Road Racing: 2010 Cookstown 100 Race Report
April 25, 2010 by Darren Healy
Filed under Featured, Road Racing
The 2010 Irish Road Racing kicked off in fine style at the Cookstown 100 with Ryan Farquhar in dominant form, picking up from where he left off in 2009.
“Get off the roads, the bikes are on the circuit!” This is the familiar cry of the marshals at the road racing as they frantically try to get the spectators off the roads so the racing can commence. It’s the immortal phrase we road racing fans know and love as it signifies that we are sitting at the side of the road, ready to watch our favourite sport in action. It was the one I heard many times today and when I heard it I just thought to myself, “Yes,the road racing is back!”
The Cookstown 100 is the traditional curtain raiser for the Irish Road Racing season and it maintained it’s slot as the opening race again for 2010. The line up for the event was a strong and plentiful one, with many top riders on the bill and an abundance of newcomers. The Cookstown 100 is usually followed by the Tandragee 100 and the two have always served as excellent events for riders to gain track time before the International North West 200. Unfortunately, the Tandragee 100 will not run this year so riders were placing even more emphasis on the Cookstown 100 for invaluable track time before the first of the international road races. So much so, former TT winner Cameron Donald sought a last minute entry into the Cookstown 100 to try and gain some track and set up time for his Relentless Suzuki Superbike and Supersport machines. “Elvis” Donald had his wish granted and he added to the already superb line up of riders for this, the opening race of the 2010 Road Racing season.
Cookstown Town Centre Forum Lightweight 125GP/Moto450.
The first race of the the day was the combined 125/450 race. There was a particularly big interest in this event as it included the first running of a “Moto 450″ bike on the roads. These bikes are essentially motor cross bikes specially adapted for the roads and their performance is extremely similar to a 125 2-stroke machine. Ryan Farquhar was on board the only Moto 450 machine on the grid and a lot of hype surrounded him and his bike. As the bikes lined up for the off, Michael Dunlop was absent from the proceedings, leaving all eyes on Ryan and the man sure to be his closest rival in the race, William Dunlop, on a 125 Honda.
As the flag was raised, Ryan made an excellent start on the 450 single and he led William out of the first corner, closely followed by Nigel Moore and Wayne Kennedy in third and fourth. The positions stayed the same for the remainder of the lap with Ryan crossing the line at the end of the first lap ahead of William in close attendance. The two stayed glued together over the course of the second lap too, crossing the line with only daylight between them to begin their third lap. As the pair entered the first corner, William made his move up the inside of Farquhar, making the move stick and he led out of the first bend. By this stage, the leading pair had pulled a massive gap over third place man Nigel Moore, who in turn had pulled a massive gap from the group battling for fourth place on the road which included Sam Dunlop, Wayne Kennedy, Adrian Coleman and Darren Burns. Corrected time showed two riders from the second and third groups, Paul Robinson and Nigel McWhirter were also in the running for the fourth place slot.
The riders maintained their positions over the next 4 laps, only a couple of tenths of a second separating the front two with William Dunlop breaking the 125 lap record in the process.As they began their final lap, Sam Dunlop overtook Wayne Kennedy for fourth place on the road but all eyes were on the pair up front. As they exited the final corner for the last time, Ryan Farquhar emerged first to see him claim victory over William Dunlop with Nigel Moore coming home in third, albeit a full 30 seconds behind the leader. Paul Robinson and Nigel McWhirter claimed 4th and 5th on corrected time, Sam Dunlop, Wayne Kennedy, Adrian Coleman, Darren Burns with William Cowden rounding out the top ten.
Cookstown District Council Open Race.
The first superbike race of the day saw Ryan Farquhar on pole ahead of Cameron Donald in second with Michael Pearson third. Away from the line, it was Ryan Farquhar who made the start and he led them into the first corner. As they exited the first bend, it was Farquhar who led closely followed by Michael Pearson with Cameron Donald in third position. As they crossed the line to complete their first lap, it was as you where with Farquhar leading, Pearson in second and Donald third. Out of the first corner, the first three were followed by Michael Dunlop, Derek Shiels and Adrian Archibald in 4th, 5th and 6th respectively on the road.
