It was bound to happen sooner or later, but finally the British team have taken spoils away from the host nation at this year’s AMCN International Island Classic in the Tahbilk International Challenge.

Led by Northern Ireland’s Ryan Farquhar, who finished as the highest individual point-scorer after the four six-lap races, the UK team finally knocked Australia off the top perch in the Tahbilk International Challenge with a 42 point victory - 617 to 575, followed by America on 445 and the Graeme Crosby-captained New Zealand on 347.

Despite Aussie riders winning three of the four races, consistency was the decisive ingredient for the UK, with not only Farquhar but also Conor Cummins and Jeremy McWilliams putting in the hard yards.

The win was an emotional one for the UK, especially for the squad's mainstay McWilliams, who has won the individual standings three times without ever taking home the equally coveted teams' trophy.

"This is a great day for the UK team, and understandably there's a fair bit of emotion in the pits at the moment," said McWilliams. "The International Challenge is extremely tough and you've got to be there in every race.

"This weekend, we had solid riders and solid equipment and we proved to be more reliable when it counted.  But we still had our fair share of issues, but to get past those headaches and take the victory is an absolutely sensational result. And congratulations must also go to Ryan, who was incredible all weekend."

Farquhar's victory in the Ken Wootton Perpetual Trophy as the individual top scorer came about in the most stunning – and unexpected – of circumstances, with Australian Brendan Roberts a lay down misere to claim the honours before he ran off at Doohan Corner on the final lap of race four and failed to finish.

That opened the door for Farquhar, but there was still another prickly issue for the Yamaha Harris F1 rider to deal with: he had to be beat his teammate and International Challenge rookie Cummins (Honda Harris F1) to make sure of victory.

Cummins was in fifth position heading into the final lap of race four, and Farquhar was eighth – but the tables were turned during the last 4.445km with Farquhar finishing in fifth and Cummins seventh.

That saw Farquhar finish on 141 points after a brace of consistent 8-4-6-5 finishes, with Cummins producing a 139 points haul with his 7-6-5-7 scorecard. McWilliams was third overall on 138 points, his lowly result in race three coming after he stalled his bike on the grid and had to make a charge through the pack from last position.

"This is all a bit of a shock really," said Farquhar. "Race four was really all about playing the team game, but in the latter stages I knew what the equation was and I just really put my head down.
"The victory hasn't really sunk in yet, but if you ask me about midnight tonight I'm sure I will have come to grips with it all by then!"

Roberts' DNF in race four was the culmination of a mass attrition rate for Australia's core of star riders in the International Challenge, with fellow Katana brethren Steve Martin, Shawn Giles, Jed Metcher, Paul Young and Cameron Donald or failing to either not start or finish one race – three in the case of Martin who had a wretched weekend.

The bad luck continued for Martin in race three when his bike blew an engine seal, with riders including McWilliams, Young and Roberts caught out by a trail of oil at turn ten. The race was red-flagged with all riders except Martin returning for the full restart. That followed on from a crash for Martin on Friday and electrical problems on Saturday.

Giles won races one and three, while Metcher got home in the fourth, who was clearly the fastest rider on the track today. It was a solid hit out for the Victorian who will now turn his attention towards his upcoming wildcard appearance at the opening round of the FIM World Superbike round at the Island at the end of next month with the Race Center team.

Damien Kavney, riding his Suzuki XR69 was fourth after stringing a 10-10-10-12, riding for Team New Zealand, from Giles - 1-DNS-1-2, Metcher - 4-2-DNF-1, with Young  in seventh with a DNF-3-3-3. Laurie Fyffe was eighth by scoring a 11-11-12-16, while Cam Donald (3-DNF-4-4) and Roberts (6-5-2-DN) completed the top ten.

The highest placed individual finisher for Team America was Dave Crussell in eleventh position on 105 points.

Stay tuned to Thursday’s issue of Bikesport News as we will have a full wrap of the Island Classic.