Farquhar back on track in Duke rankings

After Ryan Farquhar‘s disappointing Isle of Man TT he was back to his top form at the Bush National Road Races, the ninth round counting towards the Duke Road Race Rankings 2009.

The Dungannon man, who already has one-hand on the prestigious Geoff  Duke Trophy for 2009, scored a first-ever four wins in a day at the 3.3 mile venue, setting a new outright lap record during what only  could be described as a dull, showery day at the South Tyrone course.

Already a three-time winner of the Duke Rankings, Ryan opened his account at Bush with a 54-second victory in the 650cc Supertwins race, following that with a win in the 600cc Supersport race, setting a new outright lap record in the process at 86.696 mph to head home fellow local rider John Burrows by 17 seconds.

His third chequered flag came in the Open Superbike Race, once again in front of Burrows, but by the lesser margin of 13 seconds.

In the Grand Final, Farquhar once again led from start to finish to win by 10 seconds from his rival of the day John Burrows.

Whilst the margin seemed adequate, in the early stages of the ten lapper the Kawasaki rider had to up the outright lap record again, this time to 87.917 mph, which on the final lap was equalled by a flying Michael Dunlop on his 600cc Yamaha, who took the final podium place, after having started in the second group of riders, 10-seconds behind. No mean achievement.

Earlier in the damp conditions Michael Dunlop had won the eight-lap Ultra Lightweight 125cc race by 0.177 of a second from Nigel Moore after a race-long battle. Dunlop is now third in the points behind Ian Lougher.

Yet another ‘local’ Andrew Neill won the Lightweight  250 race from Michael Dunlop with Barry Davidson filling the last podium place.

Current standings:
1st   Ryan Farquhar 2306 points
2nd  Ian Lougher 2058
3rd  Michael Dunlop 1632
4th  William Dunlop 1379
5th  Chris Palmer 1037
6th  Keith Amor 1034
7th  Guy Martin 709
8th  John McGuinness 662
9th  Damien Howard 563
10th Mick Goodings 547

Previous champions
2008  Ryan Farquhar
2007  Conor Cummins
2006  Ian Lougher
2005  Ian Lougher
2004  Ryan Farquhar
2003  Ryan Farquhar
2002  Ian Lougher

2009 Rounds
1    Spring National – Oliver’s Mount
2    Cookstown ‘100’ Road Races
3    Tandragee ‘100’ Road Races
4    North West ‘200’ Road Races
5    Barry Sheene Classic – Oliver’s Mount
6    Pre-TT Classic Road Races – Billown
7    Isle of Man TT Races
8    Billown TT Races
9    Bush Road Races
10   Athea Road Races
11  Skerries Road Races
12  Cock o’the North – Oliver’s Mount
12a Walderstown Road Races
14  Southern ‘100’ Road Races
15  Jurby ‘South’ Road Races
16  Kells Road Races
17  Faugheen Road Races
18  Mid Antrim ‘150’ Road Races
19  Armoy Road Races
20  Dundrod ‘150’ Road Races
21  Ulster Grand Prix
22  Manx Grand Prix
23  Killalane Road Races
24  Gold Cup International – Oliver’s Mount
25  Boyne ‘100’ Road Races