By Kyle White Belfast Newsletter
Michael Sweeney hit back to win the Grand Final Superbike race at the Faugheen 50 Road Races in County Tipperary after he was narrowly edged out in the Open race by Brian McCormack.
Sweeney, who qualified on pole, completed a double at the event near Carrick-on-Suir on Sunday after he dominated the Supertwin race on his Kawasaki.
The Skerries man had to settle for second best behind McCormack in the Open Superbike race after fighting his way through from the back of the pack on his MJR BMW on the opening lap when he overshot.
He scythed his way through the field to set up a grandstand finish with Waterford man McCormack, who only just held on to win by 0.034s on the FHO Racing BMW M1000RR on his return to national road racing at his home event.
Wexford’s Graham Kennedy completed the top three ahead of Browne, who also had to work his way through from the rear of the field after also running on with Sweeney on the first lap.
Stephen Tobin and Liam Chawke rounded out the top six. James Chawke, who led the race in the early stages, was a retirement.
Sweeney made amends in the feature race of the day as he won comfortably after six laps by 5.874s from Browne on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Suzuki.
Kennedy again filled the final rostrum place in third, 20.833s behind the race winner, with Tobin next ahead of McCormack and Liam Chawke.
Cork rider Browne emerged on top in a close Supersport race for his second victory on the Burrows Yamaha of the season following his victory at the Skerries 100 earlier this month.
Browne took the early lead from McCormack on the PHR Performance Triumph 765, with pole man Sweeney right on their heels in third.
McCormack, though, dropped back in the final few laps as Sweeney took the fight to Browne in a battle that went right down to the wire.
On a hard-fought final lap, it was Browne who got the verdict on the line by 0.089s from Sweeney, with Kennedy in third, over three seconds back, and McCormack crossing the line in fourth.
Browne also sealed a double with a straightforward victory on the Burrows Moto3 Honda by 38.5s from Chris Meyer (125cc Honda), with Barry Davidson third overall in a field of only five competitors.
Keelim Ryan won the Senior Support race by 5.750s from Anthony O’Carroll and Michael Gillan, who was 10 seconds in arrears in third spot. Ryan also won the 250GP/Supersport 400 race by 0.6s from Tobin.
Ryan, though, had to settle for the runner-up prize in the non-championship Senior Support race, losing out by only 0.3s to Marcus Simpson.
Simpson also triumphed in the Junior Support class, winning the championship and non-championship races on a KMR Kawasaki Supertwin.
Richard Ford won the Senior Classic race by 2.294s from Andy Kildea, with John Leigh-Pemberton in third.
Ballymena man Davidson chalked up another victory in the Junior Classic race on his Honda by 11.9s from Leigh-Pemberton, with Robert McCrum in third.
The Faugheen meeting was the final national road race of the year in the Republic of Ireland, with the focus now switching to Armoy in County Antrim for the ‘Race of Legends’ from July 29-30.
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