Retro Rewind: North West 200 controversy 'tarnished' special day for Ryan Farquhar in 2003

In a controversial 600cc race at the Triangle course, the Co Tyrone man was disqualified from the result after he was deemed to have overtaken Welshman Ian Lougher under a yellow flag as they battled for victory.

The decision left a sour taste in Farquhar’s mouth as he argued his case, with television coverage appearing to vindicate his sense of injustice – clearly showing that he actually made the pass under a red and yellow oil flag.

Farquhar was eventually reinstated as the winner of the race, but he had to wait until November of that year before the reversed result was confirmed.

He had won the opening 600cc event at the North West in 2003 and finished as the runner-up in the Production race, when a certain victory looked on the cards until he began to run out of fuel on the final lap of the 8.9-mile course.

In typical Farquhar fashion, he didn’t pull any punches as he later reflected on a day that should have been one of the most memorable of his career, but was instead tarnished by some poor decision-making.

Ryan told me: “Things started to happen for me in 2003, although it was a controversial year for me as well. It was the year Ian Lougher put the protest in against me.

“I should have won the Production race on Kenny Harker’s GSX-R1000 Suzuki, which he had bought me for the internationals and the Sunday races because I couldn’t ride Winston McAdoo’s bikes on a Sunday [in accordance with Mr McAdoo’s religious preferences].

“It was the year I started with the orange and black colour scheme that I’ve had ever since. I had Adrian [Archibald] and David Jefferies beaten in the Production race, but I ran out of fuel on the Coast Road and coasted over the line in second,” he added.

“I won the two 600cc races but Lougher put a protest in against me and said I passed him under a yellow flag at the Metropole.”

When Farquhar was informed of his disqualification from the second 600cc race, he said the news ruined what had been a fantastic day for the Ulster rider at the international meeting.

“The officials, or stewards, didn’t wait to see the TV footage. They made the decision on what Ian [Lougher] said but I proved that it was an oil flag. They disqualified me that day and that was one of the lowest times of my career,” Farquhar said.

“I’d been on such a high from winning and then to be disqualified was so frustrating. UTV showed a clip of what happened and it showed that I had done nothing wrong.

“Because the incident had happened late-on in the afternoon, I think they couldn’t be bothered waiting to sort it out and wanted to get away home. They asked the chief marshal if there was a yellow flag displayed on the approach to Metropole.

“There was a yellow flag out at Metropole Corner itself, but not where I made the manoeuvre, which was a few hundred yards up the road,” explained Farquhar.

“It was just handled really, really poorly on the day.

“It took them until November before the decision was reversed, so it spoiled it for me.”

The confrontation between Farquhar and Lougher, who were involved in a heated exchange when they returned to the winners’ enclosure following the race, resulted in a terse relationship between the pair for many years.

“Ian wasn’t too happy because I had beat him and I think because I’d beaten him in the race earlier in the day as well, it really got to him,” Farquhar said.

“But we proved our case and although I do speak to Ian now, we didn’t talk for a few years over the heads of that. People said afterwards that if the road was in such a bad condition then I shouldn’t have made the pass, but if the road was in such a bad condition then the race should’ve been stopped.

“There is nothing in the rules to say you can’t pass under an oil flag and if they felt conditions were too dangerous then they should have stopped the race – that’s my take on it,” he added

“I’ve never had the best of luck in that race and years later I lost out again when they gave the victory to [Alastair] Seeley. I think a lot of it was to do with the colour of the bikes you were riding.

“You can’t dwell on these things and you have to move on, but there were things that frustrated me during my career.”