Two years ago at the Cookstown 100, Dan Kneen produced in my opinion one of the best performances of his pure road racing career to date, as he won a thrilling Grand Final.
Starting from the second wave, the Manxman was quickly embroiled in a battle for race lead on overall time, with Derek McGee, Derek Sheils and William Dunlop.
It was William Dunlop who from lap 1 was race leader on the road, on the Tyco Suzuki.
On overall time though Dan Kneen by lap two, was over a second clear, his lead by the fourth lap, was down to under a second.
Photo by Rod Neill
From here the 2008 Junior Manx Grand Prix winner, kept up a consistent rapid pace, to record a quite sensational race victory, on the Cookstown BE Racing GSX-R 1000 Suzuki.
His feat made all the more remarkable given that at the time in 2014, Dan was competing for the first time around the Orritor Circuit.
William Dunlop 0.349 behind in second place made it a GSX-R 1000 Suzuki 1-2, as Derek McGee finalised the podium finishers.
Derek Sheils finished fourth, whilst Michael Sweeney and John Walsh both enjoyed productive races, in finishing fifth and sixth.
Additional stand out performances included Alan Bonner 7th, Shaun Anderson 9th, Sam Wilson 11th and Robert Wilson in 13th place.
In the 2010’s we have regularly seen gripping Grand Final encounters at Cookstown, but perhaps none as dramatic as Dan Kneen’s 2014 success.
2014 Cookstown 100 – Grand Final Race Results:
1 Dan Kneen
2 William Dunlop
3 Derek McGee
4 Derek Sheils
5 Michael Sweeney
6 John Walsh
7 Alan Bonner
8 Seamus Elliott
9 Shaun Anderson
10 Davy Morgan
11 Sam Wilson
12 Andy Farrell
13 Robert Wilson
14 Paul Cranston
15 Dave Hewson
16 Daley Mathison
17 Callum Laidlaw
18 Nuno Caetano
Words by Stevie Rial