For the opening round of the 2025 King of the Roads season, riders gathered in the small village of Orritor in County Tyrone for the Cookstown 100. It’s the longest running of all the Northern Irish Road races; the first event took place in the town in 1922. It’s also the shortest circuit in the country, at just 2.1 miles. Despite this, it presents a true challenge with sharp 90-degree corners, jumps and off-camber corners.
And although riders woke on race day to grey skies, conditions around the Orritor Circuit were generally good, and improved throughout the event.
Points were available for both the Open and Cookstown 100 events, giving riders double the chance to tally early points in the 19-race season. The championship, which takes part at 9 events across 5 countries, ranks riders in the main Superbike races, the rider with the most points crowned the King of the Roads at the end of the year.
After missing the 2024 event, crowd favourite Michael Dunlop was back, the Ballymoney man racing his own MD Racing BMW M1000RR for the first time this season as he searches for a Superbike solution. He would though have tough competition from Dublin’s Michael Sweeney, runner up in 2024 and also on an M1000RR. emerged as favourites for both points paying races. Other favourites included Mullingar’s Derek McGee, back at Cookstown for the first time since 2018, short circuit specialist Kevin Keyes and Waterford’s Brian McCormack.
With rain affecting Friday qualifying, grids were sorted by experience, leaving Dunlop, Sweeney and McGee on the front row. Off the line, Dunlop faltered, allowing Sweeney to take the lead, with the TT win record holder slotting into second place. The two remained nose to tail until Lap 3, when the red flags would be brought out for an incident at Mackney corner. The rider was airlifted to Royal Hospital in Belfast and is being treated for his injuries. The race would not be restarted and therefore no points were awarded for the Open race.
In the headlining Cookstown 100 race, which was reduced in distance from 12 to 7 laps, Dunlop got a better start, but it was still Sweeney who led into the first corner. But at the start of Lap 2, Dunlop took the lead and never looked back, dominating the remainder of the Cookstown 100 race. The BMW man also set the fastest ever lap around the Orritor Course, a 1:22.377, eclipsing his own lap record from 2013. Sweeney finished second, 5 seconds behind, while Derek McGee beat Kevin Keyes by just 9 tenths of a second for the final podium place.
With his Cookstown win, Dunlop therefore heads the King of the Roads standings after 1 of 19 races. Michael Sweeney in second place and Derek McGee third. Next on the King of the Roads schedule is the North West 200 in early May.
