2002-present

2003

Michael Rutter went some way towards making amends for his moments of madness in 2002 with an emphatic Superbike win that saw the 2003 North West 200 get off to a pulsating start. For the organizers it was all downhill from there, as poor weather and accidents combined to enforce lengthy delays throughout the day that would in turn see time running out before the final Superbike feature race of the programme even started. Whilst the action on the track captivated the capacity crowd, despite the cold and wet conditions, the Sunday morning headlines once again announced one of the biggest controversies to blight the event, Ryan Farquhar’s disqualification as winner of the Regal 600cc race. It was a story that would rumble on for months.

The twin Irish challenge of Adrian Archibald and Ryan Farquhar ensured that Rutter worked hard for the Superbike race win. Despite making the early running, there was no chance of Rutter simply clearing off into the distance as had been predicted. By lap two the Ducati star had no doubt he had a fight on his hands with Farquhar and then Archibald both taking turns out in front. With Ian Lougher and Bruce Anstey both out by that stage, Rutter dug deep, and on dry roads, clocked a new lap record of 121.340 mph to finish with a comfortable margin of almost four seconds over Archibald. There was no disguising Farquhar’s disappointment at the end as he slipped out of the top three as the brakes faded in the closing stages on his Suzuki, dropping him into the clutches of Honda Britain runner Steve Plater.

The 600cc Junior race gave the Irish fans their first close up view of the exciting Val Moto Triumphs in the hands of John McGuinness, Bruce Anstey, and Jim Moodie. They didn’t disappoint. As the race turned into a real heart stopper from the off, it was Moodie who led from Callum Ramsey, Lougher and Farquhar in the opening miles. With Archibald out of the action by Coleraine on the first lap, the pace was unrelenting at the front, with Lougher, Ramsey and Farquhar all leading on a hectic second lap. By the end of the third lap Lougher had begun to assert his control, but by that point the frantic dispute for honours was academic.

Rain had begun to fall during the third lap, and as they flashed through the start and finish the leaders signalled frantically that conditions were becoming too dangerous to continue. It was Farquhar in front again by the time the front runners reached Coleraine for the fourth time, and the red flags finally came out and the race was stopped. Lougher, not surprisingly believed that the win was his as he had led across the line at the end of lap three. However the celebrations were short lived. The race organizers decided that the results would be taken from positions as they were at the end of lap two, resulting in Farquhar scoring a famous win for Kawasaki, with Ramsey and Lougher completing the top three in that order. Lougher made no secret of his disgust at the decision, but as the day progressed controversy and acrimony would dominate proceedings, and Lougher would be in the thick of it.

The combined 125cc/400cc race would mark the debut appearance of William Dunlop, teenage son of racing legend Robert, at the meeting. William came home in a very respectable eleventh place, but as conditions deteriorated and the rain came down, the task of upholding Dunlop family honour fell to Paul Robinson, nephew of Robert and Joey.

By the end of lap one the 125cc field were already chasing a three man breakaway group of Robinson, Lougher and Michael Wilcox. The lead swung to and fro before Wilcox led them across the line for the first time. Lougher hauled himself back to the front and stayed there for laps two and three, but by that stage the Welshman was struggling with a slipping clutch and a chain that threatened to jump off the sprocket at any moment. Robinson hit back and edged in front to lead them out onto the final lap. In the end Lougher made experience count, stunning the crowd and silencing the opposition with a series of out braking manoeuvres that brought him his fourth straight 125cc victory by 0.28 sec, whilst Robinson had the consolation of setting the fastest lap of the race at 99.423 mph, before finally settling for third behind Wilcox.

Only five 400cc runners completed the distance with the honours going to Manx visitor Dave Madsen Mydgal, from Alex Donaldson and Bill Wark.

The Production had already moved into its second lap before being stopped after German rider Friedhelm Belterman crashed out at Mathers Cross. Belterman escaped largely unscathed, but Keith Nicholls wasn’t to be so lucky. On the warm up lap prior to the restart, Nicholls momentarily was blinded by a piece of mud, thrown up by a machine in front, that hit his visor. Nicholls clipped the kerb and was thrown against a lamp post sustaining a broken arm and leg, whilst his machine careered out of control before bursting into flames and depositing a slick of oil onto the track. Officials worked frantically to clean the road, but racing was delayed for over one and half hours before the action recommenced.

