Brian McCormack and Kevin Keyes victorious in Masters Superbike Championship at Mondello Park

McCormack mastered the wet conditions on his Roadhouse Macau BMW on Saturday to win by four seconds from pole man Emmet O’Grady (TAG Racing Honda), with Shane Connolly taking a close third on his Yamaha, only three tenths of a second behind O’Grady.

Kevin Keyes lost ground in the title race after he crashed out on his Daracore Racing Yamaha R1 following a collision with another rider.

The Co Offaly rider made amends on Sunday as he bounced back from the disappointment to clinch a double on the shorter National track.

Kevin Keyes claimed a Superbike double on the Daracore Racing Yamaha R1 at Mondello Park. Picture: Baylon McCaughey

Keyes, who made his debut at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT this year, dominated the second race on a dry track to win by four seconds from Tramore’s McCormack, with Alan Kenny (TMR Yamaha) claiming the final spot on the rostrum, 2.3s further back.

O’Grady crossed the line in fourth ahead of Skerries man Michael Sweeney (MJR BMW), who was also back in short circuit action after racing at the TT.

In the final race of the weekend, Keyes had to fight hard for his second Superbike win of the day, narrowly holding off O’Grady by just under four tenths of a second after 14 laps, with McCormack on the podium again in a solid weekend for the title pacesetter.

Kenny claimed fourth ahead of Andrew Whearty (Honda).

In the Supersport class, Keyes came out on top on his Yamaha R6 in Saturday’s wet opening race by only 0.187s from O’Grady (AKR Honda), with Supersport Cup rider Michael Gillan a long way back in third.

One of the pre-race favourites, Oisin Maher, failed to finish.

Maher, though, gained some consolation on Sunday on the AKR Honda as he squeezed out O’Grady in a thrilling battle to win by 0.215s, with Keyes five seconds adrift in third. Sweeney finished a comfortable fourth on his Yamaha R6.

The third and final Supersport race of the weekend produced another different winner with pole man O’Grady getting the verdict in a breathless scrap to the finish, holding off Keyes by a mere tenth of a second to claim the win.

Sweeney earned a podium in third, three seconds behind the top two, with Kevin Baker in fourth (Kawasaki).

Maher claimed a Supertwin double, winning Saturday’s first race and repeating the feat in the second race on his VTL TAG Racing Aprilia.

However, he was denied a hat-trick in the class by Sweeney, who clinched victory in the final race on his Aprilia by 0.4s from Maher.

The Principal Insurance Masters Superbike Championship has now reached the halfway point, with round four of six taking place from July 27-28.