Source: Deus Images.

The United Kingdom has sensationally snapped Australia’s 10-year winning streak in the International Challenge teams event at the 2015 Island Classic, held this Australia Day weekend.

Led by Northern Ireland’s Ryan Farquhar, the UK team finally knocked an out-of-sorts Australia off the top perch in the Tahbilk International Challenge with a 42-point victory, followed by America on 445 and the Graeme Crosby-captained New Zealand on 347.

Despite Aussie riders winning three of the four races, consistency was the decisive ingredient for the UK, with not only Farquhar but also Conor Cummins and Jeremy McWilliams putting in the hard yards.

The win was an emotional one for the UK, especially for the squad’s mainstay McWilliams, who has won the individual standings three times without ever taking home the equally coveted teams trophy.

“This is a great day for the UK team and understandably there’s a fair bit of emotion in the pits at the moment,” said McWilliams. “The International Challenge is extremely tough and you’ve got to be there in every race.

“This weekend, we had solid riders and solid equipment and we proved to be more reliable when it counted. But we still had our fair share of issues, but to get past those headaches and take the victory is an absolutely sensational result. And congratulations must also go to Ryan, who was incredible all weekend.”

Farquhar’s victory in the Ken Wootton Perpetual Trophy as the individual top scorer came about in the most stunning – and unexpected – of circumstances, with Australian Brendan Roberts (Suzuki Katana) a lay down misere to claim the honours before he ran off at Doohan Corner on the final lap of race four and failed to finish.

That opened the door for Farquhar, but there was still another prickly issue for the Yamaha Harris F1 rider to deal with; he had to be beat his teammate and International Challenge rookie Cummins (Honda Harris F1) to make sure of victory.

Cummins was in fifth position heading into the final lap of race four, and Farquhar was eighth, but the tables were turned during the last 4.445km with Farquhar finishing in fifth and Cummins seventh.

That saw Farquhar finish on 141 points after a brace of consistent 8-4-6-5 finishes, with Cummins producing a 139-point haul with his 7-6-5-7 scorecard.

McWilliams (Yamaha Harris F1, 2-1-17-6) was third overall on 138, his lowly result in race three coming after he stalled his bike on the grid and had to make a charge through the pack from last position.

“This is all a bit of a shock really,” said Farquhar, a long-time supporter of the International Challenge. “Race four was really all about playing the team game, but in the latter stages I knew what the equation was and I just really put my head down.

“The victory hasn’t really sunk in yet, but if you ask me about midnight tonight I’m sure I will have come to grips with it all by then!”

Roberts’ DNF in race four was the culmination of a mass attrition rate for Australia’s core of star riders in the International Challenge, with fellow Katana brethren Steve Martin, Shawn Giles, Jed Metcher, Paul Young and Cameron Donald or failing to either not start or finish one race – three in the case of Martin who had a wretched weekend.

Moreover, Rob Phillis failed to start the event after mechanical issues felled his Suzuki XR69.

Martin’s bout of bad luck continued in race three when his bike blew an engine seal, with riders including McWilliams, Young and Roberts caught out by a trail of oil at turn 10.

The race was red-flagged with all riders except Martin returning for the full restart. That followed on from a crash for Martin on Friday and electrical problems on Saturday.

Giles won races one and three, while Metcher got home in the fourth – the rookie clearly the fastest rider on the track. It was a solid hitout for the Melbourne-based Metcher ahead of his upcoming wildcard appearance at the World Superbike round at Phillip Island from 20-22 February.

Damien Kavney (XR69, 10-10-10-12), riding for Team New Zealand, was fourth overall in the Ken Wootton Perpetual Trophy on 122pts, from Giles (1-DNS-1-2, 119), Metcher (4-2-DNF-1, 116), Young (DNF-3-3-3, 114), Laurie Fyffe (Harris Suzuki, 11-11-12-16, 114), Cameron Donald (3-DNF-4-4, 112) and Roberts (6-5-2-DNF, 110).

The highest placed individual finisher for Team America was Dave Crussell (Yamaha TZ750) in 11th position on 105 points.

Meanwhile, there were joint winners in the Phil Irving Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the rider(s) who accumulates the highest amount of points outside the International Challenge.

Levy Day won it for the third time in five years and he shared the spoils with Michael Dibb. Day clean swept the 350cc Classic and 500cc Classic classes and Dibb was just as prolific in Unlimited Forgotten Era and New Era Formula 1300cc.

2015 International Island Classic
Phillip Island, VIC

Tahbilk International Challenge overall results:
1. United Kingdom 617
2. Australia 575
3. America 445
4. New Zealand 341

Tahbilk International Challenge individual results:
1. Ryan Farquhar (UK) 141
2. Conor Cummins (UK) 139
3. Jeremy McWilliams (UK) 138
4. Damien Kavney (NZ) 122
5. Shawn Giles (AUS) 119
6. Jed Metcher (AUS) 116
7. Paul Young (AUS) 114
7. Laurie Fyffe (AUS) 114
9. Cameron Donald (AUS) 112
10. Brendan Roberts (AUS) 110

Click here for detailed results