By Derek Sheils powered his way to open superbike victory, at the KDM Hire Cookstown 100, following a top draw all round performance on Cookstown BE Racing’s GSX-R 1000 Suzuki superbike.
Nearest challenger Derek McGee in second place, finished 5.121 seconds behind the 2013 Irish road race superbike championship, still second place finish showcased the increasing sharp end presence of the Noel Williamson Racing S1000RR BMW.
Photo by Baylon McCaughey
Malachi Mitchell Thomas battled back from a slip off in the supersport invitational race, to finish a great third, as he once again showcased his huge talent on the roads.
Dan Kneen having his first roads run out on Mar Train Racing’s stock YZF R1M Yamaha, finished fourth.
Brian McCormack, TAG Racing/VTL Honda, lead the Honda challenge in fifth place, as William Dunlop finalised the top six finishers.
Seamus Elliott was a good seventh on aggregate, having started from the third wave, on The Peoples Bike Team backed ZX10R Kawasaki.
John Walsh was eighth, 2014 Duke Road Race Rankings champion James Cowton was ninth on the Cowton Racing by Radcliffe’s CBR 600 Honda.
The top ten was wrapped up by reigning Irish road race senior support champion, Kevin Fitzpatrick.
Additional stand out performances included Gareth Keys in eleventh place and Michael Weldon a highly respectable fourteenth.
Open Superbike Race Results:
1 Derek Sheils
2 Derek McGee
3 Malachi Mitchell Thomas
4 Dan Kneen
5 Brian McCormack
6 William Dunlop
7 Seamus Elliott
8 John Walsh
9 James Cowton
10 Kevin Fitzpatrick
Words by Stevie Rial
