2024 is off to an epic start
Maher and O'Grady lean in to the new season!
The second exciting instalment of the 2024 Principal Insurance Masters Superbike Championship hits the Mondello Park National Track this coming weekend, May 18th & 19th, with another bumper entry set to battle it out over three more rounds.
Fresh from his North West 200 debut, Offaly’s Kevin Keyes will be looking to continue his domination of the Superbike class where three wins at the season opener gave him a healthy championship lead. Keyes’ Daracore Racing Yamaha R1 will have some stiff opposition this weekend as he goes up against the BMW’s of two former Superbike Champions, Brian McCormack and Derek Sheils, with Sheils making his first Masters appearance since the epic season finale of 2022. The strong Superbike entry will also include Yamaha mounted Shane Connolly, who made a fantastic Masters Superbike Pro class debut in April, and 2022 Championship contender Alan Kenny, along with the Honda’s of reigning Superbike Cup champion Andrew Whearty and 2022 Superbike race winner Emmett O’Grady.
Keyes Daracore Yamaha, this time an R6, will once again be the main challenger in Supersport where the Honda mounted AKR Thomas Bourne Racing pairing of Emmett O’Grady and Oisin Maher will be the other top contenders. The highly competitive Supersport Cup class will be lead by the Yamaha of Meath youngster Jack Whearty and Wexford’s Brandon Kavanagh, with his Kawasaki, with both capable of challenging the Pro riders at the front.
The two days of action will be headlined by the Superbike and Supersport encounters with Round 4 scheduled for Saturday and Rounds 5 & 6 set to be contested on Sunday afternoon. The supporting classes will be lead by the Megabikes Ballymount Twins championship Where Oisin Maher will swap to his TAG Racing VTL Aprilia aiming to continue his race winning form in the Supertwin class, while impressive teenager Jeff Quilter will be looking to add to his two Production class victories from the April rounds.
Also contesting three rounds over the weekend will be the Classic Superbike and Pre-Injection classes, Moto 400, Sidecars and the DM Groundworks backed Junior Championships made up of the Junior Supersport and Moto 1 categories. Following qualifying on Saturday morning, racing gets underway at 13:30, while Sunday’s race programme has a 10:00 start, with racing livestreamed on the championship web site from 11:00 onwards.
Tickets for the Principal Insurance Masters Superbike Championship at Mondello Park can be purchased in advance from www.masterssuperbike.ie. For all the latest on the Masters season see the series web site, follow us on social media or check out our livestream coverage on both.