Sheils double as tragedy mars Skerries 100 road races

Dublin rider Derek Sheils was the toast of his home fans after clinching a Superbike double at the Skerries 100 meeting on Saturday.

Sadly, the event was overshadowed by the death of well-known medic Dr John Hinds, who died following an accident in practice at the event on Friday evening.

The 35-year-old from Tandragee in Co Armagh provided his services on a voluntary basis at Irish road race meetings for the Motor Cycle Union of Ireland (MCUI).

Dr Hinds was a travelling doctor and was credited with saving the lives of many competitors over the years.

Practice on Friday was cancelled following the incident, although the event did go ahead on Saturday.

Sheils, riding the BikeBits NI Kawasaki machine, came through to clinch victory in the Open Superbike race ahead of Tyco BMW's William Dunlop, who was back in action on a 1000cc machine for the first time since he suffered a broken rib after a crash during a Superstock practice lap at the Isle of Man TT.

Alan Bonner, a double winner at Kells, finished third, while Michael Dunlop - racing for the first time since the TT - was a retirement on his MD Racing BMW machine.

In the feature Grand Final Superbike race, Sheils was never troubled as capped a terrific day on his home soil with a stunning win by more than four seconds from William Dunlop, with the last place on the rostrum going to John Walsh from Kilkenny. Michael Dunlop came home in fourth place.

William Dunlop had to work hard for his win in the Supersport race on the Chris Dowd/Ivan Curran Yamaha, narrowly keeping Derek McGee at bay, who split from Wilson Craig Racing last week.

McGee won the Supertwins race on his Kawasaki from Paul Jordan.

The Southern 100 meeting at Billown on the Isle of Man is next up, with a host of top names including William and Michael Dunlop, Guy Martin, Dean Harrison and Dan Kneen in action next week.