​The 2014 Adelaide Masters Series is set for its showdown this coming weekend...
On the Mondello Park International Track, where three of the four major titles are still to be decided.
After 11 of the fourteen races the Adelaide Motorbike Insurance series will go down to the wire in the Superbike, Superbike Cup and Supersport championships.
Three riders will battle it out for top honours in the Superbike class. Athlone's Cody Nally heads the table from Tramore man Brian McCormack who is his most realistic challenger. Portadown's Marshall Neill, who has won the last five races in a row, sits in third with only a slim chance of lifting the title as it would take a disastrous final race weekend for both Nally and McCormack for him to win his first Masters title since 2010.
The Superbike 'Cup' class, which runs within the main series and is contested by less experienced riders, also remains to be decided. The class wins have been shared between Declan Hoey, from Lisburn, and Brian McCormack's team mate Corkman Raymond Casey, and its these two who lead the points. Hoey has a comfortable margin at the head of the field but with three races still to run anything could happen. Thomas O'Grady from Lusk and Meath rider Emmet Bannon are the only other riders still in with a mathematical chance of taking the 'Cup' class.
As has been the norm in recent years, the Supersport races have been the place where the real action is. Four riders still have a mathematical chance of coming out on top but of these it’s another Lisburn based rider, Carl Phillips who looks set to be crowned as champion. Phillip's margin is such that he had already started to ride for points instead of wins at the last Masters event and looks likely to do the same this coming weekend. The battle for second place in the series will be hotly contested however between four young Northern Irish stars who have all taken race wins this year. Robert English, Jason Lynn, Jamie Patterson and Conor Parkhill.
The Supersport 'Cup' class has already been secured by Edenderry youngster Kevin Keyes in his first season racing in the class. Keyes has won the 'Cup' on five occasions this season and secured the title at the last Masters event in August while taking his best ever result of fifth overall. Keyes nearest rival all season had been Antrim's Ross Patterson, who has won on four occasions, but Patterson now finds himself in a battle to hold on to second place in the series from Wexford's Graham Kennedy, Dubliner Eoghan Delaney and the only other rider to taste 'Cup' victory this season, Donal Curtin from Cork.
The Pre-Injection, Super and Production Twins and Sidecar titles will all be up for grabs this weekend. Both of the two stroke classes, for 250GP and Moto3, and the Lightweight Supersport series having already been decided in favour of Ronan Shanahan (250GP), Caolan Irwin (Moto3) and Andrew Whearty (Lightweight Supersport). The championship classes will be joined on the bill for this weekend by races for Classic machines. The Classic Superbikes will complete their first season with two races on Saturday, while the older Classic Bikes will race on both days.
Round 12 for all of the championship classes will be run on Saturday afternoon with the final two rounds set for Sunday. As always the event programme will focus around the final Supersport and Superbike races of the weekend and the all-comers Grand Final. All of Sunday's action will be covered once again by Mondello.TV who will broadcast the entire days racing including all of the support classes.
Admission to Mondello Park for the final Adelaide Masters Series event of the season is just €12.50 for adults with under sixteen's admitted free of charge. For more information on the Adelaide Masters Series see www.adelaidemasters.ie or follow the series on facebook.
For up to date championship positions see www.adelaidemasters.ie/points