On the third lap, Farquhar maintained his lead but Donald passed Michael Pearson to take up second place. Adrian Archibald also crossed the line ahead of Derek Shiels to take fifth on the road. The positions remained the same on the fourth and fifth laps but Pearson made a mistake on the sixth lap which seen him drop to 5th position on the road as they crossed the line to begin lap seven, with Michael Dunlop and Adrian Archibald moving up to third and fourth. Laps eight and nine seen the positions remain the same with Farquhar holding a healthy lead over Donald in second position and Michael Dunlop lay third.
On the last lap, Farquhar slowed his pace slightly, using the gap he had opened up as a cushion. Derek Shiels had moved ahead of Michael Pearson on the previous lap and he led Pearson into the first corner on the last lap, moving him up to fifth on the road. As the chequered flag fell, it was Ryan Farquhar who took his second victory of the day from Cameron Donald in second with Michael Dunlop completing the podium positions. Adrian Archidald and Derek Shiels took fourth and fifth respectively but it was Darren Burns who finished sixth on corrected time ahead of Michael Pearson in seventh with John Burrows, John Walsh and Andrew Courtney completing the top ten.
Royal Hotel and Braeside GP250/Supersport 400 Race.
William Dunlop was on pole position for the combined 250/400 race ahead of his brother Michael with seasoned road racer Davy Morgan in third. William made an excellent start and led Michael out of the first corner with Davy Morgan in third, Wayne Hamilton fourth and Darren Burns lying fifth. Over the first lap, William began to pull away from his brother Michael who in turn was gapping third place man Davy Morgan. The positions remained the same on lap 2 and throughout lap 3 but as they completed their third lap to begin their fourth, it was Wayne Hamilton who emerged from the last corner ahead of Davy Morgan in third position behind the leader William Dunlop, who had now increased his lead significantly over Michael in second. The positions didn’t change over lap 4 and the fifth lap began with William leading from Michael but as they entered the first corner, Davy Morgan made a daring move on Wayne Hamilton and he emerged from turn one in third place with Darren Burns and Barry Davidson occupying fifth and sixth.
Lap 6 saw Barry Davidson cross the line ahead of Darren Burns in fifth while Davy Morgan and Wayne Hamilton were pushing each other very hard, neither wanting to give up that final podium position. The riders maintained their positions on lap 7 and as they began their last lap, it was as you where for the first six riders but over the course of the lap. William, like Farquhar in the previous race, slowed his pace, taking a cautious approach to make sure he brought it home in first. William did just that and crossed the line in first position followed by his brother Michael in a lonely second. Davy Morgan managed to hold off the hard charging Wayne Hamilton to claim the final podium position with Barry Davidson fifth ahead of Darren Burns, Nigel Moore, Kevin Strowger, Emlyn Hughes and Phil Harvey.
Hayes Fuels Supersport 600 race.
The supersport race at the Cookstown 100 promised to be a close affair and it proved to be just that. Ryan Farquhar again occupied pole position, this time from William Dunlop in second, Michael Dunlop in third and Michael Pearson in fourth. Ryan made another perfect start and led out of the first corner, with William Dunlop occupying second from Michael Dunlop in third. As they rounded the last corner to complete the first lap, it was Farquhar in first and he maintained this position out of turn one, this time followed by the younger Dunlop, Michael, in second with William third ahead of Michael Pearson and Cameron Donald in close attendance in fourth and fifth.
Adrian Archibald lay sixth in front of John Walsh in seventh. Farquhar held his lead at the beginning of lap 3 but behind him, Michael Pearson had gotten the better of William Dunlop to move up to third behind Michael Dunlop, who was putting pressure on Farquhar up front. Lap 4 began with the front six maintaining their positions but John Walsh in seventh was closing the gap on Archibald in front of him. He made his move on Archibald on this lap to emerge from the final turn ahead of him in sixth as they began lap 5. The front five were unchanged as they commenced on their fifth lap. Lap 6 began with Farquhar leading and Michael Dunlop in close attendance but William Dunlop crossed the line ahead of Michael Pearson, reclaiming third position. Lap 7 seen the positions remain unchanged and as they crossed the line to begin lap 8, Ryan Farquhar had opened up a small gap over second place man Michael Dunlop.
