Dan Kneen in the Tandragee 100 and Cookstown

Here's how he's got on

• DanKneen
• Tandragee

In the words of Dan...

Tandragee was another new track to me and I knew it would be hard work to learn it with the little amount of practice you get so I made sure I'd done my homework with this one with lots of laps in the car and on the road bike. It paid off I within a few laps I felt confident with the circuit.
On the SBK I qualified 4th which was good considering the experience the others have there. With the forecast not looking good for Saturday they decided to run the first SBK race after Fridays practice, so I felt a bit like I was in at the deep end really. I got a good start and was 3rd at turn one but managed to get into the lead soon after and just set my own pace, I was expecting to get passed by the regulars, that never happened and I opened up a bigger lead each lap.
The race was red flagged due to an incident and it was declared a result so I won my first race on my debut which I was more than happy with.
I also managed to win the SBK feature race on the Saturday also which was great, I didn't get the best start but picked my way through the pack and got to the front, the bike's working really well so I'm looking forward to the NW 200 next week on it.
I didn't qualify so well on the 600 in 9th but got a good start and was up to 4th by lap 2 and was catching the leading group until problems with the brakes forced me to retire.
Things are going really well at the minute so I'm looking forward to NW 200 and TT as I feel on good form. I'd like to say a big thanks to the B.E Racing team once again.


Not in the words of Dan but interesting nevertheless... COOKSTOWN B.E. Racing team owner John Burrows and his men were more than happy after they started the 2014 pure road racing season in winning fashion, creating a bit of history in the process.
On the twisty and undulating 2.1 miles Orritor circuit on the outskirts of Cookstown, Dan Kneen and Michael Sweeney both enjoyed wins on Cookstown B.E. Racing machinery with Manxman Kneen becoming the first ever circuit newcomer to win the feature Cookstown 100 race. Skerries man Sweeney won the 250GP race after his rivals for the race win, Mark Hanna and Seamus Elliott, encountered misfortune.
Kneen was a revelation on his first appearance at the County Tyrone meeting. After warming up for Saturday's main events with an eighth place in Friday evening's Supersport race, Kneen moved up a gear to star in the next day's proceedings in front of a bumper crowd. Kneen finished fifth in the Supersport A race which was quite a feat given that he started from 19th on the grid in group C.
Kneen was up to third on corrected time at one point in the race won by Michael Dunlop but had to settle for fifth after encountering a lot of traffic as he ploughed his way forward on the Cookstown B.E. Honda 600. Kneen started both big bike races from eleventh place on the grid (group B). In the Open race he made a bad start and had to settle for seventh place in the eight laps race but he was in electric form right from the beginning of the Cookstown 100 feature event and claimed victory on the Cookstown B.E. Suzuki ahead of Tyco Suzuki's William Dunlop - by a  mere three tenths of a second. Kneen's victory was all the more amazing due to the fact that he lost a little time after the start when he got caught up in Jamie Hamilton's accident.
Team owner Burrows was buzzing after a great day at his local circuit where he was once Man of the Meeting.
He said:
"It's absolutely great to win in front of your local fans and sponsors, hopefully we can use the feel-good factor to push for more success in the coming weeks. "Michael's 250GP win came with a bit of fortune but I'm sure he had the beating of his two main rivals before they went out. What can I say about Dan's win in the big race - we were hoping for top six but I had a feeling before the race he was going to produce something special, he's been building up to a big result for a while. He was on lap record pace at Kirkistown on Easter Monday and you could see he brought the short circuit speed to Cookstown. "It's a big feather in Dan's cap to beat William Dunlop and his Tyco Suzuki and it was nice of Phillip Neill to call us after the meeting and offer his congratulations. "Dan and the whole team did a lot of hard work and preparation during the pre-season period and everyone's efforts have been rewarded. Technician Mark Kelly and Dan have built up a great relationship and although Mark couldn't be at Cookstown due to the injuries he received at Mondello Park, he was on the phone giving advice and technical instructions. Dan and I have a great team behind us and it's now onwards and upwards."
Photos by Baylon McCaughey