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Ryan Farquhar

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The final day of racing at the Isle of Man TT is usually set by two extremes: the “beginner class” Lightweight TT and the blue-ribbon event, the Senior TT.

The rules for the Bennetts Lightweight TT are pretty simple, bikes with two-cylinders, no bigger than 650cc, and the riders must perform at least one pit stop during the three-lap race.

This means that pit stop strategy is king for the Lightweight riders, and the shuffling of positions adds a bit of drama to the usually tight racing already found on the course.

The man to beat in the Lightweight TT class is Ryan Farquhar, one of the top privateer riders at the TT (if not, the top privateer). Farquhar is responsible for tuning and building many of the top Kawasaki race bikes on the Lightweight TT grid as well, though other brands and builders have started to find competitiveness in the class.

Not to spoil the results for the Senior TT, but Friday would see records drop at the Isle of Man, and we start that trend off first in the Bennetts Lightweight TT.

After an impressive four victories at the 2013 Isle of Man TT, Michael Dunlop has announced his entry into the Lightweight TT race for 2014, and thus a bid to win six solo races in 2014.

Although Dunlop has admittedly not been concerned with the Lightweight TT in the past, when you’re on a mission to take six podiums in one week, you take wins wherever you can get them.

Having already tied Phillip McCallen’s 1996 mark of four wins, Dunlop is seeking to dethrone Ian Hutchinson from his five-win campaign of 2010.

Much to the delight of fans Ryan Farquhar and Keith Amor have announced their return to racing, as both top riders have confirmed their entries into the 2014 Isle of Man TT under Farquhar’s KMR Kawasaki banner. This means the rivals will now race as teammates on their 650cc Kawasaki ER6 Lightweight class race bikes, as the tackle the three-lap BikeSocial.co.uk Lightweight TT Race.

Suffering the same postponement and delays as the PokerStars Senior TT, the 2012 BikerPetition.co.uk Lightweight TT overcame the adverse conditions, finally getting its start well into the Saturday afternoon.

With the 650cc twin-cylinder class getting reinstated for the 2012 Isle of Man TT, there was tremendous pressure for the race to go ahead this fortnight, especially with the number of entries that solely arrived to compete in the class. Reduced from four laps to three, the strategy for the Lightweight TT got amplified, with riders having to choose when to take their pit stop: ahead of Lap 2 or Lap 3.

Popular KMR Kawasaki rider Ryan Farquhar has been ruled out of further 2011 Isle of Man TT participation, as the Irishman crashed at Keppel Gate during Friday’s practice sessions. Hitting a false neutral in the closing stages of the session, Farquhar managed to escape having any broken bones in the incident, but says he is too battered and bruised to compete this year in the TT. The event marks another blemish for the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R’s record here at the Isle of Man TT, which has more than a few competitors eying their green machines in leery ways.

“The final evening of practice was going well and we were certainly heading in the right way after the problems we’d had earlier in the week but it all went wrong when I went through Keppel Gate,” explained Farquhar. “I was back down for two gears for the right hander and then down one more gear for the left but I hit a false neutral in between the two corners and ran off the track. I managed to save the bike and was skirting the barriers but just when I thought I’d saved it, the final barrier came back out towards the course and I hit it head on and down I went.”