TT wins for Lougher and Palmer
Chris Palmer won his third TT in the 125cc race held at the Billown Circuit. Ian Lougher won his 8th in the 250cc event. Billown became the 4th circuit to stage TT racing.
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 TT wins for Palmer and Lougher Another beautiful day in the Isle of Man brought more TT Racing; but with a difference. The 125cc and 250cc TT Races were being held on the 4.25 miles of the testing Billown Circuit in the south of the island. This became the fourth different circuit upon which TT Races have been held. A very large crowd was gathered around the circuit to enjoy the racing. The honour of filling the front row of the first ever TT grid to be assembled at Billown went to pole sitter Chris Palmer; Ian Lougher and Nigel Moore. The lights changed right on time and we were off. At the Ballabeg Hairpin the crowd waited expectantly; then machines burst into view from the tricky Iron Gate / Ballanorris section. Leading the pack was former British 125cc Champion Chris Palmer on the Mannin Collections / Black Horse Honda. Ian Lougher and current British 125cc Championship contender James Ford were right in his wheel tracks. A few metres further back were Jon Vincent and Nigel Moore; with Sam Dunlop and Daniel Sayle ten metres behind them. Daniel back on two wheels after his exploits in the Sidecar TTs. Newcomer Ford made a mistake later in the lap and this dropped him out of contention Those of us expecting a good dust between Palmer and Lougher were about to be confounded. By the end of the lap Palmer was already 3 seconds ahead. He continued to build his lead at this rate for first six laps. Lap 2 at Ballabeg Palmer was well clear; Lougher in turn was six seconds clear of Moore, Vincent and Ford. Ford made a mistake on this lap which cost him about 18 seconds. Lap at Ballabeg Palmer was over 7 seconds ahead of Lougher; who was 7 seconds ahead of new third place man Daniel Sayle who was making up for his slow start. The pattern of the race was set; Palmer pulling away from Lougher at the front. Daniel Sayle; now clear of traffic began to eat away at Lougher’s advantage. However Ian must have been given signals to this effect because he increased his pace and allied to this Daniel’s front brake began to give problems. Just when the issue seemed settled Lougher did not cross the line to complete his 11th lap. His chain had snapped at the final corner on the circuit leaving Sayle well clear in second place. Lougher’s misfortune lifted Nigel Moore to third place and James Ford to 4th. Chris palmer duly completed the race to take his third TT victory. Daniel Sayle took 2nd to became the first man since Freddie Dixon in 1923 to stand on the podium for both solo and Sidecar TTs. Dixon won the Sidecar race and was 3rd in the Senior; a very exclusive club. Moore took 3rd; Ford 4th with Chris McGahan winning his race long duel with Peter Wakefield to claim 5th. 125cc TT Result 1. Chris Palmer 94.042mph 2. Daniel Sayle 92.414mph 3. Nigel Moore 91.548mph 4. James Ford 90.912mph 5. Chris McGahan 90.379mph 6. Peter Wakefield 90.371mph After a brief interlude we had the 250cc TT and what a great race it proved to be. Leading the first lap cavalry charge out Ballanorris and towards us was Chris Palmer. His lead was short-lived because Ian Lougher was able to dive up the inside and force Palmer wide. Right behind these two we had Ryan Farquhar, Michael Dunlop and Andrew Neill. The leader on lap 2 at our vantage point was Lougher; with Palmer, Farquhar and Dunlop just a couple of metres astern. Andrew Neill and Davy Morgan completed the top six. Palmer’s Mannin Collections Honda was running a little rich and as the pace at the front increased he began to drop away. Lap 3 saw the first three covered by a couple of machine’s lengths; with Palmer now a couple of seconds behind. Lap 4 and a new leader; it was Michael Dunlop by a couple of metres from Lougher and Farquhar. The lead was back with Lougher on lap 5; with Dunlop and Farquhar right on his back wheel in what was developing into a titanic struggle. Lap 6 saw Lougher best on the brakes to lead from Farquhar and Dunlop by the smallest of margins. Lougher led on lap 7, from Farquhar by a couple of metres with Dunlop 5 metres behind him. Chris Palmer was having a lonely ride in 4th and appeared oblivious to the fact that Andrew Neill was closing the gap on him. Lap 8 and Lougher had opened a gap of 0.75s on Dunlop and Farquhar who were mere inches apart. Lap 9 and Lougher still had the lead; but then came some drama. Michael Dunlop ran up the slip road at Ballabeg to retire from the race. He sat disconsolately as the race continued without him. Lap 10 and Lougher had made the decisive break; he led Farquhar by 3 seconds. Palmer was still blissfully unaware the Neil was closing on him; the gap down to 3.65s as they accelerated out of the hairpin and on towards Ballawhestone. By lap 11 Neill had closed to within 2 seconds of Palmer in his quest to take the final podium place. Lougher and Farquhar duly passed us on the final tour; secure in their places. For Lougher this was his 8th TT victory. As they passed us for the final time Neill had closed to within 5 metres of Palmer; however Neill pulling alongside acted as awake up call and Palmer upped his pace over the final half lap to keep third by 1 second. Neill took fourth; Davy Morgan 5th and Paul Owen took 6th. Owen was the last man to race a 250cc two-stroke on the Mountain Course. 250cc TT Result 1. Ian Lougher 100.741mph 2. Ryan Farquhar 100.265mph 3. Chris Palmer 98.607mph 4. Andrew Neill 98.546mph 5. Davy Morgan 96.314mph 6. Paul Owen 95.722mph The meeting concluded with a combined 1000cc and 600cc races. Lougher led for the first two laps as they passed us; but by lap 3 it was Ryan Farquhar who had taken a lead that he was never to relinquish. Newcomer Mark Buckley rode impressively to hold a secure third place after the first three laps. Behind these three two great scrap developed between Gary Carswell, Mark Parrett and Paul Cranston on 1000cc machines and Roy Richardson; Michael Dunlop and Stephen Oates on their 600cc machines. They swapped positions and probably some paint as the battle raged. This was an excellent race with which to finish the programme even if the first three 1000cc machines were well ahead of their pursuers. It was not until the final couple of laps that the order was finally settled after we had seen some great out braking manoeuvres. If next month’s Southern 100 produces racing like this it will be a great meeting. 1000cc Result 1. Ryan Farquhar 105.988mph 2. Ian Lougher 104.547mph 3. Mark Buckley 103.720mph 4. Mark Parrett 103.073mph 5. Gary Carswell 102.907mph 6. Paul Dobbs 102.627mph 600cc result 1. Roy Richardson 102.745mph 2. Michael Dunlop 101.946mph 3. Stephen Oates 102.256mph 4. Andrew Neill 99.822mph 5. Dave M-Mygdal 98.528mph 6. Andy Cowin 94.803mph
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