North West 200 is underway with Dunlop and Seeley setting the pace

2023 Northwest 200

With Ben McCook

2023 North West 200 has begun! A successful (and incident-free) opening day of practice came at a stunning Northern Ireland coastal event today where local men, Michael Dunlop and Alastair Seeley were in the spotlight. idea.

Dunlop won the Hawk Racing Honda Fireblade on the makeshift pole in the Superbike before a quick lap of late also earned him second place on Stocker.

Seeley is only 1.9 seconds behind ‘The Bull’ in SBK but is the fastest in Superstock and Supersport. A really impressive performance by this couple.

Nottingham’s Richard Cooper then posted the fastest time in a Twins session to circumvent the natives’ temporary column locking.

Top BSB favorites; Glenn Irwin and Josh Brookes’ opening day didn’t go quite as planned. Brookes only completed one lap in the SBK session, and Irwin had stability issues.

While Brookes crashed on the Superbike, he finished seventh in the SuperStock session later in the day, ahead of real road experts Conor Cummins, John McGuinness and James Hillier.

The morning got off to a slow start. An engine explosion during the ‘newcomer’ opening session caused SBK to be 30 minutes behind. As the Sun shone down on the assembled grid, there was some agitation in the ranks due to the lack of communication about what was really going on. It’s worth noting that Dunlop and Seeley were clearly very comfortable at the time and perhaps that made all the difference as the riders were finally on track.

Finally, a session (reduced to half an hour) was conducted. The opening session of the Northwest is always exciting due to the specific nature of the circuit, so a losing session can only increase before that. Traditionally, many riders do a lap before stopping to adjust because there’s no way to tell if the bike is close to setting right before plunging into the four-kilometer stretch that leads them to Coleraine with speed 320 km/h or not. This morning’s short session makes every decision made in the pitlane a little more important than usual.

Brookes was so worried about the problems he was having that he immediately parked the FHO BMW just minutes after starting.

Glenn Irwin posted, “FP1 is always interesting on the North Coast but not so much when you can’t go straight… rolling on Thursday because the boys will digest the data and we’re on.” Irwin received a new engine from Ducati specifically for this event but could it be a poisoned cup? This isn’t the first time an ultra-powerful Superbike has arrived in the North West that’s completely unsuitable for the job.

The late Richard Britton had a terrible time years ago trying to tame Yukio Kagayama’s Rizla Suzuki. In theory, it should have been one of the best bikes on the grid… but those who have watched the big Suzuki weave its way and shake its head around the Northwest will testify that it is a long way off. newly achieved – Britton couldn’t understand it. It will be interesting to see if Irwin has more luck getting his Beer Monster Ducati to behave. “An easy fix“ he calculates. Only time will tell.

But there’s no denying Dunlop’s performance today. He worked hard to get ready for the event and it looks like he has a good Honda and is really disciplined. He looked both determined and on point in all sessions during the main event and fans were delighted with his performance. He then timed his runs perfectly during the Stock session to hit a very late fast lap that put him in second while his competitors took the checkered flag and turned around. pit again. He also finished fourth in Supersport and fifth in Twins. A solid start for the Ballymoney man.

The Honda SBK is clearly fit for the track with half of the top 10 on the Fireblades. Lee Johnston finished third behind Seeley and ahead of Hickman in fourth, with John McGuinness in fifth. Dean Harrison is sixth on DAO Kawasaki and Davey Todd and Conor Cummins are the other Hondas in the Irwin side-by-side standings at seventh and ninth. Newcomer, Mike Browne made the top 10; a very impressive performance on Ian Hutchinso Burrows’ old BMW.

So far, Seeley seems to be the man with all the dotted Is and crossed out Ts. Proof today, he has to enter with a chance of winning every race. Any doubts about his unfamiliar Supersport Ducati V2 were quickly refuted by today’s article. Some people thought that maybe the strange machine wouldn’t be suitable for Seeley or the circuit, but that’s clearly not the case.

However, as always, Supersport will be anyone’s and most anticipated race of the day. Seeley has a healing R6 team with Richard Cooper, Dean Harrison, and Michael Dunlop, all within touching distance.

The same situation happened with Superstock, only this time Dunlop, Hickman and Todd gave chase.

As always, the Supertwins class brought a little flavor to today. A field filled with Patons, Aprillias and R7 Yamahas means the bikes look and sound dramatically different from other classes. But KMR Kawasaki is the one topping the timesheet today.

Richard Cooper has started where he left off last year. Lighter and more stylish than ever, you can rest assured that his bike will be 100% legal this year. Ryan Farquhar will make sure there’s nothing left open to explanation in the design of that little bike after last year’s rage. So far, Jeremy McWilliams and the man on the TT 2022 podium have finished top three behind Cooper.

