Masters Superbike Championship action is back on the menu at Mondello Park with entries on the increase and pre-booked admission prices decreasing as tickets are made available on-line for the first time. Spectators booking their tickets in advance will now pay just €10 for admission to Ireland’s highest quality short circuit series.

After a long mid-season break, the highly competitive championship returns to the Mondello Park National Circuit on July 16th and 17th having raced on three different circuits at the first three events of the season. Rounds eight, nine and ten will see a return to the shorter Mondello Park circuit for the first time since March. Qualifying and Round eight will run on Saturday with rounds nine and ten to be decided on Sunday. The Masters timetable will as usual concentrate on the feature Superbike and Supersport classes which will each run twice on Sunday Afternoon supported by a full day’s racing for all of the support classes.

The last time the series visited this track Robert English was the star as he took the first Superbike wins of his career from Gerard Kinghan and Ryan Rainey. English slumped slightly at Bishopscourt’s next event but was back at the top to dominate proceedings on the Kildare Circuit’s International layout in May.

Nikki Coates currently lies second in the championship to English, but his form in recent Irish Championship events suggest he is ready to challenge his younger rival for the title. English will also have to watch out for team mate Ryan Rainey who is back after injury, Brian McCormack who has overcome his early season engine problems to move back into contention, Cody Nally, Gerard Kinghan, Mark Glasgow and outside bet, Superbike ‘Cup’ points leader Charles Stuart, who continues to knock on the door of his first podium.

The Supersport Championship is much harder to call than Superbike, with championship leader Richie Ryan just a handful of points ahead of Luke Johnston, who took his first Masters Supersport win at round seven. Two of the fastest riders in the series, Nikki Coates and Jason Lynn have both suffered non-finishes to leave them in the wake of the top two, but with their speed and experience they can never be discounted.

Gradually bridging the gap to the top Supersport front-runners is the very impressive Aaron Clifford who has won the ‘Cup’ class at every race. Last time out the teenager was just one place away from his first overall podium and he currently lies fifth in the points.

Close competition is not confined to the feature races as the Principal Insurance Pre-Injection class demonstrates. With four different winners from the six rounds completed and seven different riders having made it onto the podium, the healthy lead held by Kevin Dempsey and Stephen Doyle over their main rivals does not tell the full story of this highly competitive class.

The close racing continues into the Twins classes where Dave Butler and Aaron Armstrong are the main Supertwins contenders and Mark McConville, Cathal Phelan and impressive newcomer Jamie O’Keefe are the top three in Production Twins. Sidecars, a combined grid of Lightweight Supersport and Classic Superbike machines and the youngsters of the Production 125cc – 300cc class make up the remainder of the timetable.

Admission to either day of the Masters at Mondello Park is €12.50 for adults or €10.00 booked in advance, with under sixteen’s admitted free. All admission includes a complimentary event programme.

All of the championship information including the event timetable and championship standings is available at www.masterssuperbike.ie as well as on f@cebook/MastersSuperbike and twitter/MastersSBK.

Pictures (c) Andy Quinn