Kerry motorcycle racers welcome return of Dunlop Masters Superbike Championship

Kerry motorcycle racers welcome return of Dunlop Masters Superbike Championship

Kerry-based motorcycles are looking forward  to a season of racing after Mondello Park and Motorcycling Ireland announced the return of the Dunlop Masters Superbike Championship for 2024.

Following a year without Motorcycle Racing as part of the sporting calendar due to  the lack of insurance the promoters of the Dunlop Masters will shorty release a six-weekend race calendar.

Ireland’s premier motorcycle racing series last ran in 2022, when it had its most successful season to date, with increased entries, record crowds and the closest finish ever witnessed in an Irish Superbike Championship. 2023 should have been the year for the series to build on this success, but due to insurance issues that opportunity has had to wait until 2024.

“It is great that we have a return to motorcycle racing in Mondello. The Masters is a great championship and it would be a pity to go another year without as I would say we could lose it,” said 400cc and Supersport  class frontrunner Andrew Murphy.

“ It’s also a lot easier for us in the south now to go racing as we do not have to make the long trips to the north as often now.”

Killarney-based racer Stephen Heelan made is his race debit at Mondello Park in April 2022.

Despite a promising season he was unable to bring lessons learned into 2023 but is not  now looking forward to his second year of racing.

“I will be hoping to do as much as the championship as I can in the Masters this year in the Supersport Cup category on my Kawasaki ZX6R. I am looking forward to getting back up on the bike and competing against other riders,” he said.

While the calendar is not yet finalised but Mondello Park management are keen to get back up and running as quickly as possible.

“The return of Irish Motorcycle Racing has taken a lot of work behind the scenes by the new Motorcycling Ireland management committee and Mondello Park are grateful to them for all of their efforts. The recommencement of the sport will come at a cost however as the price of insurance cover has increased dramatically. A fundraising campaign is planned by Motorcycling Ireland, with the support of Mondello Park, with the aim of lessening the burden on competitors,” said a Mondello Park statement.

One idea is an increase in licence fees and one that  Superbike championship frontrunner Emmet O’Grady says racers should embrace.

“I really hope they get the numbers they expect to warrant running the championship,” he said.

“ I would hope the fact the licence has not gone up much that past competitors would buy and support the licence fee which would greatly help.”

 Superbike Cup frontrunner Dean O’Grady is happy to see the sport return but the short notice is causing planning problems. He said: “Great news about the racing coming back. Hopefully, we will have an idea of costs involved  in the coming days so we can try get a budget in place and see what is affordable. Great to have it back but there is a lot of planning  to be done to get back going this year