By Excellent conditions greeted competitors, for qualifying sessions at the 2016 Tandragee 100.
Supersport:
William Dunlop was in dominant form in supersport qualifying, as he finished almost over three seconds ahead of the chasing pack, on the Ivan Curran/CD Racing YZF R6 Yamaha.
Tandragee newcomer Malachi Mitchell Thomas second quickest, continues to impress hugely, one to watch tomorrow on Cookstown BE Racing’s CBR 600 Honda.
Mar Train Racing’s Dan Kneen, showed highly accomplished form, in finishing third fastest.
Michael Sweeney’s excellent start to his 2016 roads season continues a pace, finishing fourth in qualifying.
Whilst one of the stand out performances from qualifying, was by Joe Newbould fifth quickest on his own teams ZX6R Kawasaki.
Rising star Paul Jordan was sixth fastest, as VRS Racing’s Colin Stephenson, Logan Racing’s Neil Kernohan, Dean Campbell and Thomas Maxwell concluded the ten fastest qualifiers.
Super Twins:
Seven times Duke Road Race Rankings champion Ryan Farquhar set the pace in super twins qualifying.
Piloting his own teams ER6 Kawasaki, Ryan finished just 0.110 in front of second quickest Malachi Mitchell Thomas, who continues to produce multiple world class performances.
Paul Jordan finished third fastest as Rhys Hardisty propelled the McKinstry Racing ER6 Kawasaki, to fourth in qualifying.
Up and coming star Adam McLean was fifth, Stephen McKnight sixth, Andy Farrell seventh, Michal Dokoupil on his Tandragee debut was eighth quickest.
Finalising the ten fastest qualifiers was VRS Racing’s Colin Stephenson and Mark Shiels.
Senior Open:
Dan Kneen finished on top in a close fought senior open qualifying session.
Dan has gelled quickly the Mar Train Racing YZF R1M Yamaha, there’s no doubt that he could dominant both superbike races tomorrow at Tandragee.
Photo by Rod Neill
The competition will be stern tough, Derek Sheils second fastest, is in good form on the Cookstown BE Racing GSX-R 1000 Suzuki.
Same applies to Ryan Farquhar third quickest on the IEG (International Energy Group) backed S1000RR BMW, fourth fastest Michael Sweeney is another potential winner.
Derek McGee and the Noel Williamson Racing S1000RR BMW, are additional ones to watch, as they start from fifth on the grid for the blue riband senior open.
Malachi Mitchell Thomas first day of competition at Tandragee, culminates with sixth fastest time, as William Dunlop and the MSS Colchester backed ZX10R Kawasaki, fastest in open superbike and supersport qualifying, finishes seventh quickest.
Davy Morgan, Frank Gallagher and fourth place finisher in the 2015 senior Manx Grand Prix Joe Newbould, complete the top ten qualifiers.
Qualifying Results:
Supersport
1 William Dunlop
2 Malachi Mitchell Thomas
3 Dan Kneen
4 Michael Sweeney
5 Joe Newbould
6 Paul Jordan
7 Colin Stephenson
8 Neil Kernohan
9 Dean Campbell
10 Thomas Maxwell
250
1 Rhys Hardisty
2 Davy Morgan
3 Neil Kernohan
4 Paul Robinson
5 Tommy Henry
6 Callum Laidlaw
Forgotten Era
1 Des Butler
2 Anthony McColgan
3 Robert McCrum
4 Gary Miller
5 Gareth Keys
Junior Support
1 Gavin Brown
2 Stephen Morrison
3 Vic Allan
4 James Chawke
5 Scott Miller
6 Andrew McMullan
7 Thomas Whitmore
8 Rob Livesey
9 John Leigh Pemberton
10 Stephen Davison
Senior Support
1 Joe Newbould
2 Michael Weldon
3 Tommy Henry
4 Paul Williams
5 John Horgan
6 Adrian Logue
7 Vic Allan
8 Sean Connolly
9 Brian Coomey
10 David Holland
Classic 250
1 Philip Shaw
2 Rhys Hardisty
3 Gary Hutton
125
1 Nigel Moore
2 Paul Robinson
3 Adam McLean
4 Sam Wilson
5 Paul Jordan
6 Neil Kernohan
7 Gary Dunlop
8 Jamie O’Brien
9 Callum Laidlaw
10 Derek Clark
400
1 Michael Sweeney
2 Seamus Elliott
3 Darryl Tweed
4 Michal Dokoupil
5 Stephen Morrison
6 Scott Miller
7 Robert Gordon
8 Warren Reeve
9 Gavin Brown
10 Paul Gartland
450
1 Ryan Farquhar
2 Dave Walsh
Classic 500
1 John Leigh Pemberton
2 Mark Parrett
3 Sean Leonard
4 Freddie Stewart
5 Gary Jamison
6 Patrick Walker
Classic 1000
1 Jamie O’Brien
2 John Scott
3 Richard Ford
Super Twins
1 Ryan Farquhar
2 Malachi Mitchell Thomas
3 Paul Jordan
4 Rhys Hardisty
5 Adam McLean
6 Stephen McKnight
7 Andy Farrell
8 Michal Dokoupil
9 Colin Stephenson
10 Mark Shiels
Senior Open
1 Dan Kneen
2 Derek Sheils
3 Ryan Farquhar
4 Michael Sweeney
5 Derek McGee
6 Malachi Mitchell Thomas
7 William Dunlop
8 Davy Morgan
9 Frank Gallagher
10 Joe Newbould
Words by Stevie Rial
