Farquhar denied as Mid Antrim gets cancelled Ryan Farquhar was denied the opportunity of adding to his haul of Irish National road race wins on Saturday when the Mid Antrim 150 road races were cancelled. The organisers called off the event at 12.30pm because of extensive oil spillages on the circuit, with sabotage believed to be the likely cause of the damage. Practice took place on Friday evening without a hitch and Ryan was able to claim pole position for all of his races whilst new team recruit Jamie Hamilton made his road racing bow on the KMR ER6 Kawasaki, also taking pole position in his class. However, when the organisers and competitors arrived at the Clough circuit on Saturday, they found that most of it had been covered in oil with a major clean-up operation required. Whilst this took place, the problem was further heightened by rain fall and although some riders, including Ryan, were prepared to race, many weren’t and the organisers ultimately made the decision to call the meeting off. Speaking later, a disappointed Ryan said; “It’s a great shame when an oil spillage results in the meeting being cancelled and if it was deliberate then that makes it even worse. Accidents and weather can disrupt things and we accept that but this was something totally different and it’s not fair to all those people riders, organisers, fans who make the meeting happen.” “Practice had gone well for me and I was happy with the performance of the bikes so I was looking forward to a good day’s racing, as was everyone else but a minority denied the whole paddock that opportunity. It was also a great shame for Jamie as he did an absolutely brilliant job. It was his first ever outing at a National road race so to be on pole and just half a second off the class lap record was superb so it bodes well for the future. All we can do is put this behind us, hope it never happens again and look forward to Dundrod and the Ulster GP next week.” Both Ryan and Hamilton will be in action at the Dundrod 150 road races and the Ulster Grand Prix next week, the action getting underway on Wednesday. More, from a press release issued by CRP Racing: After the Assen race, everybody is waiting for Le Mans: the second joint challenge FIM e-Power – TTXGP A weekend characterised by unexpected implications for the CRP Racing Team. Having already run during practice on Saturday on the timing of last year, Sunday morning in the qualifying session Brannetti took pole position with a stunning time of 1.58.346, 3 seconds faster than Saturday and the record of last year. The Branna delighted all for his perfect riding, very technical and fast on a track like Assen, and the agility of his eCRP1.4 allowed him to take full advantage of the occasion. The other rider of the team, Alex Battistini, who was for the first time on the Assen circuit, got a relevant fifth place, on a track that requires some knowledge of it due to its complexity. Unfortunately the race has reserved a nasty surprise. Both riders were in fact forced to leave the race for engine problems. The lack of reliability from these, has led the team to return their riders to the paddock on foot. Even the same Agni is not able to understand why their engines have so many difficulties this year, therefore the technical staff of CRP Racing cannot rely on luck and hoping that the engines run until the end of race. Now the aim is to be in Le Mans (24 September) for the second race of the FIM e-Power – TTXGP. After the great competition at Laguna Seca, the team that is coming back from Netherlands, will focus on the next race that is expected to be particularly exciting. The eCRP will race with three drivers: the two riders Brannetti and Battistini and the female rider from California Shelina Moreda. After the success of the Mazda Raceway, the Italian manufacturer together with the FIM have decided to bring the girl to Europe. The show is guaranteed. However, among the priorities of eCRP, there is the constant experimentation on track to collect all data useful for the development of street electric motorcycle, the innovative project of CRP Racing that will be presented at EICMA in Milan in November. In the following months intense backstage activities will carried out until the launch of the first Italian electric motorcycle. Another masterpiece for the celebration of 150 years of the Unification of Italy. www.ecrp.eu More, from a press release issued by KTM: KTM celebrates double IDM victory at Schleiz KTM Orange was the color of choice at the sixth race weekend of the IDM International German Superbike Championship in Schleiz this weekend with KTM riders stealing victory in both races. Czech rider Matej Smrz (Inghart KTM Superbike Team) won race one while Austria’s Martin Bauer (Motorex KTM), third in the opener, settled the second race to his credit. Riders battled difficult conditions and a wet track in the first race but as conditions improved and the track dried out, it meant tire choice became an issue. The race went to KTM rider Smrz with a convincing 2.5 seconds margin. Bauer joined him on the podium in third place and clearly the Austrian rider was just laying the foundations for what was an impressive display of riding in race two. Indeed when the riders rejoined the track for the second race, Bauer got off to a perfect start and put on an