DUNLOP BAGS FIRST WIN OF 2018
Supersport glory but no champagne debut for his Tyco TT BMW
Michael Dunlop made a winning start to 2018 at the Cookstown 100 on Saturday in the Supersport race. But it was Derek Sheils on the Burrows Suzuki who won the Open race, denying Dunlop a debut win on the Tyco BMW S1000RR he will ride in this year’s Senior TT.
Sheils, who will ride a BMW for the Penz13.com at the TT, was forced to start from the second wave in the Open race when his GSX-R1000 blew an engine during practice. With a clear road in front of him, the Dubliner won by almost five seconds on corrected time as Dunlop struggled to get his S1000RR off the line. Dunlop had the consolation of setting the fastest lap of the race.
“I wanted to win but the race was over by the time I got to the front,” Dunlop said.
The opening superbike race had been delayed by heavy rain that played havoc with the day’s schedule. More rain left the 2.1-mile circuit in a treacherous condition and after a series of crashes the meeting was abandoned, denying Dunlop the chance to avenge his defeat to Sheils in the feature superbike race. The 15-times TT winner wasn’t unduly concerned as he was using the meeting to get to grips with his new superbike mount for 2018. “It is hard to get a setting with just five laps of practice,” Dunlop said after Friday’s qualifying. “I didn’t get enough time to find out what I had to change. The bike is running with new BMW electronics and they are very precise. We totally changed the bike for the race to try to make the power more useable for this track.” Dunlop said the bike felt good with the new settings but was unsure when he would race next. His Tyco BMW team-mate Dan Kneen will have his first outing at this weekend’s Tandragee 100 but Dunlop confirmed he will not be riding at the County Armagh venue.