Paul Jordan during a test at Kirkistown on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Yamaha R6.

Magherafelt man Jordan and up and coming prospect Browne, from Cork, were brought into the Dungannon-based team in a revamped line-up for 2020, replacing the experienced Derek Sheils – who left in an amicable split – and England’s Tom Weeden.

The coronavirus pandemic wiped out the Irish and international road racing calendar with the exception of the Cookstown meeting in Co Tyrone, which was postponed from April, leaving Jordan and Browne pondering whether or not they would have the opportunity to ride for John Burrows’ team this year.

However, a relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions following the UK-wide lockdown has enabled the Cookstown 100 to go ahead this weekend, albeit with strict measures in place, including limited numbers of spectators (1000 on Friday, 1500 on Saturday), team personnel and media.

Jordan – who was also due to contest the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT this year for Lee Hardy’s RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki team – and Browne have tested the Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Yamaha R6 machines at Kirkistown, but the duo will now be in action for the first time for their new team on the roads as practice commences around the 2.1-mile Orritor course.

Jordan said:

“I’ve trained really hard this year and I’m happy in myself, so they say a happy rider is a fast rider and I’m looking forward to getting out there.

“I’ll be disappointed if I don’t give a good account of myself at Cookstown but there’s no pressure from John or the team to be fair, it’s more about the pressure I put on myself.

“We looked at doing the short circuit race at Kirkistown but we decided it would be more beneficial in terms of track time to get another test done somewhere.”

Jordan will ride Superbike and Supersport machinery this weekend, although Browne – who only rode a 1000cc machine for the first time during a test at Kirkistown in July will concentrate solely on riding the Yamaha R6.

Team principle John Burrows explained:

“We’re just going to run Mike on the 600 at Cookstown because he’s never rode a big bike on the roads before and I’d like to do a bit more groundwork with him.

“He’s more comfortable on the 600 and we’d rather keep him focused on that for now because it would be asking too much for him to run with Paul (Jordan), Adam (McLean) and ‘Micko’ (Sweeney).

“He is under no pressure and has nothing to prove to me. I’ve brought Mike into the team to try and get him to the next level in racing, so whether he wins or finishes 10th, it won’t disturb the plan I have for him going forward next year,” Burrows added.

“The 600 race should be quite open because Paul, Adam and ‘Micko’ are pretty evenly matched, and don’t be surprised to see Mike give them a bit of a push as well because he’s a seriously talented rider.”

Skerries man Michael Sweeney will be in action on his MJR BMW and CM Building Yamaha R6 machines. Sweeney is also set to compete in the Supertwin race on his KBS Kawasaki.

Also entered are Thomas Maxwell, Darryl Tweed, Stephen McKnight, Dan Harrison, Davy Morgan, Damian Horan, Paul Cranston, Neil Kernohan and Rob Barber.

A question-mark remains over the appearance of six-time Superbike race winner Derek Sheils following a dispute over his entry for the event.

Lisburn’s Carl Phillips is among the newcomers on the PRF 750 and 600 Suzuki machines.

Practice takes place from 12 noon on Friday, with racing scheduled for shortly after 10am on Saturday.

Spectators are asked to be in their positions by 11am and 9.30am respectively. Admission is strictly by wristband only.