2019 Tandragee 100 Practice Session

2019 Tandragee 100

Friday’s qualifying session is over (03/05/2019) and we really were treated to a great start to the 2019 Tandragee 100.  Maybe a little bit chilly, but other than that it was dry, bright and just a little breezy.

A full evening of 8 practice and qualifying sessions has laid out what is bound to be a great Race Day tomorrow.  Derek McGee showing his class again with three pole positions lined up for tomorrow and don’t forget Derek Shiels, Adam McLean and Michael Sweeney who have all showed their intentions are are snapping at McGee’s heels!

Another great and welcome surprise was that of Guy Martin and his 750 Custom BSA, which will be running in the Classics.  Guy has always said he loved Tandragee and he has shown that love with an appearance at this year’s event and looking at the times he has been laying down he wants on that podium and is about 3 seconds off the top spot on it!

2019 Tandragee 100 : Guy Martin's Custom 750 BSA Classic 2019 Tandragee 100 : Guy Martin’s Custom 750 BSA Classic

When things got running after the roads closed they never stopped.  A full Practice and Qualifying Session ran pretty much seamlessly with one one race incident in which Robert McCrum came off his Monosport in the evening’s final qualifying session.  lick edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

2019 Tandragee 100 : Davy Morgan 71 2019 Tandragee 100 : Davy Morgan 71

2019 Tandragee 100 : The pack chasing Indy

2019 Tandragee 100 : Derek McGee aiming for a second Man of the Meeting this year? 2019 Tandragee 100 : Derek McGee aiming for a second Man of the Meeting this year?
Newcomers Free Practice

2019 Tandragee 100 Practice Sessions : Newcomers Free Practice 2019 Tandragee 100 Practice Sessions : Newcomers Free Practice 2019 Tandragee 100 Practice Sessions : Newcomers Free Practice

By Class :

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2019 Cookstown 100 Photos (Race Day)

Derek McGee looking for another win at the 2019 Cookstown 100
Derek McGee looking for another win at the 2019 Cookstown 100

The 2019 Cookstown 100 was a cracking’ event, even though the weather didn’t play nice.

Next up is the 2019 Tandragee 100 – practice and qualifying starts tomorrow – followed by Race Day on Saturday (04/05/2019).

So to wet your appetite and have a quick look back at last week, here are a few images from the 2019 Cookstown 100.  (Apologies – the quality could be better but due to other commitments I was restricted to just using my camera phone .

See you in Tandragee!

The full results of the 2019 Cookstown 100 can be found here :

2019 Cookstown 100 Friday Results : 26/04/2019

2019 Cookstown 100 Results

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2019 Cookstown 100 Results

The 2019 Irish Road Racing Season got off to a flying start at Cookstown over 26th and 27 April 2019.

With Storm Hannah still showing her venom bringing heavy rain and strong winds right up to the latter part of the morning, the fact that the Cookstown club managed to run a full program is even more impressive.  A great days racing that was unfortunately finished just a little bit to early as the feature race, the eight lap Cookstown 100, was red flagged on its first attempt due to weather – resulting in a five lap restarted race – which was red flagged due to a race incident.

Derek McGee looking for another win at the 2019 Cookstown 100 Derek McGee looking for another win at the 2019 Cookstown 100

More importantly though no one was seriously hurt over the event and even though the final race was red flagged there was a full schedule and pretty constant day of all day racing.

Guess who decided to match that flying start?  Yep, Derek McGee, Derek Shiels, Adam McLean and Michael Sweeney! All were lapping in the Superbike race within 0.3s of each other and less than a single second separated the four at the end of an unfortunately red flagged race (twice).

Derek Shiels off to an impressive start to his 2019 Road Racing Season at the Cookstown 100 Derek Shiels off to an impressive start to his 2019 Road Racing Season at the Cookstown 100

For Friday’s Practice and Qualifying Session Timings Click Here.

For Friday’s Race Session Results Click Here.

