Successful day for North West 200 organisers

AFTER starting late, the North West 200 produced some great racing, with new lap records in every class.

The new chicane at Mathers Cross, although it proved more or less universally hated, had the desired effect, of slowing the bikes down at what has always been an accident black spot.

Holding the first Superbike race to allow the track to dry played right into the hands of John McGuinness.

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He started the race on cut slicks, and by the time the race ended, he was running on an almost perfectly dry road. McGuinness took the race win, after coming from behind, and passing Manxman Conor Cummings. The official finishing distance was just .2 of a second.

Taking a fighting third place, Alistair Seeley was the best Ulster rider, the Carrick man just .3 adrift of Cummings. Keith Amor had been running well in touch with the leaders, but was passed by Seeley towards the end of the race. he was only a further .2 back of Seeley. Stuart Easton, the man who went through the speed trap in practice at 204mph, took fifth with Bruce Anstey sixth.

The local performancers were Denver Robb, who took 13th place with a fastest lap of 114.679mph. Crumlin's Stephen Thompson ended the race in 14th place, just .3 of a second behind the Ballymena man. Stephen's quickest lap was 113.470mph. Randalstown's Gerard Kinghan finished in 23rd place, with a quickest circuit of 112.229mph.

The first Supersport 600 race was next to the line. It turned into little less than a dogfight, with any one of 7 or 8 riders capable of winning. At times there were four riders almost touching elbows at well over 160mph on the run to University Corner.

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The win eventually went to Alistair Seeley, after the top three went into Juniper Chicane abreast. Seeley let go his brakes, and nosed ahead, holding to to take a famous win from Ian Hutchinson. Hutchy was .7 behind Seeley, while Michael Dunlop came home in third place. Keith Amor rode a Ten Kate Honda, after his mate Jonathan Rea brokered a deal for the popular Scot. He was just .1 of a second behind Dunlop at the finish, with John McGuinness and Ryan Farquhar all within 2 seconds of Seeley. A brilliant race.

The only local man to finish here was Jack McIlvenna, from Randalstown. On the Moira Clubs R6, Jack finished in 22nd place, having a fastest lap of 109.569mph.

There was an emotional win in the 125 class for Paul Robinson, 30 years after his father Mervyn lost his life in a crash at Mathers Cross.

After the warm up lap, William Dunlop, Robinson's cousin, changed the main jet on his Honda, much to the consternation of one of the grid marshals, who came to the team complaining about the work they carried out on the line.

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Off the line Paul Robinson led, but it wasnt long till Dunlop came by. William had some 2.5 seconds of a lead at the end of the first lap, with Robinson over 3 seconds ahead of Isle of Man resident Chris Palmer.

Dunlop retired with an oil leak on lap two, while Palmer also called it a day with a misfire at the end of the next lap. He actually crossed the line in third place, but pulled into the pits to retire, leaving Jon Vincent in a safe second place.

At the finish Robinson took his first North West win, 8.6 seconds ahead of Jon Vincent, with Renzo van der Donck over 12 seconds further back. Neil Durham finished in fourth place, while Stephan Savelkouls dived under Sam Dunlop on the final bend to grab fifth position. Darren Gilpin was the only local man to finish, bringing the Trevor Dixon Honda home in 16th place. Darren, who had a feature on him in one of the local papers during last week, had a quickest lap of 86.961mph.

After the race, a clearly emotional Robinson said: “That was for my Mum, Helen. She has went through years of hell. I always said I’d never put a wreath on my Dad's grave, so thats where this is going. I’m going up there tomorrow to leave it on his grave.”

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Michael Rutter had to borrow a quickshifter off one of the Doctors’ bikes to be able to compete in the Superstock race.

The one on his own bike gave problems during the practice sessions, so the item was removed from the Doctor’s machine and transferred across.

Keith Amor and Ian Hutchinson were elbow to elbow away from the line, but it was Amor who held sway at the end of the opening lap. Ryan Farquhar had gathered himself after a slow start, and was right on Amor’s back wheel. Ian Hutchinson was third.

