The Principal Insurance Superbike and Supersport Championship battles are set to go down to the wire following last weekend’s Rounds 10, 11 & 12. The headline Superbike class will go into the championship shoot-out with the top two separated by just four points, while at the head of the Supersport field the top three continue to battle it out with all three once again taking a win each.

As the championship battle moved onto the International Circuit at Mondello Park for the first time in 2024, it was the championship leading pair of Kevin Keyes, on his Daracore Racing Yamaha, and Brian McCormack with the Roadhouse Macau BMW, who were the class of the field. There was nothing between Offaly’s Keyes and Waterford man McCormack as they battled across the three rounds, with Keyes taking two narrow victories to McCormack’s one. A similar fight for the final place on the podium also carried on across the three races. Honda mounted Kerryman Emmet O’Grady took third place twice ahead of Cavan’s Alan Kenny on his Yamaha with the other race producing a reversal of the positions.

In the Superbike Cup class, Kenny’s stable-mate Seanie Smith had his best weekend of the season taking his Yamaha to two victories, with Wexford’s Ronan Waters taking the third win on his Honda. Declan Madden on the DM Groundworks BMW did just enough to hold onto the Cup championship lead, with three podium finishes, but the gap is now down to a single point, over Waters, with two weekends to go.

For the second race weekend in a row the Supersport class produced three different winners. Oisin Maher took the opener, following a race long battle with his AKR Thomas Bourne Racing Honda team mate Emmet O’Grady. O’Grady took an unchallenged win in race two following a big crash for the Tipperary youngster, and a retirement for Keyes, who had also crashed out of race one. Keyes and Maher were back for race three, but with Maher in pain following his earlier off and O’Grady thinking of the championship points the race was less competitive than usual, as Keyes took an easy win from O’Grady and Maher. O’Grady now leads the Supersport class from Maher and Keyes with the top three covered by less than forty points.

In the Supersport Cup, Jack Whearty continued to impress, taking his first hat-trick since the opening event of the season on his DM Groundworks Yamaha. The up and coming Meath rider therefore took over at the head of the field from Wexford’s Brandon Kavanagh on the Roadhouse Macau Kawasaki. Alongside his Cup wins and now sits fourth in the Supersport Championship as well as topping the Cup class. Kavanagh sits second just nine points down in the Cup class chase, while Mayo’s Michael Gillan’s three podiums moved him into third in the standings.

The action in the support classes was fast and furious all weekend with three lap records being broken. The first to go was the Moto 400 record which went to Brian O’Malley in race two. The Mayo youngster, who is also racing in the British Superteen Championship this year lowered Damien Horgan’s two year old record in race one and then did it again in race two, as he raced to a dominant hat-trick of victories over Horgan and Michael Owens.

The Megabikes Supertwin class also produced a new lap record, for UK visitor Jacob Stephenson. Stephenson, on his first visit to Mondello Park, impressed over the opening two races as both he and Oisin Maher battled at lap record pace. The British Sportbike Championship regular pushed the championship leader hard all weekend as he took two runner up spots behind the local rider. Neither Maher or Stephenson made the grid for race three leaving Rob O’Connell and Kelan Smith to battle for the win. In the end it was Kerryman O’Connell who triumphed over his Dublin rival to take a debut Supertwin win. In the Production class Jeff Quilter, from Cork took two wins to Dubliner Mark McGaurans' one, to close in on his rival in the Megabikes Championship chase.

Another new lap record went to junior rider Fionn O’Connell who decimated the old record on his way to three wins over Max Wherity in the DM Groundworks Moto1 class. In the concurrent Junior Supersport races, Moto1 graduate Fionn Stephens was mightily impressive as he took three wins on his first weekend in the class. The final rider to take a lap record was Moto3 Standard class competitor Finnan Wherity who set the new record in race three.

In the remaining races the Dunne family, father Noel and his son Liam, dominated the top two spots in Classic Superbikes while Ian Prendergast took a trio of close fought wins in Pre-Injection to move closer to championship leader Darryl Sharkey. Having started the weekend tied on points, Mark Codd and Darren O’Dwyer were almost inseparable on track for most of the trio of sidecar races. Codd won the opener with O’Dwyer second, but the tables were turned in races two and three as O’Dwyer and passenger Mark Gash moved into a five point championship lead over Codd who has now won races with three different passengers this season.

The Masters returns to the International Track on August 24^th and 25^th as the championship moves into its final shoot out where all races, for all competitors, count towards the final championship standings. For information on the Masters Superbike Championship and to watch all of the Round 11 and 12 action go to www.masterssuperbike.ie.

Tickets for the August 24^th and 25^th Masters are now available, along with all of the event information - CLICK HERE.