Masters Championship contenders return to Bishopscourt

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All of the Superbike and Supersport championship contenders will be on the grid along with some notable additions for the penultimate event of the 2016 Masters Superbike Championship, as the series returns to Bishopscourt. Rounds 12 and 13 of Ireland's biggest short circuit racing championship will run at the County Down track on Sunday August 21stwith a pair of Superbike and two Supersport Championship races taking centre stage before the non-championship Norman Brown trophy race brings the fastest riders from both classes together for their final race of the day. Robert English and Nikki Coates head to Bishopscourt knowing the Superbike championship is essentially between them, but that does not mean the battles will be any less competitive. A strong line-up has been assembled for the Superbike class with English and Coates joined by third placed Mark Glasgow, the on-form Cody Nally, perennial Masters front runner Gerard Kinghan and some returning riders. Jamie Patterson, who has been absent since round one due to a major crash, makes a return riding BMW machinery, joining Peter Moloney as the only two front runners riding the German machines. Alastair Kirk also makes a rare masters appearance with his Kawasaki. Completing the top ten contenders will be Philip McNally and Cup class leader Charles Stuart. Nikki Coates is once again in contention in the Supersport class, where he was a winner last time the Masters visited Bishopscourt, but the championship top two, Richie Ryan and Luke Johnston. will be hard for Coates to catch. The Supersport grid has been bolstered for Bishopscourt by a number of returnees, most notably reigning champion Robert English who rides in Supersport for the first time this season. The other Bishopscourt winner from earlier in the year, Ross Patterson, also makes his return as does Robert Kennedy who has been absent since the season opener. Of the front runners the only one without a win this season is Jason Lynn but having found a front suspension issue with his Suzuki he will be looking to put that right this weekend. Of the support classes the Principal Insurance Pre-Injection races are usually the most entertaining and with the top six in the standings all on the grid, as well as some Bishopscourt specialists, competitive racing is guaranteed. Also on the timetable will be Supertwins and Production Twins and Lightweight Supersport. Racing begins at 11:50 with the first Supersport race. The last of the championship feature races will get under way just before 16:00 followed by the Norman Brown Trophy race. Adult admission is £10 with under 16's admitted free. All of the championship information including the event timetable and championship standings can be found atwww.masterssuperbike.ie as well as on facebook/MastersSuperbike and twitter/MastersSBK.