William remained in third with Pearson behind him, both of them beginning to pull away from Cameron Donald in fifth. Lap 9 seen the positions remain unchanged with William Dunlop starting to pull away from Pearson, giving himself some breathing space in the fight for the last podium position. Fourth and fifth remained unchanged but John Walsh was coming under increasing pressure from Adrian Archibald for sixth. The final lap began, again with the positions unchanged and Farquhar holding a comfortable gap over Michael Dunlop in second. As they crossed the line for the final time, Farquhar made it a hat-trick of victories with a convincing win over Michael Dunlop, his brother William coming home third. Michael Pearson finished fourth ahead of Donald in fifth with John Walsh holding off Archibald for sixth. Gary Robinson, Ollie Linsdell and Andrew Courtney rounded out the top ten.
Royal Hotel and Braeside Senior Cookstown 100.
The big race of the day, the Cookstown 100, again saw Farquhar on pole, his forth pole position of the meeting along with the Open, supersport and super-twin 650 races. His form earlier in the day made him hot favourite to take the victory in this race but Cameron Donald was on a mission to make sure that didn’t happen. The pair got off to the best start and were absolutely level pegging out of the first corner, neither willing to give an inch and almost touching in the process. Michael Dunlop got the better of Pearson as they exited the corner with Derek Shiels hanging onto their coat-tails. As lap 2 began, Farquhar led over the line from Donald close behind in second and Michael Pearson in third after he got the better of Michael Dunlop on the previous lap. Adrian Archibald had also gotten the better of Derek Shiels over the course of the first lap to move up to fifth position on the road. Laps 3 and 4 seen the first group unchanged with William Dunlop retiring from the race further down the field before the start of the third lap.
As they crossed the line to begin lap 5, the front two were unchanged and close together with Michael Dunlop getting the better of Michael Pearson to lead him out of the first corner. As the riders began lap 6, the positions were unchanged on the road, as they did throughout lap 7 but it was on lap 7 that Farquhar upped the pace and set a new outright lap record for the Cookstown 100 circuit. Lap 8 began with the first group maintaining their positions on the road but it was in the second group that the race was heating up. Into the first corner, John Walsh ran in deep and nearly hit Michael Sweeney in doing so.
Thankfully there was no contact made and both men were able to continue. Lap 9 and the final lap, lap 10, seen Farquhar pull a small gap on Donald in second and Michael Dunlop gap Pearson who was chasing him for third. As Farquhar came round to complete the final lap, he took victory from Cameron Donald and win his fourth race of the day. Michael Dunlop completed the top three with Pearson fourth, Adrian Archibald fifth and Derek Shiels sixth. As the rest of the riders crossed the line, the corrected time sheets revealed that Czech Republic newcomer Michal Dokoupil took seventh position ahead of John Burrows, Andrew Courtney and Davy Morgan.
The 2010 Cookstown 100 produced some excellent racing over the day but one man stole the show. Ryan Farquhar won 5 races out of 5 on the day, taking his fifth victory in the Super-twin 650 race later on in the day following the main Cookstown 100 race. Try though they might have, his fellow competitors just couldn’t stay with him. Thankfully the weather held up, we had bright sunshine all day and very few red flags to worry about making it a smooth day for all involved. The Cookstown & District M.C.C. ran the event brilliantly and put on an excellent show for the thousands of fans who made the journey from all corners of the country and beyond. It was an excellent advertisement for road racing in hard times for the sport and the club should be commended for this.
The next road race to take place will be the International North West 200 on Saturday, 15th May and we all very much look forward to it.
Photo Courtesy of Aidan Lynam – Magnets Media
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