By After a lengthy delay, the big one, the showpiece event, the moved forward Bear Competitions Cookstown 100 (A) race got underway at nigh-on 5:40 PM with the race distance seven laps long.
65 plate holder Michael Sweeney made the strongest start, usurping pole-sitter Michael Dunlop before Gorton.
By lap one’s ending, Dunlop was right alongside Sweeney with 0.095 of a second between them.
M1000RR BMW equipped Dunlop, lapping in the low 1.24’s, moved past Sweeney on lap two.
If road racing aficionados expected Dunlop astride his stealth, testing liveried BMW to now surge away, they would be proved wrong as Sweeney kept stern touch across lap three, lapping at virtually the same pace as his counterpart.
It was a similar story throughout lap four albeit Dunlop’s race-lead expanded marginally to plus 0.6 of a second.
Nearing his own existing lap-record, Dunlop got the P1 advantage up-to over two seconds on lap five.
Lap six saw the TT wins record-holder create another moment of pure road racing history, a new outright lap record of 1 minute 22.377 seconds.
‘Maverick’ went onto take in supreme style, feature race honours by 5.634 seconds.
Derek McGee, eking the most out of his Supersport steed obtained third, 16.411 behind fellow countryman Sweeney.
Continuing to impress, Daracore Racing’s Kevin Keyes finished fourth.
Brian McCormack (Roadhouse Macau BMW), Neil Kernohan, James Chawke bagged fifth, sixth, seventh place finishes.
Darryl Tweed, Darryl Anderson, Lion Heart Moto Racing’s Julian Trummer unlocked finishes eighth to tenth whilst finishers eleventh to nineteenth were:
Michael Gahan (11th), Barry Furber (12th), Martin Morris (13th), Andy Farrell (14th).
Top three finisher in 2024 Ryan Whitehall (15th), Dermot Cleary (16th), Liam Chawke (17th), Graham McAleese (18th), the one and only Paul Cranston (19th).
Photo credit: Tommy Vennard
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou
