McGee returns to road racing in time for Walderstown

Derek McGee is returning to road racing and will compete in four events at Walderstown on the weekend of July 18-19 and again at Armoy the following weekend.

Burrows Engineering/RK Racing broke the news last Thursday, and speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Derek said he was delighted that they were able to make it happen. “We’re looking forward to it, and maybe we can do something else towards the end of the year if all goes well,” he said.

Derek and John Burrows have worked together successfully before: “We had two pole positions at Armoy and at the Ulster Grand Prix in 2016, and though the races didn't work out how we wanted, we were competitive on pace."

He has also raced against John’s riders in the past and he has “always admired the professional team and bikes he runs”.

Derek will be riding the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW M1000RR Superbike and Ducati Panigale V2 Supersport at Walderstown and Armoy Road Races, and he is also rekindling his relationship with Francesco Faraldo on the Moto3.

“Burrows Engineering are very professional, and, I’m looking forward to just being able to turn up and ride the bikes, not have to worry about maintenance and sorting bikes out. So it’s just land to the races, be prepared to jump on the bike, do my best, and not be worried about anything else.

“That in itself takes a lot of the pressure off. I know the bikes are good.

"I hope to do something with Ryan Farquhar again as well, and his bikes are also very good. So I’m really looking forward to it.”

The Ducati Supersport being prepared for Derek is the same bike Ian Hutchinson rode at Isle of Man this year. Derek has a day of testing at Kirkstown before Walderstown and plans to ease himself in, as he hasn’t raced for some time.

“Hopefully we get a good day, good weather, do laps to get back up to speed again and get comfortable. I know with John, there’s no pressure.

"We have to take things steady and just let the feeling come back to us. I’m hopeful we can be back to the sort of pace we were doing last year. There won’t be any reason I can’t – it just might take a bit of time.”

The entry list for Walderstown hadn’t been confirmed at the time of writing, but there’s a good chance some of the other top riders, possibly including Michael Dunlop, will show up along with Derek, who is an eight-time national road racing champion.