Ireland's premier Motorcycle Racing Championship, the Adelaide Masters Series, came to a dramatic climax over the weekend of October 6th & 7th with the two main championship fights going down to the wire. The season long battles for the Superbike and Supersport titles came down to the final race in each series following thirteen rounds of close and unpredictable racing.
Brian McCormack led the Superbike and Supersport classes at the end of the first event in April. Across the remaining four events, held at Mondello Park and Bishopscourt, the former Irish champion was never headed, but so close were the points going into the final event that it was still possible for him to be beaten to both titles. In the end McCormack pulled out all the stops in Supersport to win the final round and clinch the title and was then able to settle for a steady fifth place in the Superbike race to add it to his Supersport crown.
In the Superbike 'Cup' race for less experienced, Clubman grade riders, the outcome was even closer with season long leader Evan Delaney being caught by Melvin Hollingsworth over the second half of the year. Hollingsworth improved throughout the season and eventually tied Delaney on points at the final event only to lose out on a tie breaker due to Delaney's superior number of 'Cup' wins.
The Supersport 'Cup' was a lot more clear-cut with Luke Johnston dominating for most of the season. Such was Johnston’s pace that he was on the coat tails of the overall race leaders at many events and had the championship tied up well before the final race. Johnston’s nearest challenger was James Kelly who took his first cup win early in the season but could not match the champion from there on.
Over the course of the season the Adelaide Masters Series was the most successful of all the Irish Short Circuit Motorcycle Racing championships, attracting consistent competitor numbers and record crowds. In all 270 competitors contested 11 different championships, with 230 riders scoring points. The support race championships went to Declan Swanton in Pre-Injection, Gavin PJ Quinn in Lightweight Supersport, Conor Parkhill in Supertwins, Ronan Shanahan and Karen Hadden in the Two Stroke classes and Terry O'Reilly in Sidecars. During the season the championship set numerous records including attracting the biggest ever crowd for a non-international event at Mondello Park
Plans are already being finalised for next year’s series with the organisers hoping to announce the 2013 dates very shortly. While the new Adelaide Masters Series season is being prepared there are still plenty of opportunities to see the high quality racing from 2012, with two events still to be televised on UTV, Motors TV and Setanta Sports.