Post by monty on Aug 28, 2012 20:21:31 GMT
Adelaide Masters Series Lights up Bishopscourt
The first visit of the Adelaide Masters Series to Bishopscourt in Co. Down was thriller as Ireland’s top Motorcycle racers lit up the track with a series of close and spectacular races.
Two races for Superbikes, two for Supersport machines and the Grand Final were the feature events of an eleven race programme which turned out to be one of the most entertaining in the short history of the series. The championship races for Superbike and Supersport were all closely contested but the competitors kept the best till last as the Grand Final produced the closest ever finish in Adelaide Masters history.
The event opened with the first Superbike encounter and it was Lee Johnston on the Millsport Ducati who led all the way, ahead of a fantastic battle for second place between the Honda's of David Haire and championship leader Brian McCormack and the Kawasaki's of Cody Nally and Marshall Neill. Johnston took a relatively comfortable win while Neill crashed out leaving a group of three riders to fight over second place. At the flag Haire was second with Nally third and McCormack fourth, with all three riders separated by just eight tenths of a second.
In the second race the same group once again battled at the head of the field but this time Johnston had to work a lot harder as he won by just over a second from McCormack, who came through from the back of the group to take second ahead of Neill.
The stage was set then for a titanic battle in the final and that was just what the spectators got as the same five riders swapped positions throughout the race. As they started the final circuit Nally was in the lead but towards the end of the lap a move by Neill shuffled the pack and dropped Nally back to fourth. In the confusion Lee Johnston nipped back into the lead at the entrance to the final corner but was then beaten in a drag race to the line by Neill who lifted the Norman Brown memorial trophy and a cheque for stg£2,000 on his return to the series following injury. The final result showed Neil had triumphed by just two hundredths of a second while the top five were only separated by six tenths of a second.
The Supersport class was similarly competitive with Jonny Buckley on his Module Yamaha snatching the win from David Haire at the line in race one. The second encounter saw these two joined by pole sitter Timothy Elwood in three way battle which went the way of Haire from Elwood and Buckley in another tight finish where the top three were just half a second apart.
The whole event can be lived again when its highlights are broadcast on RPM Motorsport on UTV, Thursday 13th September at 11:50. The Adelaide Masters returns to the Mondello Park National Track for another single day event on Sunday September 2nd before finishing off the season, again at Mondello but this time on the longer International Circuit on October 6th and 7th