Derek McGee threw down the gauntlet as the Mullingar man secured a pole quadruple at the Faugheen 50 Road Races in County Tipperary on Saturday.

McGee, who made his racing comeback from injury at last weekend’s ill-fated Walderstown meeting - where Ballyclare man Darren Keys was killed following a crash in the Senior Support race - bagged the top spot in all four classes he has entered.

Riding the NJ Doyne Kawasaki, he edged out main rival Derek Sheils (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Suzuki) by only 0.2 seconds in the Superbike session, with Michael Sweeney less than seven tenths of a second further back in third on his MJR BMW.

McGee again had the upper hand in the Supersport class, taking pole by 0.4 seconds from Sheils (Roadhouse Macau Yamaha), with Sweeney again clinching third on the grid on his Yamaha.

In the Supertwin class, McGee topped the time sheets on the KMR Kawasaki by half-a-second from Skerries 100 winner Sweeney, with James Chawke in third, less than one second further back.

McGee was streets ahead on his ex-Grand Prix Faraldo Racing Honda in the Moto3/125GP session by 3.2 seconds from Gary Dunlop (Joey’s Bar Honda), while Melissa Kennedy was third quickest, around 1.4 seconds back on Ballymoney man Dunlop.

Tommy Henry and Vinny Brennan claimed pole in the Senior and Junior Support classes respectively.

Roads close at Faugheen in Carrick-on-Suir at 8am on Sunday, with racing expected to get under way around 11am.