Ryan Farquhar's successful start to the 2009 season continued on Saturday when he took a superb hat-trick at the Cookstown 100, the opening race of the Irish National Road Race Championship. Fresh from his victories at Oliver's Mount a week ago, the Dungannon ace took both of the Superbike races as well as the Super Twins event whilst he also backed this up with runner-up spot in the Supersport 600cc race.
The day got off to the perfect start for Farquhar when he took the Open race on the ZX-10R Ninja Kawasaki, capitalizing fully on a mistake by Keith Amor who overshot one of the corners with two laps to go. There was little between Farquhar, Conor Cummins and Keith with just one second separating the trio at the end of the race. It was then on to the Supersport 600cc race and although Farquhar led on the road and took the chequered flag, Amor got the verdict having come through from the second group.
On to the feature Cookstown 100 race and in a repeat of their 2008 battles, Farquhar and Amor again went head to head, exchanging the lead, and the lap record, on a number of occasions. The pressure being applied by Farquhar saw his arch rival crash out on the ninth of ten laps and he was able to comfortably take his second win of the day. He then completed his hat-trick with a dominant 10-second victory in the Super Twins race aboard the ER6 650cc Kawasaki.
The wins also moved Farquhar on to a total of 13 at the Cookstown 100, the second highest in the history of the event and second only to the legendary Ray McCullough.
"Three wins and a second - it doesn't get much better than this! With practice conditions being quite poor the set up of the Superstock bike wasn't quite right for the first race and the front suspension was too soft so we made a few changes for the feature race," said Farquhar.
"I felt really comfortable with the pace and just sat behind Keith, putting as much pressure on him as I could. The tactic worked as he went down, thankfully without injury, and I was able to bring the bike home."
"I'm still using a standard engine for the Supersport bike so we were a wee bit down on top speed but the chassis and acceleration are excellent and it's a great overall package so it bodes really well for when we get hold of the tuned engine.
It should be with us for Tandragee and I'm very confident that we'll be challenging for the race wins, particularly at the International races. I've had five wins and three seconds from my two road races so far this year and the season has got off to a great start so long may it continue."
There's little respite for Farquhar and his team with his next meeting coming at the Tandragee 100 next week, the races taking place on Saturday May 2nd.
