Brandon Kavanagh leads strong Senior Support field at 2026 Cookstown 100
Brandon Kavanagh won the Senior Support A race at the 2026 Cookstown 100 in County Tyrone, leading James Walsh and Aidan Cleary in the results published after Saturday 25 April. The Orritor event supplied an early-season competition for a substantial field beyond the main national road-racing stars. Michael Clyde placed fourth, Graeme Smallwoods fifth and Fred McMullan sixth, showing that the top three emerged from a broader domestic entry.
How deep the result sheet ran
Liam Trainor, Brett McCallen, Bailey Harker and Brad Burn completed the first ten. Daniel Pearson, Arran Hands, Ashley Robson, Christian Boyles and Paul O’Rourke were also classified, with additional competitors further down the Senior Support A order. The class was thus more than a token curtain-raiser. Recording the front runners and the depth of the finishers is a better reflection of the event than a generic assertion that young riders were on show.
Different support categories, different winners
The meeting also featured Senior Support B, won by Gary Jordan from Liam Wood and Lee McGavock. Its Junior Support A race was taken by Bailey Harker from Jack Meares and William Grant, while Daniel Pearson headed Junior Support B. These classifications are distinct. Kavanagh’s Senior Support A result should not be blended with the B-category or junior results, because each has its own finishing order and competitive significance.
Why the result mattered in the points race
The Ulster Road Race Championship table issued after the June Tandragee 100 still listed Kavanagh top of Senior Support on 25 points, ahead of Walsh on 20 and Cleary on 16. Those figures match the position order from the Cookstown leading three and show the value of the early result to the developing championship. They do not justify claiming Kavanagh had already wrapped up a title; the series schedule contained further meetings and opportunities to alter the order.
Armoy gave the class another test
At the July Armoy meeting the Senior Support winner was Bailey Harker, with Scott Aitkin second and Kristian Didelot third. Kavanagh finished fourth there. That later classification changed the story from April, showing that Cookstown had not established a permanently fixed hierarchy. The switch in first place, while Kavanagh remained among the leading finishers, demonstrates why a round-by-round record is worth keeping for a national road-racing championship.
The Cookstown programme in full context
The headline Orritor races included Michael Dunlop’s four-win haul and Paul Jordan’s successive record laps in Supersport A. The smaller classes also produced results for Ashley Robson in Lightweight Supersport, Lee Osprey in Supersport 300, Barry Davidson in 125GP Classic and other established specialists. Kavanagh’s win fits that record of a full meeting rather than being buried as a footnote beneath the riders on high-capacity bikes.
What can and cannot be claimed
The available results establish Kavanagh as winner, Walsh second and Cleary third; they do not provide a reliably sourced winning margin or a complete order of overtakes. A worthwhile report needs to make that distinction. What is demonstrable is a strong classified field at a County Tyrone event, the corresponding championship order after Tandragee, and a later change when Armoy took place. Those are the facts that turn a local support-class result into an informative motorsport news story.
