MANX GRAND PRIX 2000
Race Report

RACE 6 - SENIOR RACE
sponsored by Okell's Brewery Isle of Man

SENIOR RACE

Conditions for the Senior MGP, the final race of the week, were just about perfect. The sun was beating down and there was a stiff breeze, which wouldn’t have bothered the big four strokes one iota. Practice leader and red-hot favourite for this race was Dungannon’s Ryan Farquhar. A newcomer to the Mountain Circuit just 12 months ago, Ryan has quickly established himself as one of the finest exponents of this demanding course in recent Manx Grand Prix history. His lap of 117.23mph in practice was surely going to take some beating. Keith Townsend, fresh from victory in Wednesday’s Junior MGP, was looking to join the elite band of riders to win a Junior/Senior double in the same week, although whether the big Ducati would be a match for Winston MacAdoo’s 750 Kawasaki remained to be seen. Most observers were sceptical.

And so it was Alistair Howarth, runner-up to Townsend in the Junior Race, who led the field away down Bray Hill for the start of the first lap. Ten seconds later followed local star Paul Duckett on his ageing 750 Kawasaki. Townsend started a further 20 seconds back, with Farquhar some 30 seconds further back. By Ramsey on lap 1, it was Farquhar who had carved out a 13 second gap over Ian Pattinson in second place. Pattinson in turn was just 3 seconds ahead of Townsend, with Alistair Howarth a further 2 seconds back only. Fifth was Paul Duckett, just a second down on Howarth, with Alan Jackson a further 4 seconds back. Farquhar was really on a flyer, crossing the line to record a standing start lap of 117.21mph, just 2 seconds shy of the outright lap record for the MGP, and was recorded at 161.3mph through the speed trap.

Farquhar had set his stall out early, his intentions clear and by Glen Helen on lap 2 the rest of the field were nowhere. Farquhar had extended his lead to 29 seconds over new second place man Alistair Howarth, who in turn enjoyed a 5 second lead over third place man Keith Townsend. Ian Pattinson was now down to fourth, with Duckett still fifth and Alan Jackson remaining in that sixth spot. Just half a mile up the road though, drama was in store for second place man Howarth. He came to grief at the high speed ascent of Lambfell, and crashed heavily, breaking his leg. He was taken to hospital by Airmed where his condition was later described as “comfortable”. Obviously this was to have an effect on the leaderboard, and it was Ramsey on lap 2 before everyone below Howarth was shuffled up a place. Unsurprisingly, it was still the magnificent Farquhar who continued to dominate, with a slightly reduced advantage of 28 seconds over new second place man Ian Pattinson, who in turn was only 3 seconds in front of joint third place men Paul Duckett and Keith Townsend. Joint fifth were Mark Parrett and Alan Jackson. At the end of the lap it was down to Gasoline Alley for a pit-stop, with the leading six all enjoying trouble-free stops. Farquhar recorded a lap of 117.02 mph, which included slowing down for the stop-box.

Ryan Farquhar was in a class of his own. By Glen Helen on the penultimate lap, he was a massive 51 seconds to the good of new second place man Townsend, who was 14 seconds ahead of Ian Pattinson. Fourth placed man Paul Duckett was 3 seconds in arrears to Pattinson, but 13 seconds clear of Philip Gilder in fifth spot. Gilder had moved up the leaderboard somewhat as a legacy of not stopping for fuel at the end of the second lap. He was going to attempt to “do a Townsend” and squeeze three laps out of his 600 Honda, stopping for a quick splash and dash at the end of the third lap. Would it work ? Time would certainly tell. The leaders, in particular Farquhar were still tramping on, and as he screamed down Bray Hill to start his fourth and final lap, he was still a colossal 49 seconds in front of Townsend, who was 14 seconds up on Pattinson. Pattinson was maintaining his narrow advantage of 3.5 seconds over Paul Duckett, but Duckett was definitely on the charge. Mark Parrett was in fifth spot. What had happened to Philip Gilder ? As Farquhar reached Ramsey Hairpin for the last time, news came through that Gilder had ran out of petrol at the bottom of Barregarroo. Far from “doing a Townsend”, Gilder had in fact “done a McCallen” and forgotten to stop for his scheduled fuel stop, thus dashing any hopes of a top six finish ! Who’s a silly boy then ?! Farquhar’s advantage had been cut somewhat to 44 seconds by Ramsey, but one always felt it was as a result of Ryan slackening the pace rather than Townsend turning up the wick on his 996 Ducati. True, Townsend had extended his lead over third place man Pattinson to 16 seconds, but from the moment the flag dropped, there was only ever going to be one winner of this race.

The quietly-spoken 28 year-old from Dungannon raised his hand in jubilation as he crossed the line to take the win by over 40 seconds from Townsend. In what must have been a dream ride for Ryan, he totally blew all the opposition out of the water, and asserted his authority on the race from the word go. Paul Duckett, whom we told you was on the charge eventually snatched third place from Ian Pattinson by just 0.8 seconds. Mark Parrett finished in fifth and Simon Bryant took sixth spot.

A clearly emotional Farquhar was delighted at the win and reckoned he had a lot more in reserve: “I rolled it off on the last lap a bit to save the engine. Wednesday’s blow-up was in the back of my mind and I just wanted to win. If I’d have been pushed, I could have done a 120mph lap, I reckon.” Keith Townsend agreed, “Ryan passed me towards the end of the first lap, and he looked just so comfortable with the bike that he could easily have done a 120mph lap.”

Well both Ryan and Keith now move to the TT, having both tasted success this week. With the greatest of respect, Keith is approaching the twilight years of his career, but should fare well at the TT, particularly in the 600 class. Farquhar, on the other hand is well on course to becoming a star. His total domination of today’s race showed he has the calibre to mix it with the best the TT can throw at him. He has now matured as a road racer of the highest order and we at Race expect Ryan to be a TT winner in the near future.

This was a great end to 2 great weeks here at the 2000 Manx Grand Prix. There has been some superb road racing, and for my money this week has seen the best racing at the Manx for quite some time. Begin the countdown…….. there’s now just 38 weeks until TT 2001 !!  

SENIOR RACE GALLERY

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