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Lougher at the Double‏

Author: Team Blackhorse Yamaha
Posted on: Tuesday, Jun 16 2009















In the first 250cc race Ian and his friend and rival Chris Palmer led the way on the first lap, Palmer led on the second circuit with Michael Dunlop in third from Andrew Neill and Barry Davidson. On lap four Lougher hit the front and opened up a small gap over Palmer, with Dunlop still in a safe third.

Ian still led for the next lap but on the sixth lap, Palmer began to close in and eventually went in front only to retire with a seized engine at Ballakeighan.

Ian was now comfortably in the lead and coasted over the line with Dunlop second and Barry Davidson third.

Palmer didn't come out for the second leg due to a broken crank and as the race got underway it was pole-setter William Dunlop who grabbed the lead but on Lap 4 he was out at Cross Four Ways with a suspected broken radiator.

Ian then took over at the front by over three seconds from Michael Dunlop and was never caught as he crossed the line to claim yet another win.

Lougher and Palmer were at it again as the battle for the 125cc honours got underway. The first 8-lap race saw Palmer again hit the front from the off with Ian tucking in behind.

There was nothing between them as they circulated on their penultimate lap but again Palmer was forced out, leaving Ian well clear of the rest of the field. He comfortably took the honours by almost 15 seconds from Roy Richardson and William Dunlop.

In Race Two Chris Palmer again got a good start and at the end of the first lap he led by over two seconds. He continued to pull away and at the halfway point he had extended his lead by a further seven seconds.

Behind him though Ian Lougher's experience was very much in evidence and he knew exactly what he had to do to take the overall win. Riding calmly, Ian held on to second position and with it another TT victory, officially bringing his total number of TT wins to 10.

Earlier in the week Ian had created his own piece of history on the Isle of Man when he came to the start line on Glencrutchery Road for the opening Superbike race of the 2009 TT races. It was the popular rider's 100th TT race start and in typical fashion he treated the race like any other and put in his usual 100% honest performance, finishing a battling seventh on the AIM Racing R1 Yamaha.

Ian became the first man in the history of the famous event to start 100 TT races.

He made his TT debut in 1984 in the Production 250 race, which he in fact led before coming off at Parliament Square and re-mounting to finish seventh, that year he also finished second in the Historic 500 race.

His first win is still to this day, ranked as one of the classic moments in the history of the TT. Riding Number 17 on the privately entered Ray Cowles Racing TZ250, Ian broke the existing lap and race records to beat semi-works Honda mounted pre-race favourite and good friend Steve Hislop by 1.8 secs in the 1990 Isle of Man Junior TT.

On the eve of his historic race Ian commented:

"I am extremely pleased and honoured to be the first man to compete in 100 TT races."

He added: "It's a lot of races and a lot of miles. I still get that adrenaline rush before each race and I am still competitive in every class I enter. I'm really looking forward to the race, and indeed the remainder of the week."


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