Not long after the roads opened today the sky opened up. Heavy showers have fallen at various times over the past several days and the outlook for Thursday’s final session is unpredictable. Looks like the organizers can play cat and mouse with the weather for the rest of the week. However, that is nothing new to the Northwest and those in charge will know what to do when the time comes. Thursday’s final session was followed by three evening races before Saturday’s main event wrapped up meeting.

Result 2023 Northwest 200
Superbike first qualifying time

1. Michael DUNLOP Honda – Hawk Racing 4:22,658 122,943mph
2. Alastair SEEley BMW – Milwaukee BMW Motorrad 4:24,587 122,047mph
3. Lee JOHNSTON Honda – Ashcourt Racing 4:28,887 120,095mph
4. Peter HICKMAN BMW – FHO Racing BMW Motorrad 4:29,922 119,635mph
5. John McGUINESS Honda – Honda Racing UK 4:30.287 119,473mph
6. Dean HARRISON Kawasaki – DAO Racing 4:30.379 119,432mph
7. Davey TODD Honda – Milenco of Padgett’s Motorcycles 4:30,740 119,273mph
8. Glenn IRWIN Ducati – BeerMonster Ducati 4:31,076 119,125mph
9. Conor CUMMINS Honda – Milenco of Padgett’s Motorcycles 4:32,146 118,657mph
10. Mike BROWNE BMW – Burrows of RK Racing 4:33,796 117,942mph

Result 2023 Northwest 200
Superstock first qualifying time

1. Alastair SEEEY BMW – SYNETIC BMW Motorrad 4:21,769 123,361mph
2. Michael DUNLOP Honda – MD Racing 4:23,729 122.444mph
3. Peter HICKMAN BMW – FHO Racing BMW Motorrrad 4:24,853 121.924mph
4. Davey TODD Honda – Milenco of Padgett’s Motorcycles 4:26.409 121.212mph
5. Lee JOHNSTON Honda – Ashcourt Racing 4:26.502 121,170mph
6. Dean HARRISON Kawasaki – DAO Racing 4:27,280 120,817mph
7. Josh BROOKES BMW – FHO Racing BMW Motorrad 4:28,516 120,261mph
8. Conor CUMMINS Honda – Milenco of Padgett’s Motorcycles 4:29,173 119,967mph
9. John McGUINESS Honda – Honda Racing UK 4:30,499 119,379mph
10. James HILLIER Yamaha – OMG Racing 4:32,236 118,618mph

Result 2023 Northwest 200
Supersport first qualifying time

1. Alastair SEEEY Ducati – Powertoolmate Ducati 4:36,589 116.751mph
2. Richard COOPER Yamaha – Russell Racing BPE 4:36,983 116.585mph
3. Dean HARRISON Yamaha – Russell Racing BPE 4:38.119 116.109mph
4. Michael DUNLOP Yamaha – MD Racing 4:38,281 116,041mph
5. Peter HICKMAN Victory – K2 Soldier Victory by PHR 4:39,471 115,547mph
6. Lee JOHNSTON Yamaha – Ashcourt Racing 4:40.499 115.123mph
7. Davey TODD Honda – Milenco of Padgett’s Motorcycles 4:42,395 114,350mph
8. Mike BROWNE Yamaha – Burrows of RK Racing 4:43,301 113.985mph
9. Paul JORDAN Yamaha – PreZ Racing by Prosper2 4:44,063 113,679mph
10. Adam McLEAN Yamaha – JMcC Roofing Racing 4:45,841 112,972mph

Result 2023 Northwest 200
SuperTwin First Qualifying Time

1. Richard COOPER Kawasaki – KMR Kawasaki 4:49,037 111,723mph
2. Jeremy McWILLIAMS Paton – JMW Bayview Racing 4:52,452 110,418mph
3. Paul JORDAN Kawasaki – Prosper’s PreZ Racing 4:56,801 108,800mph
4. Adam McLEAN Kawasaki – JMcC Roofing Racing 4:57,615 108,503mph
5. Michael DUNLOP Kawasaki – McAdoo Kawasaki Racing 4:59,210 107,924mph
6. Lee JOHNSTON Aprilia – Ashcourt Racing 5:00.181 107.575mph
7. Michael SWEENEY Paton – ILR/Frogs Team 5:00,615 107,420mph
8. Stefano BONETTI Paton – ILR/Frogs Team 5:01,072 107.257mph
9. Peter HICKMAN Yamaha – Performance PHR 5:01,357 107,155mph
10. Joe LOUGHLIN Kawasaki – G2-Tech 5:07,701 104,946mph

Schedule 2023 Northwest 200