Team Great Britain’s Ryan Farquhar refused to take a gamble with wet practice for the 2016 Phillip Island Classic today, preferring to wait until qualifying to perfect his setup for Sunday’s big event.

The Irishman made some changes to the Yamaha on which he last competed at the Classic TT, firming up the chassis to cope with the different stresses of a short circuit but says going out on untried Bridgestone wets wasn’t part of the plan.

“We have made a few changes on the bike on Thursday. The last time we rode the bike was at the Isle of Man TT Classic, so we have had to change the setup to suit Phillip Island. The Isle of Man TT Classic is quite a bit softer, also the gearing is different as well. The overall setup for a short circuit it has to have much more support, so we’ll have to go with harder springs and give the bike more compression damping,” said Farquhar, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“I was really happy with the way I was riding yesterday. But as I said we have made a few changes to the bike with a harder spring and a bit more pre-load on the forks. It’s a bit of a gamble really. I was hoping to get a few laps in the free practice session this morning before we would have went into qualifying. Now we head straight into qualifying tomorrow morning.

“I was all geared up to go out in the rain today and ready to go as I have always enjoyed riding in the rain. The downside to the wet at Phillip Island; 1: I have never rode around here in the rain and 2: we are using Bridgestone wets, which I have no experience on those either. So it would have been a gamble, but I have always rode well in the wet. I feel that if I had gone out in the wet today I would been a few places up higher up the grid than what I’ll be in the dry. Not to say that I won’t be competitive, but there are a lot of fast lads here with a lot more experience with qualifying than what I have.

“Being a road racer, qualifying is something I don’t have to do much. Pretty much any road race that you go to you grid position is determined. Overall you know, I’m here to try and score a few points for the UK team. I just want to get four finishes. It’s different for the likes of Jeremy and Glen as this is their game. They are here to try and beat the Aussies on a personal level. If I’m not on the podium, I’m not overly bothered. I just want to try and finish all the races this weekend and get as many points for the team as I can.”

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