Sheils was the only rider under the three-minute barrier as he clocked his fastest lap in 2m 59.435s (107.212mph) around the 5.3-mile County Armagh course.

The Cookstown/B.E. Racing rider won the Open Superbike race at Tandragee in dominant style last year, coming home 14 seconds ahead of William Dunlop.

Mullingar’s Derek McGee was second quickest on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, 0.787s behind Sheils, while Manx rider Dan Kneen slotted in third on the Tyco BMW Superbike.

Kneen, who won the feature race on his last appearance at the Irish national meeting in 2016, lapped in 3m 01.915s, which left him 2.480s back on Sheils.

Banbridge man Shaun Anderson was quickly into his stride as he went fourth fastest ahead of Michael Sweeney and William Dunlop.

Adam McLean on the McAdoo Kawasaki and newcomer Davey Todd (Cookstown/B.E. Racing Suzuki) were the top eight.

SUPERBIKE TIMES

1 D Sheils (Suzuki) 2m 59.435s
2 D McGee (Kawasaki) 3m 00.222s
3 D Kneen (BMW) 3m 01.915s
4 S Anderson (Suzuki) 3m 03.989s
5 M Sweeney (BMW) 3m 04.620s
6 W Dunlop (Yamaha) 3m 04.865s
7 A McLean (Kawasaki) 3m 06.772s
8 D Todd (Suzuki) 3m 07.957s