Cookstown 100 Q&A: Ten things you should know about Ireland's only road race of 2020

Adam McLean has been a winner at Cookstown in each of the last three years

The focus of bike fans will be firmly on the Cookstown 100 this weekend as the only Irish motorcycle road racing event to survive the Covid-19 pandemic is staged over the Orritor circuit.

All other international and national meetings scheduled for 2020 on the island of Ireland have fallen victim of the restrictions around coronavirus.

BBC Sport NI explains some of the hurdles the organisers have had to overcome, the guidelines that have been put in place to make it happen and who are the riders to watch out for.

Are any other road races being held in 2020?

While the Cookstown 100 will be the only road race to run in Ireland this year the Scarborough parkland circuit in Yorkshire is hosting two road races.

The Barry Sheene Classic took place in August and the Gold Cup meeting will be held this weekend over the same Oliver's Mount course.

The North West 200, Ulster Grand Prix and Armoy road races were cancelled, along with all scheduled events in the Republic of Ireland.

The Tandragee 100 organisers left the door slightly ajar by initially postponing their race but no new date was set.

The Cookstown Club immediately stated their intention to apply for rearranged road closing orders for 11-12 September when they announced in March that they were rescheduling their meeting from its customary late April slot.

Is this the first motorcycle race in NI this year?

The Belfast and District Motorcycle Club successfully ran the 'King of Kirkistown' meeting last weekend with a maximum of 150 competitors and 300 spectators enjoying a 15-race card.

Further meetings may be staged at Mondello Park in the Republic but no more short circuit events are scheduled for Northern Ireland this year.

The traditional end-of-season Sunflower meeting at Bishopscourt will not take place and the Neil and Donny Robinson Memorial event planned for Bishopscourt in October was called off last week.

Paul Jordan will be one of the favourites for the top honours at Cookstown

What is the history of the Cookstown 100?

With the demise of the Temple 100, which was last held in 1999, the Cookstown 100 became the oldest road race on the island of Ireland. It was first held as a 30-mile event on Thursday 15 June 1922.

The 1998 running of the race was the last held on the Sherrygroom circuit, with the meeting moved to the more manageable 3.2-mile Orritor circuit in 1999, that course being reduced to the present 2.1-mile one the following year.

Ryan Farquhar holds the record for the most wins, racking up 26 victories between 1996 and 2012, followed by Ray McCullough on 14, Joey Dunlop and Robert Dunlop (11 apiece) and Phillip McCallen and Michael Dunlop (both 10).

Michael Dunlop holds the lap record for the existing circuit at 91.48mph - a benchmark set in 2013.

What guidelines have been put in place because of coronavirus?

The event is subject to a number of restrictions made necessary by the NI Executive's guidelines aimed at minimising the spread of Covid-19.

Limitations on numbers of people meeting outdoors in NI do not apply to sporting events but strict guidelines around social distancing must be adhered to.

It is possible that these or similar restrictions may remain in place in 2021 so organisers are hoping to use this event as an opportunity to prove that motorcycle race meetings can be held within the guidelines set out by the NI Executive, Sport NI, local councils, PSNI and the NHS.

Numbers of riders, officials, media, marshalls and medics will all be limited, with each rider being permitted two other personnel in the paddock.

Spectator admission has been limited to 2500 - 1000 on Friday and 1500 on Saturday - with sales of pre-race packages taking place online since July.

Fans will only be allowed to watch from one of 10 designated areas with a maximum number of spectators in each.

Has everyone been supportive of running the event?

Motorcycling Ireland and the governing body of the sport in Ulster have been at odds for months over whether the race should be taking place.

The staging of the meeting remains a matter of controversy at governance level, with the Southern Centre of the MCUI publicly expressing their desire that no motorcycling events should be held throughout Ireland in 2020.

The Ulster Centre has maintained they wanted the race to go ahead so long as the guidance provided by the NI Executive and other interested parties permitted them to do so.

Derek Sheils, Adam McLean and Derek McGee all won races at last year's Cookstown 100

Is the race programme different for 2020?

There will be fewer races than normal - no racing this year on Friday night and 12 races on Saturday.

There will be an Open race, a feature race, a Supersport outing and classes for 125cc/Moto3, 250/400cc, Supertwins and classic machines, plus Senior and Junior Support outings.

Roads will be closed from 12.00 BST to 21:30 on Friday and from 10.00 BST until 19:30 on Saturday, with spectators requested to be in their positions from 11.00 BST and 09:30 BST respectively.

Who are the riders to watch?

McAdoo Racing Kawasaki rider Adam McLean will start as one of the favourites for success at what is his team's home race.

McLean has enjoyed plenty of track time by competing in the British Superstock 600cc class on English short circuits and has won races at the Cookstown in each of the past three years - the Supersports in 2017 and 2019 and the Supertwins in 2018.

Magherafelt's Paul Jordan and rising star Mike Browne, from Cork, make up the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing team on board Suzuki Superbikes and Yamaha Supersports, while Skerries man Michael Sweeney is always there or thereabouts on the Irish roads.

Among the other leading entries are Darryl Tweed, Neil Kernohan, Thomas Maxwell, Stephen McKnight and Rob Barber.

Any significant absentees?

Derek McGee and Derek Sheils were not included in the entry list for 2020

Mullingar rider Derek McGee, who secured a treble in 2019 by winning the feature event, the Moto3/125 category and the Supertwins, has opted against competing this year as he bids to get fully fit for 2021 after suffering a number of injuries in recent seasons.

McGee's success in the main race last year halted a run of six straight 'big bike' victories for fellow Republic of Ireland rider Derek Sheils, who was also absent from the initial list of entries released by the organisers.

Speaking at Kirkistown on Saturday, eight-time Cookstown race winner Sheils was unable to confirm one way or another whether he would take in the Orritor meeting on his Roadhouse Macau BMW 1000.

Are there any notable newcomers?

Former British Superbike points scorer and reigning Ulster Superbike champion Carl Phillips is set to compete at a national road race for the first time, having made his international roads debut at the North West last year, finishing eighth in the first Supertwins race.

The Lisburn rider will pilot 750cc, 600cc and SV650 Supertwin Suzukis on his debut.

Danila Krasnivk will become the first Russian to race at Cookstown, while the international flavour will also include German trio David Datzer, Stefan Wauter and Takos Vassilos, who will all make their maiden appearances.

What of the future?

Pre-booked ticket sales should help in some part to ease some of the financial pressures being experienced by the Cookstown organisers.

In November the club issued a statement expressing concern for the future of their event, having made a £20,000 loss at their 2019 meeting because of rising insurance costs and poor weather.