By Derek Sheils became Irish road race superbike champion for the second time, at the Faugheen 50 Road Races, following victory in the open race.
His race win on the Cookstown BE Racing GSX-R 1000 Suzuki, puts him mathematically out of reach for nearest challenger, Derek McGee.
For Cookstown BE Racing it’s their second Irish road race superbike championship success in four years, having won the prestigious title in 2014 with Dan Kneen.
Photo by Baylon McCaughey
The combination of Derek Sheils and the teams GSX-R 1000 Suzuki, has proved a formidable one, on the roads throughout 2016.
Alongside open victory at Faugheen, grand final victories have been secured at the Cookstown 100, Skerries, Walderstown and Mid Antrim 150 meetings.
There was also many a positive moment at TT 2016, which included a highly creditable 13th place finish in the Pokerstars Senior TT.
Commenting on his teams second Irish road race superbike championship success, Cookstown BE Racing Team Owner, John Burrows said:
“We first won the Irish Superbike title in 2014 and it is really sweet to win it back again.
Thanks to his superb riding all year, Derek takes the lion’s share of the credit for the title win.
But this success would not have been possible without the sterling efforts of the whole crew and the unwavering support of our sponsors, most notably Cookstown.”
Next roads meeting on the horizon for Cookstown BE Racing is the Armoy Road Races, where Derek Sheils will be joined in the team by Derek McGee, for competition in the super twins race.
The whole Cookstown BE Racing team send their best wishes to Seamus Elliott and Brian Coomey, who both suffered serious injuries, following incidents at Faugheen.
Words by Stevie Rial
