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

Derek Sheils prevailed in a red-hot Open Superbike race that went down to the wire at Saturday’s Around A Pound Tandragee 100.

The Cookstown/B.E. Racing rider started from pole on the Suzuki GSX-R1000 but it was Derek McGee who led the way on the first lap on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, with Manx rider Dan Kneen tucked in behind on the Tyco BMW.

The leading trio broke away, with Sheils and McGee trading places at the front as Kneen kept a watching brief on the S1000RR without quite being able to get close to enough to challenge for the lead.

Behind them William Dunlop eventually found his way past Banbridge man Shaun Anderson to take fourth on the Temple Golf Yamaha. Dunlop had been in seventh place on lap one before he began to pick his way through.

Sheils had to moved into the lead on the penultimate lap ahead of McGee by 0.7 seconds, with Kneen dropping back slightly, 2.3 seconds adrift.

However, on the sixth and final lap, Mullingar man McGee edged closer to Sheils and was right on his rear wheel as they charged towards Bells Crossroads for the final time.

As Sheils held his line, McGee ran wide on the brakes, allowing Kneen to pounce for the runner-up spot as McGee was forced to settle for the final rostrum place.

Kneen set a new lap record at 109.609mph, breaking Michael Dunlop's benchmark for the class, which has stood since 2011.

William Dunlop held fourth ahead of the impressive Anderson (Suzuki), while Michael Sweeney completed the top six on the MJR BMW.

Davey Todd (Cookstown/B.E. Racing Suzuki) excelled on his race debut at the 5.3-mile course as he finished seventh ahead of McAdoo Racing’s Adam McLean.