O’Connell wins on Aprilia debut weekend

O’Connell wins on Aprilia debut weekend

Tralee-based motorcycle racer Robert O’Connell marked his debut in SuperTwins class in fine style at Mondello Park over the weekend.

O’Connell, a previous frontrunner in the Superbike and Supersport classes in the Master National Motorcycle Racing Championship made a surprise switch to the SuperTwins class after testing fellow Tralee racer Darragh Crean’s Aprilia RS660 recently.

Robert O’Connell celebrates his SuperTwin race win with supporters Mark Arnott, Der Rahilly, Emmet O’Grady and John O’Grady at Mondello Park on Sunday. Photo: Sean Moriarty

The test session encouraged him to buy a similar machine and the July Master’s meeting marked its maiden outing.

O’Connell recorded two third-place finishes, one each on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Later on Sunday, he rode the new Aprilla to a dominant race win to claim his first SuperTwin victory.

Emmett O’Grady was a triple podium visitor in the Supersport class. Second in the opener, he went one better in race two, before ending his weekend with another second place. The Yamaha CBR 600 rider provisionally leads the Supersport championship after four of the six scheduled weekends.

O’Grady was third in two of the three Superbike races he contested over the weekend.

Asdee’s John Griffin’s best result of the weekend came in the second Superbike B race where the Suzuki GXR rider finished third.

Alex O’Grady scored two fourth-place and one fifth-place finish in Supersport Cup class on his Suzuki GSSXR.

In the Production Twins class, West Limerick’s Mike Sheeran took two third places on his Suzuki SV.

Andrew Murphy had a weekend to forget in the Moto 400 class. An accident in race one damaged his Honda which also resulted in his retirement from race two. His third race was curtailed by an overheating engine.

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