Alistair Seeley had moved to second at the end of the second lap, just .1 behind Amor. Hutchy was in third, while Farquhar had dropped back to fourth after overshooting at one of the chicanes when he hit a false neutral.

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A fantastic recovery saw Farquhar leading as the riders crossed the line on the third circuit. At the finish Amor took not only his first North West win, but also his first International road race win.

Ian Hutchinson was second, when he relegated Farquhar to third on the final run along the coast road. Seeley finished in fourth, with Michael Rutter a distant fifth and Michael Dunlop sixth. There were no local riders listed as finishers in this race.

There was a lengthy delay before the second Superbike race, when a spectator slipped and fell something like 60 feet off a cliff. He was taken to hospital with what were described as 'serious injuries.'

Stuart Easton led at York Corner on the opening lap, with John McGuinness and Keith Amor right in his wheel tracks.

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The top two were still the same at Metropole, but Guy Martin, who was having a NW to forget after blowing his 600 to bits, had moved through to third place. Farquhar retired at the end of the first lap, with what I understand were gearbox problems.

Ryan had been having bother with gears during the Superstock race, with the bike hitting false neutrals. Alistair Seeley had been steadily moving up through the field, and by the time the lead bunch entered the start finish area at the end of lap two, he slipped by into third place. Seeley went ahead at Mathers, after a slip streaming move on the second lap, dropping McGuinness and Easton behind him.

At the end of the third lap, Seeley had opened up a small gap, being just over a second ahead of Easton, McGuinness, while Guy Martin had dropped off the back slightly. Easton was in the lead at Metropole on the final lap, but on the coast road Seeley moved ahead, taking the win by 1.1 seconds. Easton held onto second, just .1 ahead of McGuinness. Guy Martin finished some 5 seconds further back, but still just about comfortably ahead of Bruce Anstey and Keith Amor.

After the race, Phillip McCallen the last Ulsterman to win the Superbike race at the North West paid compliment to Seeley, but saying that it never should have taken that long for a home grown victory. It was 13 years since the Portadown man won his race.

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Stephen Thompson was the best local finisher, coming home in 14th place, with a quickest lap of 115.945mph. Ballymena man Denver Robb was listed as a non finisher, completing a single lap.

Yet another non-racing related delay, this time an incident on the coast road, meant that the second Supersport 600 race got off to a delayed start. By now the organisers had a weather forecast that there was rain moving in, and they they were trying to get the racing wound up before it hit. Just about an hour late in starting, the race looked, on paper, as if it would develop into a dog fight, but in truth, it never happened.

Ryan Farquhar recovered from a third row grid position, to move into fourth place at York on the first lap, behind leader Keith Amor, Ian Hutchinson and John McGuinness. Hutchy had dropped to fourth at the University on the first lap, but soon gathered himself to hit the front.

He led Amor and Farquhar at the end of the opening lap, and really, never looked back after that. He moved steadily away to take the race win. The race was chequred flagged after 4 laps, although the riders had been told it was 5 laps. Hutchinson was declared the winner, finishing 3.2 seconds ahead of Keith Amor.

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Bruce Anstey had moved into third on the Link Road on lap three, but could do nothing about the leaders by then. He eventually was almost 7.5 seconds behind Amor. His team mate Seeley was just .07 behind, while Michael Dunlop and John McGuinness completed the top six. The only local finisher was, again, Jack McIlvenna. He improved his first race position, on the Moira Clubs R6, grabbing 21st place with a quickest lap of 109.769mph.

THIS WEEKEND

This weekend the action turns back to the ISB championship, when the Mondello circuit stage a two day meeting. Practice is on Saturday, with racing on Sunday. Racing will be on the National circuit.

If Iceland keeps its volcanic ash, and doesn’t fire it all over Europe, I will be off this weekend to Horice, in the Czech Republic. I’m due to leave from Dublin on Thursday, returning next Tuesday, but we'll see how it goes. If I don’t get away, it’s Mondello for me this weekend again. I know where I’d rather be.