COOKSTOWN/BE Racing's John Burrows had a tough time at the Armoy road races but he emerged from the popular meeting with his head held high after a more than decent top six performance in the Supersport race.

Burrows and his Cookstown/BE Suzuki GSXR 1000 Superbike didn't get a finish from two attempts which was disappointing after a more than promising qualifying session.

John said: "I qualified sixth for the two Superbike events, splitting the two Tyco Suzuki men Guy Martin and Conor Cummins. I was quite comfortable following Martin in qualifying and was just 0.39 of a second slower than him. I was full of confidence for the two big bike races after qualifying ahead of Cummins, Derek Sheils, Jamie Hamilton, Davy Morgan and some other notables.

"When the Superbike Championship race started I tucked in behind Cummins on the first lap and was just settling down when my race came to a sudden end. Hamilton tried to pass me on the outside at Church Bends, we tangled, I had to run wide, clipped the kerb and ended up in the air bales. Race over for me!

"The bike was not too badly damaged and we got it ready for the Grand Final. I was sure I could get a top six finish but an electrical problem soon surfaced, which was the result of the earlier crash, and I was forced to retire."

Burrows qualified tenth for the Supersport 600 race on the Moira Club supported Cookstown/BE Yamaha R6 but was a man on a mission come the rain-swept race.

He commented: "Qualifying tenth meant I had to start the 600 race from the second group. I got a good start and after I got the scent of a few group A guys ahead of me I really went for it and actually caught and passed Adrian Archibald and Brian McCormack.

"In the end I ended up sixth, just four hundredths of a second behind factory Suzuki man Guy Martin."


Burrows' hopes of a top three finish at Armoy were dashed by an engine failure in the Supertwins qualifying session.

A frustrated Burrows said: "I qualified fourth for the Supertwins race and had genuine prospects of a top three finish as the KBM Kawasaki 650 was really flying. However, after the qualifying session was over the team discovered a major engine problem and the only option I had was to regretfully withdraw from the race.

"Overall, it's disappointing to come away from the meeting with only one finish to show for all out efforts but we showed we had top six pace in every class and when you look at the international quality entry there was here then there's plenty of reasons to be positive as we head for the Ulster Grand Prix."

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