By Hampered in big bike qualifying via the Cookstown BE Racing Suzuki Superbike encountering a blown engine, Derek Sheils more than made up for the disappointment in Supersport qualifying, securing pole position for tomorrow’s feature middleweight encounter at Cookstown.
Topping the time sheets by under a tenth of a second, in front of McAdoo Kawasaki’s Adam McLean, the Orritor circuit maestro in determined fashion, more than underlined the potential of his new 600 steed for this season, the ex IC Racing/Caffrey International Yamaha, piloted previously by William Dunlop.
Photo by Rod Neill
Alongside heading the Superbike time sheets, Mullingar’s Derek McGee additionally went onto secure 125/Moto 3 pole position, aboard the Joeys Bar MCC Honda, finishing over two seconds clear of Adam McLean.
Rising star McLean, held off the attentions of McAdoo team mate James Cowton, and fellow next gen roads competitor Joe Loughlin to bank Super Twins pole, whilst the ever reliable Barry Davidson headed the yesteryear Junior Classic/Senior Classic fields.
New talent respectively sealing pole positions in the Junior Support and Senior Support categories, were Barry Sheehan and Michael Browne.
Final timed practice of the day, saw Ballymoney’s Darryl Tweed edge out fellow 400 specialist Alistair Haworth, to top the Lightweight class time sheets.
Newcomers across the qualifying sessions to impress, included New Zealand’s Daniel Mettam, seventh quickest amongst the Super Twins, prospective Manx GP debutant Steven Haddow, Owen Graves, and Cookstown BE Racing’s Davey Todd, who continues to further consolidate his place, as one of pure road racing’s fastest rising talents.
Results per class, from qualifying at the KDM Hire Cookstown 100, are as follows:
125/Moto 3:
1 Derek McGee 1.33.987
2 Adam McLean 1.36.148
3 Paul Robinson 1.37.836
4 Joe Loughlin 1.38.940
5 Paul Jordan 1.40.649
6 Nigel Moore 1.40.835
7 Melissa Kennedy 1.42.259
8 Christopher Eder 1.42.719
9 Jim Hind 1.44.756
10 Neil Kernohan 1.45.796
Senior Support:
1 Michael Browne 1.31.491
2 Darren Keys 1.32.095
3 Steven Haddow 1.33.931
4 Sean Seddon 1.34.163
5 Aaron Mellish 1.34.453
6 Owen Graves 1.35.739
7 Steven Clarke 1.36.474
8 Andy McAllister 1.36.868
9 William Hara 1.36.892
10 Wayne Sheehan 1.37.291
Junior Classics:
1 Barry Davidson 1.45.185
2 Nigel Moore 1.50.824
3 Ed Manly 1.52.570
4 Chris McGahan 1.52.578
5 Linton Irwin 1.52.888
6 Freddie Stewart 1.53.027
7 Jamie O’Brien 1.53.536
8 Brian Mateer 1.54.817
9 Philip Shaw 1.54.883
10 Richard Ford 1.55.147
Supersport:
1 Derek Sheils 1.26.243
2 Adam McLean 1.26.338
3 Derek McGee 1.26.515
4 James Cowton 1.27.106
5 Michael Dunlop 1.27.195
6 William Dunlop 1.27.348
7 Michael Sweeney 1.27.582
8 Paul Jordan 1.28.236
9 Dan Cooper 1.29.710
10 Joe Loughlin 1.29.927
Senior Classics:
1 Barry Davidson 1.44.637
2 Richard Ford 1.44.975
3 Morgan Govignon 1.47.352
4 Freddie Stewart 1.48.489
5 Mark Parrett 1.49.278
6 John Leigh Pemberton 1.49.523
7 Billy Lyle 1.50.182
8 Anthony Ambler 1.50.265
9 Jamie O’Brien 1.51.426
10 Gary Hutton 1.52.764
Super Twins:
1 Adam McLean 1.28.688
2 James Cowton 1.29.328
3 Joe Loughlin 1.29.889
4 Thomas Maxwell 1.30.541
5 Davey Todd 1.30.934
6 Michael Browne 1.32.716
7 Daniel Mettam 1.32.781
8 Dominic Herbertson 1.33.082
9 Shaun Anderson 1.33.215
10 Alistair Kirk 1.33.823
Junior Support:
1 Barry Sheehan 1.36.300
2 Jason Cassells 1.37.801
3 Alistair Haworth 1.37.856
4 Michael Nagle 1.39.494
5 Liam Chawke 1.40.299
6 Rikki McGovern 1.40.689
7 Tommy Heaphy 1.40.729
8 Brian Loughlin 1.41.070
9 Eoin O’Siochru 1.41.237
10 Anthony Ambler 1.41.314
Lightweight:
1 Darryl Tweed 1.37.904
2 Alistair Haworth 1.38.145
3 Seamus Elliott 1.39.889
4 Stephen McKeown 1.39.901
5 Stephen Morrison 1.41.596
6 Gareth Keys 1.41.857
7 Michael Rees 1.41.897
8 Rikki McGovern 1.41.939
9 Brian Loughlin 1.42.734
10 Vic Allan 1.43.005
Words by Stevie Rial
