Dublin rider, Derek Sheils, a double winner at last year’s KDM Cookstown 100 is again focused on repeating his success of 2014, albeit on different machinery this time around.

Now backed by Bangor, County Down based company, BikeBitsNI, Derek will be riding Kawasaki machinery in both Superbike and Supersport classes at this year’s event.
Just last week Sheils had his first outing on the BikeBitsNI.com machinery, when he took in a test session at Mondello Park in Naas, County Kildare.

Sheils said: “Our first test at Mondello went well; it was good to get going at long last and get to work with Johnny Annett of BikeBitsNI. We had a minor issue with the Superstock bike, which put a halt to us getting in too many laps, although it did allow us extra time to focus on the 600.

“We got the bike in the ballpark handling-wise after a handful of sessions and I felt comfortable riding it. We will be out again at Mondello at the end of the month, and hopefully that will allow us to get in some time on the ’stocker."

Looking ahead to Cookstown, he concluded: “I’ve a good feeling about this year as I have been working very hard on my fitness. So when everything falls into place I think we won’t be far away on either the roads or the circuits. Cookstown is always a great event to start to season and I’m counting down the days.”

For more information go to www.cookstown100.com