There was a little bit of chopping and changing off the schedule over the day due to the ever changing weather conditions.  Something which the organisations managed really well and a lesson others could learn well:

Get the right bikes out at the right time as the conditions allow.

Remember the only red flag due to weather that we had was in the final race.  This was in a  day that the only precipitation we didn’t have was probably snow!

Paul Jordan showed a strong start to his 2019 Season Paul Jordan showed a strong start to his 2019 Season

The results as published below represent the running order from the Official Race Program – along with the races that got carried over from the Friday evening session as well.

Race 3 – The Royal Hotel Open A

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2019 Cookstown 100 Friday Results : 26/04/2019

2019 Cookstown 100 Road Races
2019 Cookstown 100 Road Races

Remember to subscribe to our completely free Road Racing Calendar – it updates automatically right on your phone!

Only two of the planned four races 2019 ran tonight after the weather closed in on Cookstown.  We have literally had a scorching Easter period in Northern Ireland this year and then for the first day of road racing it decides to change to the exact opposite of what we had and get wet, miserable and cold.  Things are to get even worse overnight with the approaching ‘Storm Hannah

However – don’t panic just yet – it looks like things will improve a little – it’ll not be glorious – but it will hopefully be dry tomorrow for race day!

This is the timeline for 26/04/2019 – 27/04/2019 – so it looks like a wet night and a wet start but things should improve in the later part of the morning.

2019 Cookstown 100 Weather Forecast
2019 Cookstown 100 Weather Forecast

But, you came here for race results so without further ado – here we go :

If you want to check out the qualifying results and timings they are all here for you too : https://tbni.blog/2019/04/26/2019-cookstown-100-qualifying-session-results-26-04-2019/

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2019 Cookstown 100 Qualifying Session Results : 26/04/2019

2019 Cookstown 100 Road Races
2019 Cookstown 100 Road Races

The Irish Road Racing Season is officially back!  The 2019 season is, as is customary, kicked off with the Cookstown 100.  Today is the dominated by Practice and Qualifying and a few races to wrap the night up.

Qualifying has just finished so here are all the results and timings that will set things up for tomorrow’s race day!

It’s great to be back on the roads, and here’s to a safe, incident free and exciting 2019 for all riders, teams, events, marshals, spectators, fans, teams… you get it – here’s to 2019!

Cookstown 100 Official Twitter Feed : https://twitter.com/cookstown100

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NI Motorcycle Festival 2019

NI Motorcycle Festival 2019
NI Motorcycle Festival 2019

The NI Motorcycle Festival returns this weekend (8th – 10th February 2019) to the Eikon Centre, Lisburn. In it’s fourth year at the Eikon it is touting itself as Northern Irelands’ Biggest Motorcycle Show and it promises a weekend full of action and bikes.

So what has changed from last year and does it deliver on these promises?

In case you missed it here are my thoughts on the 2018 Show : https://tbni.blog/2018/02/07/ni-motorcycle-festival-2018-motorcyclefest-eikon-centre-lisburn/

Truth be told, very little has changed. It is still like a big showroom, with a load of stalls in the back.

As you can see in my previous 2018 review I tried my best to find the positives in the show and to be honest I really hate being negative about such things – especially things that involve bikes, a show – and Northern Ireland trying to bring itself on par with events and exhibitions, but sometimes – when there is negativity it just shines through in the truth.

I am not going to paint this one through rose tinted glasses – I hoped things would have improved but alas here it is – the NI Motorcycle Festival 2019 Review.

NI Motorcycle Festival 2019 : Kawasaki H2
NI Motorcycle Festival 2019 : Kawasaki H2

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2019 NI Motorcycle Festival : Eikon Centre, Lisburn : 8th – 10th February 2019

NI MotorcycleFest 2019
NI MotorcycleFest 2019

The 2019 NI Motorcycle Festival – Ireland’s Largest Motorcycle Festival – returns to the Eikon Centre, Lisburn from 8th – 10th February 2019.

