Mount for the second day of the Barry Sheene International
Race Festival.
After an incident free practice session the ‘real’
action got underway with the second leg of the Syd Barnett
Trophy race for 350cc classic machines over six laps.
Paul Coward got the hole-shot into Mere Hairpin, but
it was Ryan Farquhar who was ahead of the field and
the end of the opening lap followed by Paul Coward and
Bob Price. Positions remained the same on the second
and third laps, with the leader widening the gap. Doug
Snow moved into third spot on the fourth circuit. Ryan
took the chequered flag 2.127 seconds ahead of Paul
Coward with Doug Snow third.
After the lunch break it came the third leg of the
600cc modern machines race over eight laps. Ryan Farquhar
was again in pole position, but it was Mike Russell
who got the hole-shot and was first into Mere Hairpin,
but it was Farquhar who was in front at the end of the
first lap. Russell only got as far as Memorial before
the machine cried enough and he had to retire! Jules
Croft and Richard Gibson were battling for second spot.
Lap three and Ryan had a problem and was down in third
with Gibson leading Croft by 1.4 seconds. Half distance
and Farquhar was up to second and closing on race leader
Gibson. Lap five and positions were the same. Two-thirds
distance and Ryan is right with Richard going into Mere
Hairpin side by side. Lap seven and Farquhar was back
in front and a lap later took his twelfth race victory
of the weekend. Richard Gibson was second and Jules
Croft third.
Next up was the second leg of the Denis Parkinson Trophy
for 500cc Classic machines. Peter Branton got the hole-shot
into Mere Hairpin, although Olie Linsdell was in the
lead at the end of the lap being chased by Ryan Farquhar,
who broke the lap record on the second circuit as he
closed the gap to half a second. The lap record was
again lowered on the third lap by Farquhar as he chased
after Linsdell. Positions remained the same on the half
distance lap and the fifth circuit, although the gap
had shortened with yet another record lap by the Ulsterman.
Lap seven and Farquhar was in front and went on to take
the chequered flag.
Next up was the third leg of the 1000cc modern machines,
as once again Ryan Farquhar took up his position on
pole for the eight lap race. Keith Pringle got the hole-shot
into Mere and led at the end of the first lap with Farquhar
in second position. Ryan was within four-tenths of a
second of leader Pringle at the end of the second circuit.
Lap three and Farquhar was in front with Keith Pringle
now second and Richard Gibson third. Half distance and
positions remained the same, as they did on the fifth
lap, although Gibson was closing on Pringle. Farquhar’s
lead at two-thirds distance was four seconds, as Pringle
and Gibson continued the battle for second place. Positions
remained the same for the penultimate lap and Ryan took
his fourth chequered flag of the day at the end of the
eighth lap.
The next race was the first leg of the Classic Superbikes,
for the Barry Sheene Trophy. Gary Thwaites took the
hole-shot in front of the two Paton’s of Farquhar
and Linsdell. At the end of the opening lap of eight,
it was Farquhar, Linsdell and Thwaites. A lap later
it was still the same, but Linsdell was closing down
Farquhar. No changes on lap three or four, but the gap
was down to two-tenths of a second as Olie broke the
Classic Superbike lap record. Lap five and Linsdell
was in the lead by 0.7 of a second. Two-thirds distance
and Farquhar was back in front by 0.3 of a second and
another lap record in the bag for the Ulsterman. Farquhar
was still leading at the end of the penultimate lap
and went on to take the chequered flag ahead of his
Paton rival Linsdell.
The third leg of the National 400cc class was next,
with double winner of Saturday Lee Vernon in pole. David
Guiney got the hole-shot and led at the end of the opening
lap of eight, but a lap later it was Lee Vernon who
was in the lead at the end of the second lap and went
on to win by more than 13 seconds.
Race twenty the second leg for 350cc Classic Machines
for the Red Rose Trophy, Bob Price got the hole shot
in what was a much depleted grid of only five riders.
Doug Snow led at the end of the opening lap from Bob
Price and Geoff Hadwin. Bob Price retired on the third
lap, letting Geoff Hadwin into second place, as Doug
Snow went on to win by 65 seconds with Geoff Hadwin
second and Grant Sellars third.
Race twenty-one the fourth leg of the 600cc modern
class, saw Ryan Farquhar once again in pole position
for this eight lap event. Richard Gibson got the hole-shot
ahead of Farquhar and Pringle. At the end of the opening
lap it was Gibson, Farquhar and Croft. Gibson’s
advantage half a second. Gibson was still in the lead
at the end of the second lap. Farquhar was in front
a lap later, and went on to win by 6.6 seconds from
Richard Gibson with Jules Croft third.
The race for the second leg of the Classic 500cc machines
and fourth leg of the National 400cc race were combined
and run over six laps. Lee Vernon took the ‘400’
win with Olie Linsdell taking the Classic 500 honours.
The penultimate race of the day and the meeting, the
second leg of the Barry Sheene Trophy saw Gary Thwaites
and John MacFarlane share the hole-shot into Mere Hairpin,
but it was Ryan Farquhar who headed the field at the
end of the opening lap, two seconds ahead of Thwaites
with Olie Linsdell third on the second Paton twin. Lap
two and Linsdell was through to second and only a tenth
of a second behind the flying Ryan, with Gary Thwaites
now third. Lap three and it was still Ryan with a similar
gap between the duelling Italian twins. Next lap and
positions were the same as the paired diced side by
side. Lap five and the Ulster rider was still in front
by a machines length and at two-thirds distance the
gap was similar two-tenths of a second as they started
their penultimate lap, with Gary Thwaites in a safe
third. The leading pair started their final lap still
separated by that two-tenths of a second and crossed
the line in that order with Gary Thwaites third and
2008 winner John MacFarlane fourth.
The final race of the day the fourth leg of the National
1000cc class for modern machines and once again the
pole sitter Ryan Farquhar snatched the hole-shot by
a whisker from Richard Gibson, even so Farquhar was
leading at the end of the first of the eight laps. Lap
two and Farquhar’s lead was up to one and a half
seconds from Gibson with Keith Pringle third. Lap three
and the gap had more than doubled to 3.3 seconds, at
half distance and the gap was eight seconds! The high-speed
demonstration continued for another four laps, when
Ryan Farquhar took the final chequered flag of the day
and his eighteenth of the meeting. Eighteen race starts
– eighteen victories and 43 in total at Oliver’s
Mount! Lee Vernon scored four wins from four starts
and Olie Linsdell and Doug Snow were the other race
winners.
Words:
Phil Edge
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