Guy Martin: Road racer withdraws from Cookstown 100

Guy Martin has withdrawn from this weekend's Cookstown 100 road race after the bike he was scheduled to ride in a classic race suffered gearbox problems.

Martin had been testing his home built BSA Rocket 3 machine.

As the parts required will not be made available in time for Cookstown, Martin made the decision to pull out of the meeting on safety grounds.

The 36-year-old 11-times Ulster GP winner had been in Russia in recent weeks working on his latest project.

The Lincolnshire rider is also entered on the BSA for next month's Tandragee 100.

The first Irish national road race of the season will be held over the Orritor circuit on Friday and Saturday, with Michael Dunlop making a first appearance at the event since 2015.

The 15-times Isle of Man TT winner from Ballymoney will compete in both the Open and feature races as he makes his debut on the Tyco BMW and will also take in the Supersport 600cc race on his MD Racing PTR Honda.

Michael is a nine-time winner at Cookstown and the current lap record holder for the 2.1-mile Orritor circuit, with a time of one minute 22.641 seconds from 2013.

William Dunlop, Derek Sheils, Derek McGee, James Cowton, Adam McLean, Paul Jordan and Michael Sweeney are among the other notable entries.

William won five 600cc races in a row between 2015 and 2017, before McLean broke that run in the second Supersport outing 12 months ago.

Sheils has won the Superbike and feature races in both 2016 and 2017 and again rides for the Cookstown BE Engineering team, alongside event newcomer Davey Todd from north Yorkshire.

Former Manx Grand Prix winners Dan Sayle and Darren Cooper also take part, with a total of 19 races scheduled.

Shaun Anderson and Dominic Herbertson will be on the grid, while a list of 41 newcomers includes Todd and former New Zealand 600cc champion Daniel Mettam.

Mettam, 21, recently finished third in the New Zealand Superbike championships.