Ulster Superbike champion Alastair Seeley on the IFS Yamaha R1.

The Irish motorcycling season blasts off on Saturday with the opening round of the Ulster Superbike Championship at Bishopscourt in Co Down, where Alastair Seeley will be aiming to pick up where he left off in 2021.

The Carrickfergus man dominated the domestic short circuit scene last season as he clinched the Superbike and Supersport titles on the IFS Yamaha machines.

Seeley, who was unbeaten on the Yamaha R1 in the Superbike class with 12 straight victories, will take all the beating once again.

The 42-year-old is keeping himself busy ahead of his return to the North West 200 from May 10-14, where the 24-time winner will be out to claim more silverware on the north coast after the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The team all work well together and I’m excited about it,” said Seeley.

“In Supersport the Yamaha is the weapon of choice and the big bike is a great package as well as we saw last year in World Superbikes and the British championship.

“The bikes will be good and we shouldn’t be short of parts. I’m just hoping for the good weather to return.”

Unfortunately, Seeley’s old British Supersport Championship sparring partner Jack Kennedy won’t be in action at Bishopscourt.

The organising Temple Motorcycle and Athletic Club announced on its Facebook page that reigning British champion Kennedy was a late entry for the season-opener on the Mar-Train Racing Yamaha, but the Dubliner has confirmed that his next outing will be at the official BSB test at Silverstone on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

Kennedy said: “We looked at doing it in case we weren’t going to go to Donington because of the weather, but we only enquired about an entry and asked for it not to be publicised anywhere.

“It leaked out but we’re not doing it because in the end we went to Donington.”

Seeley’s opposition in the Superbike class includes Jason Lynn from Upperlands in Co Londonderry, who was a regular podium finisher last year. Lynn has switched to a Kawasaki ZX-10R this season as he continues with the J McC Roofing team.

The former four-time Irish and Ulster Supersport champion is only contesting his second full year on a Superbike and impressed in 2021 as he finished third overall in the standings behind Seeley and Dromara man Ali Kirk, who announced his retirement from the sport in March.

Cork’s Mike Browne is also entered with the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing team, with schoolboy Jack Burrows set to make his race debut in the Moto3 races.

The Magic Bullet Racing Team of Jonny Campbell, Ross Irwin and Richard McFarland will also be out to make their presence felt.

Irwin, who hails from the famous Carrickfergus racing family, will ride a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade this season, while young gun Campbell lines up on a Yamaha R6 in the Supersport class.

In the Supertwin races, reigning British Junior Supersport champion Cameron Dawson will ride a Ryan Farquhar-prepared 700cc Kawasaki for the J McC Roofing team.

Former Grand Prix winner Jeremy McWilliams is also entered in the Supertwin class on a Paton as he considers racing at the North West 200 again in May.

With Covid-19 restrictions eased, fans can pay at the gate. Admission is priced at £12 (under 16s free when accompanied by an adult). Racing from 11am.