Prendergast’s Mondello Park return is a winning one

The 2024 Principal Insurance Masters Superbike Championship drew to a close in glorious weather at Mondello Park on Sunday September 22, with championship winners crowned in the 12 different racing categories, but it was Carrick-on-Suir’s Michael Prendergast that came home a winner.

After a three-year competitive absence from the sport, Prendergast left as a second-time Classic Superbike champion much to the delight of the travelling support from the South-East, who were also there to support a strong local contingent.

After taken a maiden title back in 2021, an insurance issue played mayhem with racing in recent years, but a return to the track for Prendergast yielded a second where his hunger to win was key to victory.

He arrived for the final three rounds of racing holding a slim championship lead over father and son duo Liam and Noel Dunne where he was hoping to carry his previous performances into the last weekend of racing in 2024.

An early start for qualifying saw a blistering pace set aboard the red Ducati 916 to take pole position with a fastest lap of 58:449 just ahead of Liam Dunne, the only other rider to post a sub one-minute lap time.

As Race one rolled around, everything started to fall into place for Michael with a first-place finish, recording the fastest race lap of the day with a 58.691. He was the only rider home before the 10-minute mark in the 10-lap race.

Sunday morning was no different for Prendergast when the lights went out in the penultimate race of the championship. The previous race result had whittled the championship contenders down to two where he held the upper hand ahead of Liam Dunne.

An extended 12-lap race worked in his favour storming home in first place for his second win of the weekend with championship Dunne coming home in third spot Another fastest race lap was also posted as he finished with a time of 58.900 after reaching average speeds of over 112Km/h.

This win finally put the championship race to bed when he extended his lead to 47 points with a maximum 25 on offer in the final race ensuring that the championship returned to the South-East of the country.

His final outing would have the afforded luxury of being able to take it easy, but Prendergast wasn’t resting on his laurels as he produced the fastest race lap of the weekend in the classic category, breaking the 57-second barrier to give him 15 race wins in 18 outings.

This year has also seen some additional success locally with Tramore’s Brian McCormack finishing in third position in the Superbike Pro standings after some fantastic racing with Michael’s brother Ian also mounting a serious challenge in the Pre-Injection category, just finishing outside the Top 3 in fifth-place overall.