Any talk of a proposed Isle of Wight road race may have all but ceased, but the island off the south coast of England was on a lot of fan's lips at the conclusion of the Tandragee 100 on Saturday as island native Ryan Whitehall further cemented his growing reputation with some excellent performances.
Continuing with his ethos of supporting and advising young riders, team principal Ian Lougher had presented Ryan with the opportunity to race on Team ILR with Frog Vehicle Developments machinery, and he seized a personal long held ambition with both hands.
Some 20 years ago in May 2005 a certain Tony Christie and Peter Kay were at Number 1 in the UK music chart asking the way to Amarillo, and incredibly that's the last time Lougher graced the Co. Armagh circuit when he won the 250cc race and set a new lap record, a record that seems to have been strangely overlooked and omitted from the official race programme.
From the start of qualifying on Friday it was obvious that Whitehall felt right at home on both bikes finishing 7th in the Supertwins (with Lougher quietly going about his business in 13th) and 8th quickest in the Supersport class respectively.
That evening saw the first Supersport race of the weekend, the only evening race to be held of the three planned, and Ryan maintained his qualifying position with a fine 8th place ride, a result he repeated in Saturday's second Supersport encounter where he just lost out on 7th to Kevin Keyes at the last corner with a half second blanket covering the duo and sixth place man Andy Farrell.
In the Supertwins race, Whitehall was well placed in the early stages and enjoying a good dice with Andy Hornby with Lougher keeping a close eye on things a short distance behind. Ryan would eventually lose a bit of ground in the latter stages but still came home in a very commendable 9th with Ian just losing out on 11th at the last corner.
A very positive Tandragee 100 for Team ILR with team boss Lougher delighted with the application and results of team newcomer Whitehall whose performances on the team's bikes, coupled with great results in the Superbike races on his own R1 Yamaha, gained him the Young Rider of the Meeting Award.
A well deserved accolade for the popular young rider.
Next up for Team ILR with Frog Vehicle Developments is the annual trip back to the Isle of Man for the Manx GP where Ian Lougher will renew his successful partnership with Eddie Laycock and his 250cc Yamaha in the Lightweight Classic TT, and Craig Kennelly returns to the team after his outing at the North-West 200 and he will race the team's CBR600RR Honda.
And the team will welcome a new rider in Eddy Wormald who competes on one of our Patons.
Team ILR principal Ian Lougher:
"Well it’s been 20 years since I last rode at Tandragee, it was great to see it back after a couple of years absent from the calendar, and as a team we were happy to support the event.
With Ryan joining us it made it all the more of a pleasant experience.
Ryan acquitted himself brilliantly, with no experience on the bikes previously he came away with some hard fought top ten finishes, and in the second 600 race he almost grabbed 6th position on the line.
For myself I enjoyed the event a lot but didn’t feel I rode aggressively enough, especially over the jumps, where I have never been that great, but I guess my age is starting to show my weaknesses…who knows.
We’d like to wish Ryan all the best for the remainder of the season and who knows if the opportunity arises to work together again we would certainly try and make it happen."
Ian