When the field finally got away with the race distance cut to four laps, it was Farquhar heading the charge towards Portstewart. A mistake at University saw Farquhar run wide and slip to fourth behind Anstey, eager to repeat his victory from the previous year, just in front of Archibald and Jeffries. With Michael Rutter already touring and out of the action by Magherabuoy chicane, Anstey clung onto his slim advantage, but had no reply when Archibald went the long way round and into the lead at Quarry Hill.

The positions remained Archibald, Anstey, Farquhar and Jeffries throughout lap two, before Farquhar swooped around Anstey on Quarry Hill and set off after Archibald. The Dungannon rider out braked Archibald approaching Mill Road Roundabout and looked firmly in command as the race moved towards its climax. The win he wanted so badly was not to be. In the closing miles Farquhar’s Suzuki had developed a misfire that grew steadily worse, and as they approached Juniper Chicane for the final time Archibald nipped past to take his maiden win from a disappointed Farquhar, who nursed his machine home to claim second place. Jeffries pushed the lap record to 115.566 mph but still only finished third, less than a second behind Archibald.

Conditions had improved dramatically by the time the Regal 600cc race lined up, but time was something that was quickly running out as the race, reduced to four laps got underway. It would prove to be a gripping encounter between Ryan Farquhar and Ian Lougher, that would ultimately end in dispute that would see the meeting end on a sour note, as the repercussions and recriminations rumbled on for the rest of the year.

Lap one saw Archibald, Farquhar, Lougher, and the Triumphs of Anstey and Moodie the main players in the high speed shuffle for positions at the front. As the five man leading pack headed onto the Coast Road and towards the completion of the first lap, behind them a series of events began to unfold that would ultimately shape the outcome of the race. A mid field, two bike collision had left debris and oil on the track at Metropole Corner. The surface, already wet was now treacherous, and as the contest continued marshals worked frantically to clean the road and warn riders about the perils that lay ahead.

As Anstey dropped off the pace, eventually finishing third, circumstances largely beyond his control, ruled Archibald out of contention. The Ballymoney rider had overshot at Juniper chicane on lap three, rejoined in fifth place, and was making up for lost ground when Jim Moodie dropped his Triumph at York Corner, forcing Archibald to take avoiding action. Too much time had been lost, the battle at the front was now a head to head between Lougher and Farquhar.

As the last lap moved towards a gripping finale Lougher caught and passed Farquhar approaching Mathers Cross and set about building a race winning advantage. Farquhar was not going to give up easily and nipped ahead on the approach to Magherabuoy chicane. As the pair began the downhill charge into Portrush marshals could be seen standing in the road waving frantically in order to identify where the oil lay on the road. A striped oil flag was also shown, and much further towards the corner a yellow flag was being waved.

Lougher pulled out of his rival’s slipstream and whipped past him, but Farquhar fought straight back and was leading before they passed the first of the warning flags. That was the finishing order, but as the winner and runner up pulled into parc ferme, it was immediately obvious that Lougher was far from happy. A heated dispute quickly developed with Lougher accusing Farquhar of having shown no regard for the flags being shown and of riding dangerously. Farquhar stood on the top step of the rostrum and accepted the laurels for his second win of the day, but long after the action had finished, the decision was taken that Lougher should be instated as the race winner, and Farquhar was disqualified from the results and fined £100 to boot. It was the first time that a rider had been eliminated in such a way in the history of the event.

As the rain came down again the field for the second Superbike race set off, but as they took up positions on the grid, the organizers were forced to concede that time had ran out, and the meeting was over.

Ryan Farquhar’s appeal against his disqualification took months to resolve, and was eventually upheld, but by the time the top three was finally confirmed as Farquhar, Lougher and Anstey, the shine had long worn off the glittering prizes.

Previous Next

© 2008 Northwest 200 | Website by Redback Creations