incredible show of force to underline both his own riding skills and the power of the KTM RC8 R Superbike. He forged a leading margin of eight seconds before easing off and settling to be a mere five seconds in front of the pack at the checkered flag. Smrz, the winner of race one, also finished strongly in race two despite some minor technical difficulties resulting in a slight drop in engine power and some shifting problems. Bauer picked up a big 24 points for the weekend, consolidating his lead in the championship with just two race weekends (four races) left on the program. Smrz is currently fifth in the overall standings. Stefan Nebel, the third KTM rider and Smrz’s teammate at Inghart KTM) was shad some health issues and minor electrical problems so he was content with his two sixth places. Two privateer KTM riders were also on the track for the sixth race weekend: Thomas Helldobler (Schittko KTM) and former 125 rider Daniel Kartheininger (Oppermann KTM Team). KTM also regained the lead in the Manufacturers championship and currently has a slim, two points advance on BMW. Martin Bauer: “I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks in race one and third place was more than I expected. I did have some luck as Giuseppetti had crashed just in front of me. I ran over his front wheel and had to run over the grass in the fast downhill section. Race two was perfect. I got a good start and could ride away at a good pace to show the real potential of the bike. The RC8 R was flawless today!” Matej Smrz: Everything turned out very well in race one. I got a good start and at first I took it easy. I was behind the leading two but I knew I could catch them because my Dunlop tires worked very well when the rack dried. I waited for as long as possible before I took the led and then went on and won the race. Race two was difficult because I had a bit less power and had to deal with shifting problems. So fifth place was not perfect but still good and the championship is still open. Stefan Nebel: I have to be content with two sixth places because I came here with some sort of infection and I had to deal with it. Another rider destroyed my best qualifying lap so I had to start in the second row. I had some good battles in the first race and the result was okay but race two was more difficult. IDM 125 KTM’s success on the circuit was also underlined in the 125 class with two riders of the Austrian-made machines on the podium. Germany’s Luca Grünwald stormed to his first victory of the season while young Florian Alt finished third and took the first IDM podium of his career. Both ride for Freudenberg KTM team. Grünwald started with a cautious first lap but then opened up the bike and charged away from the pack to secure his victory. Fellow German rider Florian Alt on the other hand fought hard in a group of six riders to finally finish third behind Championship leader Jack Miller. GP Rider Marcel Schrötter, who stepped in for injured KTM rider Toni Finsterbusch, who broke his collarbone in the practice sessions on day one finished good sixth while Philipp Öttl was seventh across the line. Austrian Deni Cudic crashed in the first lap, Swedish ace Alex Kristiansson also crashed after an incident with Jack Miller as they were engaged in a fight for a top three finish. Wishes for a speedy recovery to Ducati rider Dario Giuseppetti KTM riders and teams also take the opportunity to wish Ducati rider Dario Giuseppetti a speedy recovery after he broke is leg in a crash in the rain-soaked first race, which was red flagged and re-started after the rider had received medical care. Giuseppetti, a popular and very competitive rider had rode to pole position on Saturday. IDM SUPERBIKE, Race 1 Results at Schleizer Dreieck, Germany 1, Matej Smrz, Czech Republic, KTM 2, Damian Cudlin, Australia, BMW 3, Martin Bauer, Austria, KTM 4, Karl Muggeridge, Australia Honda 5, Ghisbert van Ginhoven, Netherlands, BMW Other KTM 6, Stefan Nebel, Germany, KTM 13, Thomas Helldobler, Germany, KTM 15, Daniel Kartheininger, Germany, KTM IDM SUPERBIKE, Race 2 Results 1, Martin Bauer, Austria, KTM 2, Damian Cudlin, Australia, BMW 3, Karl Muggeridge, Australia Honda 4, Gareth Jones, Australia, BMW 5, Matej Smrz, Czech Republic, KTM Other KTM 6, Stefan Nebel, Germany, KTM 16, Thomas Helldobler, Germany, KTM IDM SUPERBIKE Standings 1, Martin Bauer, Austria, KTM, 187 2, Karl Muggeridge, Australia, Honda, 163 3, Damian Cudlin, Australia, BMW, 160 4, Mate Smrz, Czech Republic, KTM, 155 5, Michael Ranseder, Austria, BMW, 129 Other KTM 11, Stefan Nebel, Germany, KTM, 67 IDM SUPERBIKE Manufacturers’ Standings 1, KTM 364 2, BMW, 362 3, Honda, 203 IDM 125, Results at Schleizer Dreieck, Germany 1, Luca Grünwald, Germany, KTM 2, Jack Miller, Australia, Aprilia 3, Florian Alt, Germany, KTM 4, Bryan Schouten, Netherlands, Honda 5, Luca Amato, Germany, Aprilia Other KTM 6, Marcel Schrötter, Germany, KTM 7, Philipp Öttl, Germany, KTM IDM 125, Standings 1, Jack Miller, Australia, Aprilla, 125 2, Luca Amato, Germany, Aprilia, 115 3, Luca Grünwald, Germany, KTM, 71 4. Alexander Kristiansson, Sweden, KTM, 65 5, Bryan Schouten, Netherlands, 55 Other KTM 6, Toni Finsterbusch, Germany, KTM, 52 9, Philipp Öttl, Germany, KTM, 40 10, Florian Alt, Germany, KTM, 29 14, Deni Cudic, Austria, KTM, 23 16, Damien Raemy, Switzerland, KTM, 12