With something for everyone the events, activities and attractions include :

  • exhibits from local dealerships covering a huge range of manufacturers
  • local accessory stores
  • local event information points
  • live displays and shows
  • and maybe even a bit of pit bike racing

So there is plenty to see and do, plenty to add to your wish list, or maybe even empty your wallet on the day.


Check out my Review and Gallery of the 2018 NI MotorcycleFest Here


Check out the Official 2019 NI MotorcycleFest Website Here – Site no longer exists.


2019 NI MotorcycleFest Floor Plan
2019 NI MotorcycleFest Floor Plan

2019 Road Racing Calendar

2019 Road Racing Calendar Updated

Warning :
Some dates are still to be confirmed and all dates are subject to change – make sure to check before you leave home!


2019 Road Racing Calendar : Click Here

The full 2019 Road Racing Calendar has now been updated – a few dates are still to be confirmed, but it is looking like it’s going to be a great event packed summer of 2019.  

Make sure to subscribe to the completely free TBNI.Blog Road Racing iCal Calendar – that way you won’t miss a thing!


2019 Road Racing Calendar : Click Here

2019 Road Racing Calendar Updated (28th November 2018)

A load of the Northern Irish and most of the Isle of Man Road Racing Schedules have now been confirmed and added to the TBNI 2019 Road Racing Calendar.

Take yourself over to the Calendar Page for the latest dates – or just take the hassle out of everything by subscribing to the TBNI iCal Road Racing Calendar.

The iCal Calendar is :

  • Free
  • Updates automatically on your iCal compatible device
  • Is subscribed to with one click
  • Needs no access to any of your personal information (all you are doing is subscribing to a feed – so your device never gives out info – ever).
  • Has all the details to make sure you never miss another meeting

Full details as of the 28th November 2018 are available here : https://tbni.blog/road-racing-calendar/

BMW at Motorcycle Live 2018
BMW at Motorcycle Live 2018

Iron Butt Association Ireland : 2018 Photo Rally : A Bridge Too Far

Iron Butt Association:

Have you ever thought that you fancy trying something other than the usual Sunday run out on the bike, along the same route, with your head down and bum up?

If so have you ever considered long distance motorcycling?

That is what the Iron Butt Association is all about.  Safe, enjoyable long distance motorcycle riding that gets you out and about to places you probably haven’t seen before, or take routes or challenges that you probably had never even thought of before.

“The 60,000+ members of the Iron Butt Association are dedicated to safe, long-distance motorcycle riding. Although based in the United States, we have thousands of enthusiastic members throughout the globe! One of our more popular slogans is, “The World Is Our Playground.”

Check out out the IBA Website here : http://ironbutt.com

Check out the IBA Ireland Website here : https://www.ibaireland.org

Check out the IBA UK Website here : https://www.ironbutt.co.uk

IBA Ireland : 2018 Photo Rally : A Bridge Too Far IBA Ireland : 2018 Photo Rally : A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far :

Having been a member of the Iron Butt Association for a few years now I thought I would give their 2018 Photo Rally a go.

The info on their site sums it up pretty well :

Iron Butt Association Ireland Photo Rally 2018
Iron Butt Association Ireland Photo Rally 2018

The locations are spread all over the island of Ireland and the route between them amounts to many thousands of miles.

I’m sure you could plan a route and tackle every location across a few days (reducing the mileage), but personally I used my free time over the summer months and probably took about 5 or 6 individual day trips to gather up all the checkpoints.

Some of those days trips were very long.  For example my final trip took in the far west and south west of Ireland  coming from Northern Ireland that specific trip, which took in 4 bridges started at 7.00am and finished at 1.30am and consumed about 780 miles.

But long mileage is all part of the Iron Butt Challenge, so if you enjoy full days in the saddle, seeing parts of the country (world even) that you probably didn’t even know about Photo Rallies are a good way to go about it and there are plenty of them about.  Most motorcycle clubs, and the bigger Internet forums all offer Photo Rallies, so now that winter is here have a good look about and see what may take your fancy for the next year.

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