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Successful outing for Lougher at Oliver's Mount

Author: Team Blackhorse Yamaha
Posted on: Friday, Sep 25 2009



Racing got underway on Saturday in dry, overcast conditions with the first of two four-lap heats for the Darran Lindsay Trophy which was won by Guy Martin from Ian Hutchinson and Kiaran Hankin. Ian was third in the second heat.

The first leg of the 125 Stu Reed Trophy over six laps saw Lougher get the hole-shot on the Barnes/Jackson Racing machine, closely followed by Peter Wakefield, but the red flags soon appeared to bring a halt to proceedings. However, Ian wasn't to be denied and he took the five lap restart by 1.7 seconds from William Dunlop and Lee Vernon.

Race five on the programme was the first leg of the Darran Lindsay Trophy for Superbikes over eight laps which saw Ian finish fourth after a close race with Adrian Archibald.

Races seven and eight were the heats for the 600cc David Jefferies Cup, both over four laps.
Ian was out in the second heat and narrowly lost out to Michael Pearson by just 0.327 of a second, with Kiaran Hankin third.

The penultimate race of the day was the 250cc Phil Mellor Trophy over eight laps.
Lee Vernon got a great start but it was Lougher who came through on the opening lap with a lead of two and a half seconds from John McGuinness and Vernon down in third.
William Dunlop took over second position on the next lap, 3.955 seconds behind the smooth riding Lougher, with McGuinness now third.
William had pulled back half a second on Ian at the conclusion of the third lap, as the overall top placings remained unchanged.
Ian responded and by half distance the gap had increased again to 3.530 seconds.
At three-quarters race distance Lougher was controlling the race and at the flag he recorded his 125th race victory at Oliver's Mount from William Dunlop with John McGuinness third, 16 seconds down.

The final race of the day the first leg of the 600cc David Jefferies Cup over eight laps.
Michael Pearson was in pole, but it was Ian Lougher who was first into Mere Hairpin closely followed by Daniel Frear and pole setter Pearson. At the end of the first lap it was Pearson by 3/10ths of a second from Frear and Lougher a further 2/10ths back. Guy Martin moved into fourth on lap two, with the three leaders all lapping at over 80mph. On lap three Pearson led by 0.884 of a second from Lougher, with Martin now third. Ian then grabbed back the lead, however the red flags were shown due to an incident at Memorial with the race being rescheduled into Sunday’s race programme.

Clear blue skies greeted everyone for the second days racing.

Ian's first outing of the day was the second leg of the 125cc Stu Reed Trophy. A six lap race long duel between William Dunlop and Ian Lougher ensued, with William leading for the first half of the race. Ian took over on the fourth lap and was still leading at the end of the fifth, but was eventually beaten to the chequered flag by just 0.268 of a second by William Dunlop with Lee Vernon third.

Race three was the second leg of the Darran Lindsay Trophy in which Ian would finish seventh.

Race 17 on Sunday's programme was the second leg of the 600 David Jefferies Cup over eight laps with Ian determined to stamp his authority on this one. Michael Pearson led at the end of the opening lap by 0.238 of a second from Ian Lougher, with Ian Hutchinson in third spot. Lap two saw Lougher hit the front on the Team Blackhorse Yamaha Supersport R6 and he led by 0.420 of a second from Pearson and Hutchinson.
Pearson slipped off his machine on the third lap, as Lougher stretched his lead to 2.177 seconds over Hutchinson with Guy Martin in third.
Ian was riding superbly and at half distance a further second had been added to his lead as he broke the lap record in the process. A lap later the gap was up to six seconds and at three quarters race distance the lead was over seven seconds with Ian eventually taking the race win and the David Jefferies Trophy by 6.656 seconds from Ian Hutchinson, Guy Martin, Daniel Frear, John McGuinness and Michael Dunlop.
Ian's record lap of 81.619mph was almost one second faster than that of his rivals.

