It's been a mixed time at TT 2017 thus far for Ryan Farquhar's KMR Kawasaki team with crashes, on other machinery, reducing his four man team down to two riders.
The Northern Irishman came into the event with a four-man attack on the Lightweight TT race with Peter Hickman, Josh Brookes, Lee Johnston and Danny Webb lining up on the ER6 650cc Kawasaki Twins. However, Webb crashed the Penz.Com BMW Superbike machine at Laurel Bank on Saturday with Johnston coming to grief on the Padgetts Honda on the same day at Greeba Castle and injuries have ruled both riders out of the rest of the week.
Webb sustained a dislocated shoulder and four damaged vertebrae with Johnston, one of the favourites for the race win, suffering with breaks in both hands, a broken coccyx and broken vertebrae.
"It's a great shame to lose both Danny and Lee and I feel really sorry for the pair of them," said Farquhar speaking to bikesportnews.com. "It's just one of things unfortunately but it could have been a lot worse. Lee had a mixed year at the TT last year and things were looking up whilst Danny was also hopeful of a strong ride on the Twin.
"He went into Laurel Bank behind a slower rider who braked earlier than Danny thought and it put him off line. The back then stepped out and threw him over the handlebars. Lee can't really remember what happened but it's possible he may have clipped the kerb on the left hander which then fired him into the Recticel barriers. The pair of them are in quite a bit of pain understandably but, hopefully, they'll recover quickly."
Farquhar's other two riders, Hickman and Brookes, have been going well on the white KMR/IEG Kawasaki's lapping at 116.239mph and 115.226mph respectively to place third and eighth overall on the practice leaderboard.
"Peter's riding really well," said Farquhar. "We've a few tweaks to make to the front end and am waiting on a new set of pistons whilst, weather permitting, I'd also like to try a different engine-spec. If we get some practice time we'll try it but I won't take any chances.
"Josh has never ridden a bike like the Twin before so it's a new experience for him but each time he goes out on the bike he goes quicker and the 115mph lap the other night has put him in contention. Riding a Twin requires a different technique but he's doing a great job and I'm really enjoying working with both riders. Hopefully, luck will be on our side on race day and we can get two strong finishes."
