Dunlop clinches big bike double at Tandragee 100

Michael Dunlop marked his first appearance at the Tandragee 100 road races since 2013 by repeating the big bike double he achieved 12 years ago with victories in the Open and feature races at the county Armagh circuit.

Riding his MD Racing BMW Superstock machine, Dunlop finished 0.4 seconds ahead of Michael Sweeney at the chequered flag in the Open race, with Manxman Conor Cummins edging out Mike Browne for third place on the final corner.

The 36-year-old repeated the dose in the concluding Tandragee 100 six-lapper as he saw off nearest challenger Sweeney by eight seconds on that occasion, with the help of a new absolute course record of 111.584mph on his final circuit.

Both frontrunners had obliterated the late Dan Kneen's seven-year-old lap record in the Open outing and further raised the bar several times during the thrilling finale to the meeting.

Sweeney led on his MJ Racing BMW after lap one of the Open race, ahead of Browne, Dunlop, Shaun Anderson and Cummins, those five separated by just tenths of a second.

Dunlop, a record 33-time winner at the Isle of Man TT, had moved into second by the conclusion of the second lap thanks to the quickest lap of the race up to that point at 108.933.

By the end of the following lap, the 36-year-old had hit the front, enjoying a 0.3-second advantage over Sweeney and his cushion over the Skerries rider was marginally reduced to 0.24 seconds as the riders headed out on their final lap thanks to Sweeney's 109.796.

Ultimately Dunlop maintained his position at the head of affairs in front of the pursuing Sweeney.

Cummins, 39, managed to get his Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW ahead of Browne's BPE by Russell Racing Supersport Yamaha on the final bend to complete the podium positions, with newcomer Marcus Simpson and Anderson rounding out the top six.

Manx rider Cummins was competing at Tandragee for the first time since his only previous appearance in 2007.

Dunlop set the pace from the off in the feature race but Sweeney kept up the pursuit throughout until he was forced to concede second best to his rival in the latter stages.

Dunlop led by 0.2 seconds after lap one but increased that thanks to a lap of 110.497, before Sweeney reduced the gap to 0.33 seconds by the end of the third lap with another new lap record of 110.911.

As the leading pair crossed the line for the final lap, Dunlop's sensational speed at more than 111mph gave him an advantage of almost five seconds and he extended that on his final circuit, with Anderson grabbing third spot from Cummins after the latter overshot at Bell's Crossroads. They were followed home by Simpson and Kevin Keyes.