Farmer demoted ahead of season finale

THE Covid-19 pandemic is going to have a big impact upon motorsport and Keith Farmer has already felt its effect after he was informed that he would not be riding the Buildbase Suzuki in the final round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend.

The gutsy Clogher rider battled back from two broken legs following a horrendous crash at Knockhill in July 2019 when riding for Tyco BMW, earning a ride with the Mallory Park outfit for 2020.

Unfortunately for Keith, he crashed during qualifying at the season opener at Donington Park, which left him requiring shoulder surgery.

Not one to give in, he dug deep and was back in action a month after going under the knife and since then he has scored points in five races, including all three last time out back at Donington.

Although he’ll freely admit that his confidence isn’t back to where it once was yet, he was improving round by round and was looking forward to ending 2020 on a high at Brands Hatch before preparing for a full season next year.

Sadly, he received the news via email last week that he has been demoted for this year’s finale to the Superstock class – where he has won four British titles at 600 and 1000cc levels – as Hawk Racing attempts to cut costs and he was also informed that he should begin conversations with other teams for 2021.

“It’s just racing. I completely understand that racing next year is going to be very difficult,” said a philosophical Farmer. “Teams are going to find it extremely difficult to get sponsors for one, so that’s going to be the hard part.

“With that being the main problem, they aren’t going to want to bring riders in who are looking money or who aren’t bringing any with them so it’s going to be a difficult one.

“We’ll go out for the last round, give it a good go, enjoy it and see who brings what to the table.”

Meanwhile, Omagh’s Jamie Lyons will also be in action at Brands Hatch this weekend during the final two races of the British Talent Cup season.

FULL STORY IN YESTERDAY’S ULSTER HERALD AND DUNGANNON HERALD