ISB MONDELLO

Paul Lindsay - Belfast Telegraph wrote:

Relentless Suzuki’s Alastair Seeley retained his Mondello Masters title yesterday in County Kildare with a faultless performance.

The Carrickfergus rider, celebrating his 30th birthday, not only lifted the €3000 top prize, but also a €2000 bonus cheque for his efforts, holding off Dubliner Jack Kennedy in second and Portadown’s Marshall Neill in third.

Seeley began the weekend with an Irish Superbike win on Saturday afternoon increasing his lead over series rival Mark Johnston to 18.5 points.

A further two ISB wins yesterday for Seeley makes his lead almost unassailable — 45.5 points — with Johnston doing his best over the weekend with third, fourth and sixth placed results.

Johnston must now win both ISB races at the Sunflower Trophy on October 18 and hope that Seeley doesn’t finish to claim his first ISB crown.

An almost impossible task by anyone’s standards, with Seeley now a cast iron favourite for the 2009 ISB title and that dream first prize — a trip to the Kings of Wanneroo race in Western Australia at the start of November.

Seeley said: “As I keep saying, I’m here to do a job for Relentless Suzuki and that job involves winning races. Jack Kennedy was a bit aggressive out there today especially in the Masters race. That brought a bit of red mist down for me and I just played him at his own game. I’ve been on a roll since I started riding for this team. And the effort they’ve shown this weekend, not only supplying two Superbikes but a virtual BSB back-up service, is testament to the commitment and professionalism at TAS Racing. The bikes were working well all weekend and Davy ‘Laptop’ worked his magic again for me. This will hopefully set us up for a couple of good results this weekend at Oulton Park to round off a great year.”