Cookstown 100 Classics and smaller classes deliver separate winners in 2026

The 2026 Cookstown 100 was not just a meeting for the riders in Supersport A and the feature Superbike classes. Results from Saturday 25 April show Barry Davidson winning 125GP Classic, Richard Ford taking Pre-73 Lightweight Classic, Nigel Moore winning Junior Classics and Andy Hornby topping Senior 1000 Classics. The categories formed a substantial part of the Orritor programme in County Tyrone and produced their own podium battles and finishing orders.

Barry Davidson wins the 125GP Classic category

Davidson was classified first ahead of Simon Lehane and John McComisky. The 125GP Classic entry is separate from the modern 125/Moto3 race, which Michael Dunlop won ahead of Dan Sayle and Chris Meyer. Treating those as one 125cc result would misrepresent the event. The two sets of regulations, machinery and opponents are different, and the class results distinguish them clearly.

Pre-73 Lightweight brings another podium

Richard Ford was first in the Pre-73 Lightweight Classic classification, ahead of Malcolm Love and Brian Mateer. Gareth Arnold, Edwin Gilmore and Philip Shaw took the next positions, followed by Gary Hutton and Chris Meyer. Ford also appeared on the Senior 1000 Classics podium, in second behind Andy Hornby and ahead of Robert McCrum. That combination demonstrates how a rider could perform across different parts of the historic programme without the results being duplicates.

Junior and Senior Classics

Nigel Moore won Junior Classics from Dan Sayle and Kyle Parkes, with Robert McCrum and Mark Johnson completing the top five. Senior 500 Classics had Moore first, Gareth Arnold second and Davidson third, ahead of Wattie Brown and Mark Johnson. This illustrates the varied performance of the same competitors across classic categories. Davidson won the 125GP Classic but was third in Senior 500, while Moore topped two other classifications at the same event.

Modern lightweight classes also had room

Ashley Robson took Lightweight Supersport ahead of Leon Murphy and Ford, while Lee Osprey won Supersport 300 from William Grant. Dave Walsh topped Supermono, and Kevin Lavery won the 250 category from Chris Meyer, Dan Sayle and Dale Brew. These are separate race results, not all classic classes, but they establish the range of available machinery at Cookstown and why smaller categories deserve correct reporting.

Why the record matters

Much contemporary coverage emphasised Michael Dunlop’s four overall wins and Paul Jordan’s succession of Supersport A lap records. Those were important results, but they are not an adequate substitute for a report of the wider programme. The classics and lightweights had different winners, genuine fields and positions that could feed into the Ulster season. The results also provide a baseline against which later Northern Ireland events such as Tandragee, Armoy and Mid Antrim can be compared.

The achievement of the organisers and entrants

Orritor is a short County Tyrone road course, and arranging a full card with modern and classic machines creates different sporting demands from running only a high-profile feature. The 2026 classification confirms completed contests in classic 125, Pre-73, Junior, Senior 500 and Senior 1000 machinery. A factual report need not invent overtakes or top-speed figures to justify their coverage. The essential story is the documented spread of winners and podium competitors who helped make Cookstown a complete Northern Ireland race meeting.