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Mago
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« on: June 23, 2014, 06:49:38 pm » |
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COOKSTOWN B.E. Racing riders Dan Kneen and Michael Sweeney both played starring roles at the resurgent Kells road races in County Meath.
Runaway Irish Superbike Championship leader Kneen did a superb big-bike double while Sweeney topped the 250GP lap chart and was runner-up in both Superbike affairs.
Kneen and his Cookstown B. E. Racing GSXR 1000 Suzuki won the Superbike Championship race by almost two seconds from Sweeney. Mullingar missile Derek McGee was between the two team mates until the last lap when he crashed out of the action as he tried to challenge Kneen for the win.
Kneen led the race from start to finish and he provided a repeat performance in the Grand Final in which Sweeney finished one and a half seconds in arrears. During the Grand Final, Kneen posted the fastest lap of the weekend (1.13.58) when he averaged 110.08 mph over the 2.2 miles Crossakiel circuit.
Skerries boy Sweeney won a ding-dong 250GP race by less than a second from Seamus Elliott. The pair were never more than a few yards apart during the six laps race and Sweeney made the top prize his with a clever last corner pass, leaving his rival no time to retaliate.
Sweeney's 250 Honda suffered an engine failure during qualifying and Cookstown B.E. Racing's two-stroke wizard Mark Kelly obviously did a great rebuild before the race started.
Manxman Kneen had a disappointing seventh place finish in the Supertwins race and complained that the Cookstown B.E. Racing Kawasaki 650 didn't feel right. Tuner Shane Wogan examined the machine afterwards and found a problem that had sapped more than ten horsepower from the twin cylinder machine!
Kneen finished fifth in the Supersport 600 race that was won by McGee while Sweeney was fourth at the chequered flag. Kneen qualified back in ninth which meant he had to start the race from the second group which effectively ruined his top three chances. Changes made by the crew to the bike gave Kneen good pace in the race but he could only find his way up to fifth - a good job given the circumstances.
Team owner John Burrows was a happy man when he landed back in Tyrone after a great weekend for his team. Burrows said: "First of all well done to the promoters for getting the Kells races going again. They had the circuit in great shape and their efforts were rewarded by a big crowd and some fantastic racing.
"Dan and Michael were both in terrific form and three wins was a great return for the team's efforts. Dan deserves great praise for a Superbike double on his first visit to the Kells circuit, but we knew he could do it as he had at Cookstown and Tandragee.
"We have now turned our attention to the forthcoming Bush races which take place right on my doorstep. It will be another new circuit for Dan, a hard one to learn I have to say, but I'm sure both he and Michael will be to the fore. McGee will start favourite for the main races in
my estimation but we'll not make life easy for him. It should be a great weekend of racing in South-East Tyrone."
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