Keyes shakes off bad crash to be crowned double champion
Offaly’s Kevin Keyes has made history after being crowned Irish Superbike pro champion and Irish Supersport pro champion.
The 26-year-old from Edenderry became a double Principal Insurance Irish Masters Champion onboard his Daracore Racing Yamaha R1 Superbike and Yamaha R6 Supersport bike.
Keyes went into last weekend’s action as favourite to claim the Superbike title as he had a 54-point lead with a potential 75 points up for grabs, but the Supersport was a bigger task as he was lying second in the championship 12 points behind.
Superbike race one was on Saturday last where Kevin could have wrapped up the title with two races to go but disaster struck on lap 3 of the race. His brakes failed at 140+mph, resulting a huge crash and Keyes taking huge impact to his body and head.
Despite being in a lot of pain and carrying some injuries after his crash, Keyes gritted his teeth and went out on his Supersport bike two races later and won the first of the Supersport races of the weekend. Leaving on Saturday, Kevin’s lead in the Superbike competition had been reduced to 38 points but he had closed the gap down to three points in the Supersport contest, leaving himself in a very good position to become double champion on Sunday evening.
Sunday was a challenging day for Kevin. After sleeping on injuries over night, his body was very stiff and sore. In his own words, he was “feeling very second hand but Sunday wasn’t the day for dealing with the pain, I could be sore all day Monday”.
With his mind set on becoming double champion, Kevin showed determination to push through the pain get the job done.
Superbike race two was up first on Sunday and, despite his injuries, Kevin pushed his 170kg 200bhp+ 1000cc Superbike to its limits and secured third position, thus claiming the Superbike championship.
But he couldn’t celebrate just yet as he still had two more races on his 600cc Supersport bike. The second Supersport race saw Kevin lead from flag to flag, taking home his second victory of the weekend and giving him a narrow six-point championship lead heading into the final race of the day.
With a potential 25 points still up for grabs and only seven points separating the three title contenders, Kevin was in a nice position where he had to finish in first or second place to secure the title. Race 3 came around and again Keyes got off to a flyer, going into the lead and, after some great battles Kevin finished in second place, but it was enough to make history and become the double champion in the two premier classes.
“This season was amazing my Daracore Racing bikes were on top form all season and to secure the Irish Superbike Pro championship and Irish Supersport Pro championship has been a dream come true,” said Keyes.
“I cannot thank my whole team and family enough for all their efforts this season and of course all my sponsors and supporters who have stuck by me through all the tough and good times.”
Kevin extended thanks to all his sponsors: Daracore Ltd, FJS Plant Agri & Groundcare, Cotter Motorcycles Ltd, MotorcycleTraining.ie, The Grill Shack, Eden Decor Centre, Sign Flair, IV Media, D.B. Coatings Ltd, By Design Joinery and Klim at ADV Gear.