Keith Farmer 

10 November 2022

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Keith this morning. He was one of the nicest most approachable racers in the paddock. We will update this page when appropriate, our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. 

The 2021 British Superbikes round at Silverstone was memorable for the exciting racing, the incidents, and the conclusion of the showdown. But one event which was not great news for the fans of motorcycle racing was that Keith Farmer announced that he was retiring from racing.

This report will be a brief history of Keith's racing and a photographic celebration of the man from Clogher.

Starting out in motocross while still at school, he quickly progressed to Supermoto, winning his first championship in 2005. Between 2006 and 2009 Keith continued in Supermoto competing in the MOTOGB British Championship, coming 4th in his first year and winning the P&O Winter series.

In 2010 he moved into short circuit racing, taking part in the Metzeler National Superstock 600, scoring no points in his first outing, but his determination and riding skill saw him win the next four rounds. A sure sign of greater things to come.

And greater things did come and quickly, National Superstock 600 champion in 2011 and National Superstock 1000 champion the following year.

2013 saw Keith's first appearance in British Superbikes as the team mate of Shakey Byrne with a best end of season result of 14th in a very competitive class.

In 2014 he moved to PR Racing earning his first and only podium at a wet Brands Hatch, coming from 21st on the grid to finish 3rd.

Moving back to National Superstock 1000 in 2016 saw Keith end up in third place (riding for Quay Garage Honda on an Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

Now moving in the right direction in 2017 he was crowned British Supersport Champion winning the championship for Appleyard Macadam Racing, a ride he only got when Luke Jones was unfortunately injured.

The following year more success followed with the fourth and final national championship being added to his trophy cabinet after he was crowned National Superstock 1000 champion riding for the Tyco BMW team.

The 2019 BSB season started out very well for Keith who was now riding in the Super Bikes class still with the Tyco BMW team. The first round at Silverstone saw him end up mid table, which considering the field at that time was very impressive.

The following rounds Keith improved and remained in the top 10 until a bad accident during qualifying at Knockhill. 

More bad luck followed in 2020, now riding for the Buildbase Suzuki team, he tore his ACJ ligament between his shoulder and collarbone during qualifying at Donington Park. This resulted in him missing most of the season. 

The 2021 season had been stop-start for Keith, working for different teams. Eventually he got back into BSB for the Silverstone round, returning to the iForce Lloyd and Jones BMW team.

It didn’t appear to go well in qualifying at Silverstone and after another crash Keith decided to hang up his leathers for good.

Keith Posted the Following:

It’s never easy to just pack up and walk away, but at the end of this year I was always planning on retirement from racing. I have had a tough year but that’s just racing. I stepped in to finish the year for @pr.racingbmw but after two relatively big crashes, one taking out @takumi__takahashi which I am really sorry for, and the other smashing myself to bits. I have realised that it is time to walk away.

“I’ve had ten good years of racing in the BSB paddock, riding for some of the best teams with great opportunities, and some worked and some didn’t. I count myself extremely lucky to have been given these opportunities and with these I have won four titles - 2011 National Superstock 600, 2012 and 2018 National Superstock 1000 and 2017 British Supersport. 

“I want to thank every single person that has ever supported myself in anyway, shape or form. Be it from teams, team personnel, teammates, sponsors, team sponsors, the orange army, medics, physios, photographers, officials, all the riders who I have battled with, fell out with, made friends with and last but not least, my family who have been behind me every step of the way through the good and the bad. I could not have done this without any of you guys! 

“I will still be watching and keeping an eye on everything, and maybe next year I could start something new.”

The motorcycle side of the PistonClick team have followed Keith for quite a while and have enjoyed taking pictures of him on track as his big pink helmet loomed into view. In recent years we have been including him in our BSB reports as we like to focus on interesting riders. Keith was one of those.

He was often to be found within the pits with his brother David always by his side, who was a great supermoto rider often beating Keith in the early years. 

My memories of Keith, like a lot of photographers, will live on in our images we have captured. But the one thing that will stick in my memory is that smile. Not one memory, all of them. Every time I saw Keith he was smiling, every time.

The last time I saw that smile was at the 2021 British MotoGp when he cycled past, just like the rest of us out enjoying a days racing.

Except he is not like the rest of us, he is a four-time British champion.

Thanks go out to RPW Photography and Keith Adcock for the additional images. You can share this report with your friends on social media.