John Burrows says Dominic Herbertson surpassed expectations on Superbike bow at Cookstown 100

Former racer Burrows watched on as Hexham man Herbertson rattled off a four-timer on Saturday at the Co Tyrone meeting, where he also won the Supersport and Moto3 races.

It was the 33-year-old’s first time riding a 1000cc machine at the 2.1-mile Orritor course but Herbertson impressed on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW M1000RR.

He won the Open A race comfortably after key rival Michael Sweeney encountered an issue with his MJR BMW but Herbertson had to give everything to beat the Irish rider in the showpiece 12-lap Superbike race, when they were separated by only 0.175s at the finish after a compelling duel around the narrow country roads.

“It was a great weekend for Dom and the team and although I probably expected him to be on the podium, I didn’t necessarily expect him to be winning on the big bike,” Burrows said.

“Dom had never been to the Cookstown on a big bike before but he knows his way around having been before on the smaller bikes.

“The main Superbike race was probably one of the best Superbike races of recent times on the roads. If Dom had won the race by ten seconds it would’ve been a lot easier on us standing watching it!

“But it was a great race to win and credit to ‘Micko’ – with the injuries that he sustained last year at the North West 200, to come back at the first road race and put on that performance shows that he hasn’t lost any of his ability or will to win.”

Burrows felt the event showcased Irish road racing at its best even if the event was missing star name Michael Dunlop, who opted not to race on Saturday after crashing out of the Supersport invitation race on Friday evening.

Dunlop, who walked away from the incident on his MD Racing Triumph, had earlier won the Superbike invitation race on the Hawk Racing Honda from Herbertson.

Burrows said: “When is the last time we had a 12-lap Superbike race at Cookstown? It’s always been stopped and started or whatever and unfortunately we maybe didn’t have a massive depth of field, no disrespect to any of the other guys, but the lap times showed the pace that Dom and ‘Micko’ were on.

“Certainly, they were the best part of half-a-second off the lap record but the roads have changed also and haven’t got any better since Michael (Dunlop) set the lap record [in 2013].

“If Michael had been on the grid on Saturday, you would have to think the lap record probably could have gone because Michael’s on great form at the moment and he proved how fast he was in Friday’s race.”

The North West 200 is up next for the Ulster team and Burrows is optimistic Herbertson can build on his performance at Cookstown and give another good account of himself against the top road racers in the world.

“The North West 200 is around the corner and we’re not going with any expectations for him to win because it’s a different level again, but I do think out of the group of expected winners, Dom has to be next in line for the best of the rest,” he said.

“You could name at least half a dozen riders capable of winning at the North West 200 and I recall he was having a great ride in the Superstock race until he had to retire because of an eye injury.

“I think he was running fourth or fifth so he knows his way around and he's going into the event with his confidence up.”