News from Armoy - Dunlop on form

as he takes the Cookstown Burrows Engineering 250 to 2nd

Press Release

• Racing

John Burrows had his Cookstown Burrows Engineering Racing team back in action at the Armoy meeting and the Dungannon based outfit came home with a number of successful results to their credit.
Michael Dunlop stepped up to ride the team's quarter litre Honda in the 250GP event and finished second to rising star Sam Wilson. Dunlop looked ready to pounce on Wilson on the last lap after reducing the Cullybackey kid's advantage from three seconds to under one second, but the Cookstown Burrows Engineering machine lost power as the race reached its climax. The problem was later diagnosed as a broken piston ring.

Guy Martin joined the team for the meeting and was expected to feature in the Supertwins race. He looked good for a front row qualifying result on Friday evening until the Cookstown Burrows Engineering Kawasaki 650 sustained an engine problem and as Martin sat on the sidelines he was bumped down to seventh place on the grid. The machine was repaired for Saturday's race but as Martin had been restricted to less than four laps on the twin cylinder machine which he had not ridden before, he decided to not to take part in the race.

Mullingar's Thomas Maxwell rode the Cookstown Burrows Engineering Honda 600 at Armoy and acquitted himself very well. In the Supersport race he finished eleventh just behind Christian Elkin and ahead of Davy Morgan, while he took tenth place in both the Superbike Championship race and Race of Legends feature race which was won by Michael Dunlop.

Team owner John Burrows spoke after the end of the Armoy action:
"It was good to get the team up and running again although it felt a bit strange being here without Jamie (Hamilton). I wanted a podium finish for the team and Michael gave us that in the 250 race when he finished second but I think he could have won but for the minor engine problem. He had set the fastest lap of the race and was rapidly closing on Sam Wilson just before the bike lost power. "Guy was quickly on the pace in Supertwins qualifying, once again showing how strong and competitive our 650 is, but sadly the engine expired on his fourth lap and with so little time on the bike it was probably sensible for him not to race it on Saturday. "Thomas did a good job first time out on the Supersport bike. He was mixing it with, and beating, some very experienced men, I'm certain he will only get better. Top ten results at Armoy are not easily obtained so job well done Thomas.
"It's on now to Dundrod and the Ulster Grand Prix. Thomas will ride the 600 again while we are all excited about Glenn Irwin riding the Supertwin."