Masters Superbikes set for Mondello Park International Track
The 2017 Masters Superbike Championship schedule sees racing return to the full Mondello Park International Track layout on May 6th and 7th. The Fingal Motor Club will be at the helm for Rounds four, five and six of the Masters Superbike Championship which will also count as rounds of the Irish National Championship.
The opening Motorcycle Racing events of 2017 have all seen increases in entries across all classes with the Masters feature races for Superbike and Supersport enjoying an upsurge in quality as well as quantity. Numbers were up for the first rounds of the championship back in March and additional riders, who were not ready for the opening event, are expected to join the grids for May.
New machinery filled most of the spaces on the front few rows of the Superbike grid at season opener including brand new Yamaha R1’s for Richie Ryan and Charles Stuart and new BMW superbikes for Luke Johnston, Peter Moloney and Mark O’Byrne, but it was the slightly older Kawasaki of Cody Nally which came through as the Athlone rider took his first ever hat-trick of wins at the Masters. Ryan and Stuart adapted well to their new mounts to push Nally hard and now sit second and third in the points behind the former champion. Most impressive of the Superbike ‘Cup’ runners was newcomer Andrew Murphy who took two wins and put himself in amongst the Pro riders at the head of the field.
The Supersport Cup class produced the majority of the entry in the smaller engined category but the reduced number of Pro grade riders still produced some fantastic racing, and the closest finish of the weekend, as Jason Lynn and Ross Patterson picked up the wins. Patterson’s two victories left him top of the table from Lynn with Aaron Armstrong third.
The Supersport ‘Cup’ points table is headed by Aaron Wright who took all three victories but may not have it all his own way this time around as a number of new faces, including Thundersport UK competitor Caolán Irwin, join the grid. The Cup competitors will have an extra incentive to race for as the winner of the third race of the weekend will receive the Aidan Lynam memorial trophy awarded in memory of the late journalist and great supporter of young Irish Motorcycle Racing talent.
Of the remaining classes the Principal Insurance Pre-Injection and Supertwin grids will provide the best of the action with the addition of the Irish Championship contenders expected to shake up the results. All of the regular Masters and Irish Championship classes, along with the Classic Superbike grid, will be accommodated in what will be a packed two days of action.
