History was
made on Saturday when the Isle of Man TT Races took to the 4.25-mile
Billown circuit near Castletown for the first time and the sun
drenched meeting saw Ian Lougher and Chris Palmer add to their haul
of TT wins.
The races, which saw two strokes back on the TT schedule, saw
Lougher and Palmer take their 8th and 3rd TT wins respectively with
the Welshman taking the honours in the 250cc class and his English
counterpart the 125cc encounter.
With perfect conditions once again gracing the Island, riders were
warned of cement dust (covering melting tar!) on the Church Bends
and Ballanorris sections and it was the 12-lap 125cc that got
proceedings underway. There was disappointment for Andrew Neill on
the warm up lap as he retired with a broken chain whilst Michael
Dunlop opted out of the race in preference to the 250cc. When the
lights changed it was Ian Lougher who got the initial advantage but
at the completion of the first lap it was Chris Palmer who had
seized control to the tune of 3 seconds. Lougher was in second with
leading British Championship contender, and circuit newcomer, James
Ford in an excellent third.
Palmer doubled his advantage second time around but Ford dropped
down to 12th after problems at one of the hairpin corners and this
allowed Nigel Moore up into third. At the front of the pack, Palmer
was racing away with it and, lapping three seconds a lap quicker
than his rivals, he was over 15 seconds clear at half race distance.
Daniel Sayle, already a TT winner on three wheels, was up into third
with Moore dropping down to fourth ahead of Ford, who had ridden
brilliantly to haul himself back up to fifth.
The pattern for the race seemed set but there was drama on the
penultimate lap when Lougher went missing and he was reported as
having stopped at Castletown Bridge with a broken chain. This meant
that Palmer’s winning margin was a huge 34 seconds at the end of the
12 laps and he came home ahead of Sayle for his third 125cc TT
victory. Irishman Moore took a solid third ahead of Ford, Chris
McGahan, Peter Wakefield, Sam Dunlop, Paul Dobbs, Robert Knight and
Barry Davidson.
START-OF-1ST-125-BILLOWN-TT
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TT125
PODIUM
1st Chris Palmer 2nd Daniel Sayle 3rd Nigel Moore
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For many of the field there was little respite as the 250cc was soon
coming order starters orders and it was again Palmer who had the led
at the completion of the first lap. However, it was a lot closer
this time with Lougher, Ryan Farquhar and Dunlop right on his rear
wheel but Davidson was already out, having stopped at Castletown
Corner.
The lead was exchanging hands with frequent regularity and on lap
time Lougher hit the front to lead by 0.9 seconds from Farquhar,
Dunlop and Palmer. Andrew Neill was in a safe fifth with Davy Morgan
one place further back.
Lap 3 saw Farquhar hit the front for the first time and a lap later
it was Dunlop’s turn to lead, the front three separated by just 0.7
seconds. Palmer was beginning to drop back and at half race
distance, he was over 12 seconds adrift, although there was still
nothing between the top three. Lap 7 saw Lougher set a new lap
record and he was beginning to make a break to get ahead of Farquhar
by just over a second. Dunlop soon realised that the Welshman was
making his escape attempt and got by Farquhar but on the ninth lap
his race was over, the young Ballymoney man, one of the stars of the
week, out at Ballabeg.
Farquhar was happy with second whilst Palmer just held off the
closing Neill to take the final podium spot. Morgan had a strong, if
lonely, ride into fifth with the top ten completed by Paul Owen,
Phil Harvey, Paul Shoesmith, Samuel Dunlop and Chris Barratt. John
Burrows was unlucky to retire from tenth in the closing stages.
Phil Wain
TT 250 ACTION
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TT250 PODIUM
1st Ian Lougher 2nd Ryan Farquhar 3rd
Chris Palmer
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Picture's provided by Stephen Davison @ Pacemaker press Intl |