Ryan Farquhar created history at Killalane on Sunday when he took three more road race wins to break the all-time Irish record, previously held by the legendary Joey Dunlop. Farquhar’s hat-trick saw him move on to 121 Irish National road race wins, three more than the total set by Dunlop whilst it also moved him on to a staggering 60 for the season. It’s been a truly remarkable year for the KMR Kawasaki rider and one that will go down in the record books as one of the best ever years, in any discipline, by a rider. The KMR Kawasaki rider had to settle for second in his first race of the weekend, when Michael Dunlop got the better of him by 0.1s in Saturday afternoon’s Non-Championship 600cc race but he was immediately back to winning ways on Sunday. A 20-second victory in the Supertwins race ensured he maintained his 100% Championship record in that particular class but he had to work a lot harder in the Open race as Dunlop again fought with him throughout. On this occasion, Ryan came out on top, his margin of victory after 5 laps just over 3 seconds as he also set the fastest lap of the race at 111.770mph. The 600cc Championship race was even tighter and was a terrific advert for road racing with Ryan again going head-to-head with Dunlop. Using all his experience and skill, Ryan defeated his younger adversary by half a second and but any hopes of a fourth win in the Grand Final disappeared on the fourth lap when he ran wide at one of the corners. Dunlop was unable to avoid him and ran in to the back of him and whilst Ryan was able to get going again, the rear hugger jammed into the rear wheel causing him to have an extremely anxious moment. A quick stop to remove it solved the problem and he was able to take tenth at the chequered flag. Nevertheless, the hat-trick saw him break a record that many believed would never be broken and his tally of 121 Irish Road Race wins is one of the finest accomplishments ever recorded. Speaking later, a delighted, and emotional, Ryan said: “It’s been a really good weekend and to be standing here now with the all-time record of 121 wins is something special – if anyone had told me that when I started racing I would have laughed at them! My hand injuries were still causing me a few problems and I had to have an injection each day but once the adrenalin kicked in, the pain eased a bit and I was able to get my head down and to claim another hat-trick is simply superb – it really has been a brilliant year. I did have a reminder today though how fine a line it is when the rear hugger jammed into the rear wheel and locked it up, snapping it sideways, when in fourth gear. It would have been a major incident but fortunately I managed to bring the bike under control and thanks to the help of a couple of marshals, I was able to get going again.” “The BBC had a camera crew with me all weekend and the Killalane club presented me with a really nice piece of crystal when I broke the record whilst the number of well wishers dropping by to wish me good luck was pretty overwhelming. I haven’t reached 121 wins on my own though and I’ve got to give special mention to my Grandad, who bought me first ever bike, Ernie Kee and Stephen Ewing. Winston McAdoo gave me my first opportunity on four-stroke machinery and then Kenny Harker and Nick Morgan came on board whilst Kawasaki UK, Shark Helmets, Beta Tools and the ’77 Supporters Club’ have been a huge help also. Everyone who has helped me in my career, whether personally, financially or professionally, all deserve credit as without them none of it would have happened and I’m extremely grateful for everyone who’s been with me along the way.” Ryan has one more chance to add to his tally of wins in 2009 as he will be competing at the International Gold Cup races at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough next weekend, the races taking place at the North Yorkshire coastal circuit on September 19-20. More, from a press release issued by Conor Cummins: Hard fought tenth for Cummins at Croft Conor Cummins once again fought hard on Sunday in the latest round of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship at Croft and the Team Blackhorse Yamaha pilot was rewarded with another tenth place. It was the 23-year olds eighth consecutive top ten finish and maintained his ninth place overall in the Championship table whilst he also closed to within two points of eighth placed James Hillier so there were again many positives to take from the weekend. With practice and qualifying held under clear blue skies and warm temperatures, the technically demanding Croft circuit would be a huge test for all the competitors but Conor was more than up to the task and eighth in opening qualifying saw the Manxman line up on the provisional second row, just over seven tenths of a second off pole position. Final qualifying proved to be even tougher and with 37 riders out on track, getting a clear lap was proving difficult and Conor was unable to improve on his first session time. A number of riders did though and Conor was pushed back to eleventh and the third row. A strong start in the race, held in considerbaly cooler conditions, saw Conor move up to ninth but when Sam Warren crashed heavily in front of him it caused a split in the pack and allowed the front group of seven riders to break away. That left Conor embroiled, just as he had been at Cadwell, in a six-man dice for the lower leaderboard positions and he was pushed back to tenth on the sixth lap by a charging Victor Cox. Positions were frequently changing hands and with just four laps to go, Conor found himself back down in 12th but his determined riding saw him fight back strongly and in the closing stages he overhauled both Luke Quigley and Marshall Neill to claim a hard fought tenth at the end of the 15-lap race. The 6 points saw him move on to a total of 62 points and maintain his ninth place overall in the Championship table. Talking about the race Conor said: “It was another tough day at the office and I can’t push any harder but I’m certainly appreciating how to ride a bike hard from start to finish and I’m constantly learning about both myself and the bike. Practice was tough and with so many bikes on the track it was practically impossible to get a clean lap and each time I was on a fast lap someone got in my way – I really think the blue flags should be used more – so it was extremely frustrating. I felt I could do better than 11th and made a good start in the race to give myself a chance but when Sam went down in front of me, it split the pack and we lost the tow. There was too much of a gap to make up but I rode to the best of my ability throughout the race and the top ten was the best we could really hope for. We’re all giving 150% and from every angle of the team, everyone’s giving their all and you can’t ask for more than that. I’m consistently finishing in the top ten but I’d like to be further up the field for sure so that’s what we’ll be aiming for in the final tow rounds.” Conor now has a two-week break before his next race with Round 11 of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship taking place at Silverstone, Northants from September 25-27.