Superbike Pole Sitter and triple ‘Cup’ winner Jack Caldwell
Tyre choice was once again the hot topic of conversation as the Principal Insurance Masters Superbike championship completed its second event of the season at Mondello Park on May 16th and 17th. Constantly changing conditions between and during races made Rounds 4, 5 and 6 some of the most difficult for the riders and the organisers, who somehow completed the full event programme.
In both Superbike and Supersport there was a mixture of new and old faces on the podium, and in the winners circle. Superbike newcomer Jack Caldwell delivered the first shock of the weekend as he took his Kawasaki to a pole position that surprised the entire grid including himself. Things did not go as well for him at the start of race one however, as he stalled on the line and was lucky not to be collected by any of the other riders, before he eventually got away last. Alan Kenny. on his new Honda. led initially but the Yamaha R1 of Karl McGahon soon took over and built a substantial lead. Behind McGahon, Caldwell was on a hugely impressive charge as he worked his way back to second. At the flag it was McGahon who took the win by just over a second from Caldwell with Kenny third. Caldwell’s second place gave him his first Superbike Cup win with Davin Casey’s Suzuki second and the borrowed Yamaha of Aaron McCann third.
Race 2, while not completely dry was the driest of the weekend and this allowed Kenny to get to grips with his Honda as he took his first win of the season, from Andrew Whearty. Jack Caldwell was once again on the overall and Cup podiums, as he took his second Cup victory and third place overall, ahead of two more Superbike podium first timers, Richard McLoughlin (BMW) and Keith Richardson (Suzuki). The final race was once again between Kenny and Whearty, with Whearty closing the gap at half distance. Just as Whearty was lining up a move for the lead, the conditions caught him out and he crashed, leaving Kenny to take his second win, from Caldwell and McLoughlin, with Davin Casey once again completing the Cup podium in fifth overall. Following the completion of event two, McGahon has taken over the championship lead in Superbike with Caldwell and Casey tied at the top of the Cup division.
Supersport was also affected by the weather, but it was no surprise to see Oisin Maher on pole on his brand new VTL Tag Racing Honda. Unsurprisingly, on his first race of 2026, Maher was slow to get going but moved his way past Shane Mulligan on lap seven to take the lead and the victory by just less than two seconds. Behind Oisin, it was an all Cup rider battle for the remaining podium positions, with Mulligan eventually taking the honours, ahead of Simon McCullagh and Michael Carr. Race two started on a damp track with a number of riders opting for slicks, which turned out to be the correct choice, until the second half of the race. With a handful of laps left light rain began to fall. Maher, who was over six seconds ahead was the first to encounter the wetter conditions in the early part of the lap and unfortunately got caught out and dropped his Honda. With the leader gone, it was Adam Carey who held the advantage when the race was stopped, due to Maher’s crash, thereby taking his maiden race win at the Masters, from Des Mackessy and Shane Mulligan. Carey also took the Cup victory from Mulligan and Michael Carr.
Race three saw Brandon Kavanagh build a huge lead early on as Maher dropped positions off the start line but gradually the VTL rider worked his way into second and closed the gap to Kavanagh. Going into the second last lap Maher took the lead, but Kavanagh fought back to go back in front for the final time around. Just as it looked like we would have yet another new winner, Maher pulled off the latest of late braking moves at the final corner to deny Kavanagh his first overall win. Shane Mulligan took the flag in third to take another Cup win, by just a tenth of a second from Joey Hennessy, with Simon McCullagh third. Mulligan’s consistent weekend means that he now holds comfortable leads in both the overall and Cup championships, as he aims to be come the first rider to win the Supersport championship while still graded as a Cup rider.
Pre-Injection race winner Vincent Long battles the conditions
The remaining races on the card were all rain effected, with a number of long delays required to allow the worst of the weather blow over. When they did run there were some impressive performances, particularly in Megabikes Supertwins, where Fionn O’Connell and Michael Gillan battled wheel to wheel for the entire weekend. In race one it was for second place, as Shane Mulligan took the win, but in races two and three teenager O’Connell was pushed all the way by the highly experienced Gillan as they twice finished first and second. Kelan Smith and another youngster, Max Wherity, took the remaining podium places. O’Connell now leads the way in the championship from Gillan and Mulligan.
DM Groundworks Junior Supersport produced yet another first time winner with Alanna Maher making history as the first female to win a championship race outright at the Masters. Starting from pole position in all three encounters, she took three wins from Jordan McGahon, with Mondello newcomers Marley Brown, races one and two, and Paudie O’Malley, in race three, taking the final step on the podium.
Other winners included Michael Prendergast who took all three VTL Classic Superbike victories. He was pushed hard for the overall win in all three races by Pre-Injection riders Richard Hyland and Vincent Long, but was well clear of the rest of the Classic Superbike field. Hyland and Long shared the Pre-Injection wins with Hyland taking two to Long’s single victory. The Megabikes Production Twins class was dominated by Jeff Quilter in races 1 and 3, with Michael Dunleavy taking victory in race two. Moto 400 was another class to produce a maiden win as Cian McSweeney won the second encounter, while Dale Hyland won the opener and Hubert Tomasewski took the final race of the weekend. Sidecars were dominated by the Lynch brothers with Dylan, partnered by Mark Gash, taking two wins, while Derek and passenger Anthony McDonnell took the other.
The Masters returns on June 27th and 28th for Rounds 7, 8 and 9 where all involved will be hoping for a break from the weather.
