Dominic Herbertson says 'my hat is truly tipped off to Michael Sweeney' after epic Cookstown 100 Superbike battle

Herbertson enjoyed his best day at an Irish road race as the Hexham man clinched a four-timer, winning both Superbike races, the Supersport event and the Moto3 race in his debut in the tiddlers class.

Pre-event favourite Michael Dunlop won Friday’s Superbike invitation race from Herbertson but crashed out of the following Supersport invitation race on his MD Racing Triumph.

Dunlop walked away from the spill but the Ballymoney man did not participate in Saturday’s races.

It was a dream start to Herbertson’s first full season in an established team after he got the call from former racer John Burrows to replace Irishman Mike Browne in the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing outfit for 2024, who departed in an amicable split after four seasons together.

Herbertson grabbed the lion’s share of the headlines with a breakthrough performance that included his first Irish road racing Superbike wins, but the 33-year-old was quick to salute Sweeney for the part he played as he pushed the English rider all the way.

Sweeney was competing in his first Irish road race since suffering serious injuries in a crash in the opening Supertwin race at the North West 200 last May.

The Skerries man broke his back in two places, sustained a broken collarbone and 13 broken ribs and suffered nerve damage to his left foot.

Sweeney, though, showed no mental scars from the incident and made a winning return, taking victory in the Supersport invitation race on Friday evening by only four hundredths of a second from Herbertson in the dash to the line, with Ballymoney man Darryl Tweed right in their wheel-tracks in a photo finish.

Herbertson turned the tables on Sweeney to win Saturday’s Supersport race by just under half-a-second before they engaged in a breath-taking battle in the 12-lap Cookstown 100 Superbike race.

Both riders took turns at the front and exchanged fastest laps in a fitting climax to the meeting, but it was Herbertson who had his nose in front going onto the final lap after pulling a slight advantage of 0.6s.

Sweeney slashed the deficit on his MJR BMW but Herbertson held his nerve to win by 0.175s.

The Isle of Wight’s Ryan Whitehall was 47 seconds back in third on his Yamaha as he only just grabbed the final rostrum spot from Keelim Ryan on Trison McMullan’s Kawasaki.

“Going away from the weekend, yes it’s important to battle for wins but the thing I most enjoyed was battling away with Sweeney,” Herbertson said.

“We were only 0.4s away from the lap record [held by Michael Dunlop] which has been there since 2013 and the track, being a public road, hasn’t had the maintenance of a short circuit, so the track is rougher by just sheer use over the years.

“So for me and Sweeney to get down to those lap times, that’s what I’m chuffed with and I think Sweeney feels the exact same.

“Like I was saying to Sweeney, me and him could have had that fight down in 10th place and it wouldn’t have mattered,” added Herbertson, who was back at work on Monday in his day job as a tree surgeon.

“That’s proper racing and we were both heading to the line going ‘either of us deserve the win’. That’s proper racing and it was fantastic.

“The one thing I have to mention is how impressive Sweeney is riding considering the injuries and recovery that he’s gone through.

"The mindset to get on a bike, put a gumshield in and go fighting like that – my hat is truly tipped off to Sweeney.”

Herbertson was also pleased to have played a starring role in a terrific day’s racing at Cookstown, which is one of only three Irish road races taking place in 2024 as the ongoing issue around the high cost of insurance continues to pose major challenges, with no road racing going ahead in the Republic of Ireland for a second consecutive year.

“What was important was putting on a show, the spectacle, because people had stood around all day for the final race and people did not know who was coming around the next corner in front, myself or Sweeney,” said Herbertson.

“And the lap time shows that it would have been competitive with Michael Dunlop, and that is a hard statement.

"Michael Dunlop is Michael Dunlop and he could pull the pin when he wants to, but if you put Derek Sheils in there or (Derek) McGee, we still delivered I feel in what were competitive races.

“Both of us were biting the screen and going for it and I’ve left this weekend with a massive smile, and I would have left this place with the same smile even if I’d had second place in the main race – that’s how tight it was. The sport needs it and it’s been delivered.”

Herbertson won the Open A Superbike race by 30 seconds from Ballymena’s Neil Kernohan (Yamaha R1) with Lincolnshire’s Sam Johnson third on his Suzuki.

Sweeney had been holding a safe second place until he ran into problems on the final lap, slipping back to fourth.

The Irish rider sealed a double after winning the Supertwin race comfortably on his new Aprilia 660 from Manxman Gareth Arnold (Aprilia 660).