Ashley Robson wins Cookstown 100 Lightweight Supersport ahead of Leon Murphy

Ashley Robson opened an important part of his 2026 Ulster road-racing season by winning Lightweight Supersport at the Cookstown 100 on 25 April. Leon Murphy finished second and Richard Ford third on the Orritor course near Cookstown, County Tyrone. The finishing order placed three familiar domestic names on the podium and established an early comparison point for later road-race rounds, where Murphy and Robson would again compete at the front.

The Cookstown finishing order

The results compilation names Robson, Murphy and Ford as the Lightweight Supersport top three, followed by Roy Werst in fourth and Eamonn McKeown in fifth. James Rothery finished sixth and Neil Lloyd seventh. These are recorded classification facts rather than a reconstructed race narrative. Without a full lap-by-lap timing sheet, it would be wrong to manufacture a late braking pass, a spectacular escape or an exact victory margin.

Why Robson’s result was valuable

Cookstown was an early Northern Ireland national road-race meeting in a season that would also feature Tandragee, Armoy and the restored Mid Antrim 150. A result at Orritor therefore set a marker against other class competitors before they met on very different courses. Robson’s nearest finisher, Murphy, remained a contender through the summer; the Armoy Lightweight podium in July would put Murphy second again, this time behind James Doy, with Robson third.

The championship picture after Tandragee

Standings published after the Tandragee 100 identified Robson as the Lightweight Supersport points leader. That figure cannot be credited to one race alone: the category’s season involved different meetings and separate results, and a rival could improve or lose ground at each round. But the April victory at Cookstown offers a verifiable first part of his competitive story. An article focusing on Robson should explain the later points position without claiming the championship was settled in spring.

Cookstown was more than one race

Michael Dunlop took four victories at the 2026 meeting and Paul Jordan broke the Supersport A lap record three times in succession, eventually recording a 1:23.927 on the short Orritor circuit. Elsewhere, Brandon Kavanagh won Senior Support A, Bailey Harker took Junior Support A and Barry Davidson won 125GP Classic. These outcomes give the reader an accurate sense of the standard and breadth of the race card that provided Robson’s Lightweight victory.

Other support riders and results

Cookstown also saw Michael Dunlop win 125/Moto3 ahead of Dan Sayle and Chris Meyer, while Lee Osprey won Supersport 300 from William Grant. In the classics Andy Hornby topped Senior 1000 ahead of Richard Ford and Robert McCrum. None of these entries should be merged into Robson’s Lightweight finish order; they are separate classes, mentioned because they show the meeting’s range of machinery and the opportunities available to domestic competitors.

What the Lightweight race tells us

The news is a concrete podium order at a Northern Ireland road race, with a meaningful link to later competition against the same rivals. Robson beat Murphy and Ford at Cookstown, but did not retain the top position when the Lightweight field met at Armoy. That evolution, and the published points standing after Tandragee, gives the April result context without requiring generic descriptions of road-racing danger or unsupported claims about pace. The story remains centred on the actual race result.