Ian hadn't time to rest on his laurels as he was out again in the 250cc Lee Pullan race and again he led the field at the end of the opening lap of eight from William Dunlop and Lee Vernon before the red flags brought the race to a stop. The restart, over six laps, saw Lee Vernon grab the hole-shot ahead of Alex Hutchinson with Ian in third. However Ian was soon in front from William Dunlop and Lee Vernon.
The lead was up to half a second at the end of the second lap, then down to 0.360 of a second, on lap four the gap was again up to 0.610 of a second. The fifth lap saw the lead halved by Dunlop to 0.311 of a second, with Lee Vernon having a lonely ride in third 14 seconds back. Lougher still had the race under control but with two corners to go he almost highsided which handed the advantage to Dunlop and it was William who took the chequered flag by 0.228 of a second to deprive Ian of his 127th race victory at Oliver’s Mount.

Next up was the feature Steve Henshaw Gold Cup race, with Guy Martin first into Mere Hairpin, followed by Ryan Farquhar. At the end of the opening lap it was Guy Martin, Ryan Farquhar, Ian Hutchinson, Michael Pearson, Gary Johnson and Ian Lougher.
Lap two and Martin was ahead by 0.275 of a second from Farquhar and Pearson but on the third lap the red flags were shown again.
The restart over eight laps saw Farquhar get the hole-shot, but it was Martin who led into Mere Hairpin and as they crossed the line at the end of the opening lap it was Martin, Farquhar, Hutchinson, Lougher, Johnson, and Mick Goodings. The gap was 0.402 of a second, as Michael Dunlop pulled in to retire with engine problems.
Lap two, and Martin's lead was down to 0.295 of a second from Hutchinson, Farquhar, Lougher, Johnson and Steve Mercer.
Ian moved into third position at the end of the third lap of eight as Martin increased his lead to just under half a second. The penultimate lap saw a reduced lead of 0.396 seconds to Martin from Hutchinson with Lougher now in a comfortable third place. At the flag, it was Guy Martin from Ian Hutchinson, with Ian Lougher on the rostrum in third, an excellent performance on the Team Blackhorse Yamaha Superstock R1. Gary Johnson, Steve Mercer and Adrian Archibald rounded out the top six.

The penultimate race of the 2009 Steve Henshaw Gold Cup meeting saw the third and final leg of the 125cc Stu Reed Trophy over six laps.
Ian Lougher was in pole, but it was Lee Vernon who got the hole-shot albeit briefly, as Lougher was first into the Hairpin. Soon it was Lougher and Dunlop again doing battle at the front, with Wakefield third at the end of the opening lap.
Lap two and the gap was 0.403 of a second, as placings remained the same. Mid distance saw Ian's lead double to 0.844 of a second, as Wakefield remained third some 22 seconds down on the leading pair. Lap four and 6/10ths of a second was shaved off Ian’s advantage, as William closed the difference to 0.299 of a second.
A lap later Ian pulled out a tenth of a second on his younger rival but at the chequered flag it was Dunlop from Ian Lougher with Peter Wakefield third, 46 seconds down.

Ian Lougher:
"That was a hectic weekend to say the least. The 125 races were both brilliant with William (Dunlop) and I both swapping places on numerous occasions, however he just had the edge on speed and I couldn't do anything to stop him on the run to the flag. Third in the feature Gold Cup race was excellent as I was on the team's Superstock R1 normally raced by Conor Cummins in the BSB Superstock 1000 Championship. I was really fired up for the 600 race and knew it would be the hardest race of the weekend. To win by seven seconds was fantastic and to say I am pleased with the lap record would be something of an understatement."

So, another successful visit to Oliver's Mount for Ian Lougher with three wins and a further five podiums in front of a massive crowd of 52000 people over the course of the weekend. The team continues with their busy season as they now head to Silverstone for the next round of the BSB Superstock 1000 Championship this weekend.

Photo: Stuart Watson


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