KEITH Farmer enjoyed a mixed weekend of racing as he crossed over to the Emerald Isle for the Irish Supermoto Championship.

The opening two races at Kartworld in Cork ended in frustration as the Altham flier crashed out and then battled back from last to finish a very impressive third.

But the highlight of the day came in the third and final race where he set the fastest lap of the day to take the chequered flag.

The competitors raced on a track with both tarmac and dirt sections. Heavy overnight rain had left the dirt section in perfect condition, but the circuit took longer to dry out, and the morning free practice saw all riders on full wets feeling round for grip.

In qualifying, Keith was the only rider to start the timed session with a rear slick as a dry line appeared. Immediately he set a time 1.5 seconds faster than his rivals and was only just edged off the front row.

As race one began, Keith jumped out into the lead, only to make a small mistake in the off-road section. This allowed main rival Dave Mckee and Greg Kinsella past. The top three raced round together almost inseparable until mid-race when Farmer crashed heavily in the fast left hander after start/finish, and with the bike making heavy contact with the rumble strip, it ripped the chain off the rear sprocket meaning Keith's race was over. Mckee, unfazed by pressure from Kinsella, seemed to control the race and took victory.

Keith, now more determined, gated second behind Mckee in race two and pressured the multiple champion into an early mistake. He took a short-lived four-lap lead until he too crashed in the dirt and remounted in last place. Kinsella, now gifted the lead, cruised to victory, but all eyes were on Keith's epic charge through the pack to a very well earned third at the flag, a little way behind Mckee.

As the sun made its first full appearance for race 3, Keith again headed the field into turn one. He set a blistering pace from the outset, consistently half a second faster than his pursuers.

Mckee and Kinsella pushed so hard that they both fell, leaving Keith on his Aprilia in a ten second lead, and he cruised home to an easy victory.

This coming weekend sees the team heading out to Southern England for round two of the British Championship at Lydd.