Dungannon flyer Ryan Farquhar will not get the chance to notch up his 200th road race win at the upcoming Killalane or Scarborough Gold Cup races after announcing his retirement from motorcycle racing, ending his illustrious career just one short.
Farquhar's decision came after his uncle Trevor Ferguson lost his life at the Manx Grand Prix last Wednesday riding one of the legend's own KMR 650cc Supertwins machines. Farquhar was also on target to equal Bob Heath's 11 wins Manx wins. He may do a parade lap at Scarborough.
“For me, racing will never be the same again and I’m absolutely gutted by the tragic events of last week so I’ve decided to stop racing with immediate effect. Trevor played a huge part in my career and I made my debut on his bike back in 1995 – I was six years old when I first saw him race and he was with me from the very first day of my own racing career right up until the very last," said Farquhar.
"He was always 100% behind me and whilst we didn’t always agree on everything, he was my biggest supporter and there was always plenty of banter. His whole year revolved around the Manx and he wanted to ride my Supertwin whilst it was also his idea for Nigel to ride the other one.
“My Supertwin means more to me than any other bike and Trevor was the only person I’d ever let ride it. He was the safest rider out there and I never in a million years thought something like this would have happened. I know he died doing what he loved and he was getting boards to say ‘P2’ so I know he would have had a big smile on his face and enjoying himself to the full.
"After winning the morning’s Classic race and with Nigel and Trevor running 1-2 in the Supertwins race, everything was going perfectly and it was shaping up to be one of the finest days of my career. Sadly, Trevor didn’t make it to the pit stop at the end of the second lap and the celebrations never came. With Nigel winning the race though, I know he'll be looking down a very proud man as he was very fond of Nigel and it would have meant to a lot to him that he won."
"Our whole world’s been turned upside down and I don’t ever want Karen and my two girls to go through something like this. I would have loved to have equalled Bob Heath’s record of 11 wins at the Manx, made it 200 National road race wins in Ireland and 100 at Scarborough later this month but it’s not meant to be.
"It’s too early to say what the future holds for KMR Kawasaki but, if I can, I’d like to continue running the team. I love the sport dearly so I’d like to pass on my experience to a good, young rider in 2013, hopefully Jamie, but it will all depend on what sponsorship we can pull together. Like I say though, it’s too early to say and there are more important things on my mind at present.
“I wish I wasn’t retiring under such terribly sad circumstances but it’s happened and we’re all trying to get through the day as best we can. I'm hoping Jamie will race at both Killalane and the Scarborough Gold Cup as I know Trevor wouldn't want him not to whilst I’m also hopefully going to make it to the Gold Cup to take the bikes out for a couple of parade laps as I’d like to say thank you to all my sponsors and fans as the support I’ve received from people during my career has been tremendous. I’d like to bring Karen and the girls and Trevor’s family with me too so we can all say a big thank you to everyone.”
