Ian Lougher was the undisputed man of the moment at the 2008 Steam Packet International Southern 100 as he came away from the meeting with three wins and a further two podium finishes.
The Team Blackhorse Yamaha boss was in scintillating form around the 4.25 mile Billown Course and now holds the record for the most Southern 100 race wins.
Lougher got his meeting underway with a podium in Tuesday evening’s Superbike race. He had led for the opening two laps but handling problems with the R1 Superbike meant he had to drop back to eventually finish third behind race winner Guy Martin. The 250cc race on the same evening brought disappointment for Ian as he had to retire from a secure second place when the Barnes 250 machine seized on the final lap.
With racing cancelled on Wednesday due to the bad weather, Ian was to open his winning account in the 600cc race on Thursday when he got the verdict by a whisker on the Team Blackhorse Yamaha Supersport R6 following a race long battle with Ryan Farquhar and Conor Cummins.
The second 250cc race was held in very wet conditions with Chris Palmer leading after the opening lap before dropping back to allow Lougher and William Dunlop to take up the challenge. Going into the final lap Ian had opened up a four second lead but, as with the first 250cc race, mechanical gremlins once again plagued the Barnes 250 bike when it went on to one cylinder forcing Ian to limp home in second place.
Undaunted by this disappointment, Ian brought the smaller Barnes Racing machine to the line for the rain-hit 125cc race. As in many times in the past, Lougher and his old sparring partner Chris Palmer treated the crowd to a real thriller. Going into the last lap there was nothing to choose between the two, however back markers came into play with Ian benefiting the most to take the race win by five seconds.
The final race of the week was the main superbike race and here Ian established a ten second lead over Ryan Farquhar and Conor Cummins before the race was stopped when a rider unfortunately came off and had to airlifted to hospital, thankfully without serious injury. Ian was declared the race winner and with it the title of Solo Champion for the second year in a row and the fifth time in total.
Photo: Stephen Davison: Pacemaker Press International
Related Link:
www.ianlougher.com
