Sheils & English dominate Adelaide Masters season opener
The opening rounds of the Adelaide Masters Series took place over Saturday & Sunday April 11th & 12th at Mondello Park with two riders dominating the top step of the podium, during a weekend which saw rounds two and three broadcast live on Mondello.TV.
Dubliner Derek Sheils took three comfortable Superbike wins to take a healthy championship lead while Bangor’s Robert English had a tougher fight on his way to a lock-out of the Supersport victories.
Saturday’s opening Superbike race saw Sheils lead from lights to flag while arch rival, Waterford’s Brian McCormack, was battling his way up from fourth place to take the runner up spot. Gerard Kinghan from Randalstown took the final podium place.
Sunday’s race two was delayed due to bad weather and when it finally got under-way McCormack was impatient to capitalise on his pole position and out-braked himself at turn one, leaving Sheils to take the win from Gerard Kinghan. Peter Moloney from Dungarvan on his ageing Yamaha R1 took the final podium spot.
Race three saw McCormack finally get away ahead of Sheils, but by the end of lap two normal service was resumed and the finishing order from race one was repeated at the chequered flag, with Sheils ahead of McCormack and Kinghan. All three wins in the Superbike Cup, for less experienced racers, went to Edward Comerford from Nurney.
The Supersport championship saw some frantic battles but on all three occasions it was Robert English who made it to the front. Antrim rider Jamie Patterson swapped the lead with English in race one before dropping back to finish third behind Derry teenager Conor Parkhill.
Race 2 in the Adelaide Masters Supersport class was a little less straight forward for English as he had to take his IFS Triumph from third place past Jason Lynn and Parkhill to secure his second victory. The final win was more clear cut as the young Bangor man led most of the shortened 10 lap race to finish his weekend in style. The Supersport Cup wins were shared between Rathkeale’s Gary O’Brien and Paul Gaffney from The Naul with O’Brien winning the battle 2 to 1.
The Adelaide Masters Series returns to Mondello Park for rounds 4, 5 and 6 on May 23rd and 24th and footage from the opening races of the season can be viewed on Mondello.TV the championships live streaming TV channel.
RESULTS
Superbike Race 1 – 12 Laps
1 DEREK SHEILDS 11:09.688
2 BRIAN MCCORMACK 11:16.341
3 GERARD KINGHAM 11:18.240
4 PETER MOLONEY 11:18.650
5 RAYMOND CASEY 11:24.252
6 DECLAN HOEY 11:27.901
Superbike Race 2 – 9 Laps
1 DEREK SHEILS 08:24.601
2 GERARD KINGHAN 08:29.156
3 PETER MOLONEY 08:32.703
4 DECLAN HOEY 08:33.094
5 RAYMOND CASEY 08:36.232
6 THOMAS O’GRADY 08:36.395
Superbike Race 3 – 10 Laps
1 DEREK SHEILS 09:16.161
2 BRIAN MCCORMACK 09:19.309
3 GERARD KINGHAN 09:22.873
4 MARK GLASGOW 09:29.346
5 DECLAN HOEY 09:29.737
6 THOMAS O’GRADY 09:36.395
Supersport Race 1 – 12 Laps
1 ROBERT ENGLISH 12:14.318
2 CONOR PARKHILL 12:15.662
3 JAMIE PATTERSON 12:24.169
4 ROBERT KENNEDY 12:29.114
5 LUKE JOHNSTON 12:31.609
6 RICHIE RYAN 12:33.434
Supersport Race 2 – 10 Laps
1 ROBERT ENGLISH 09:30.884
2 CONOR PARKHILL 09:32.172
3 JASON LYNN 09:32.771
4 LUKE JOHNSTON 09:33.732
5 DEREK SHEILDS 09:34.828
6 ROBERT KENNEDY 09:36.301
Supersport Race 3 – 10 Laps
1 ROBERT ENGLISH 09:20.834
2 RICHIE RYAN 09:24.931
3 LUKE JOHNSTON 09:26.099
4 CONOR PARKHILL 09:29.052
5 DEREK SHEILS 09:34.058
6 GARY O’BRIEN 09:52.157
