North West 200 | 4 talking points

FHO Racing head home, Dunlop dramas resurface

Anyone who follows the road racing scene will know that Peter Hickman is one of the hottest names on the grid and has become almost unbeatable at the Isle of Man TT when aboard the FHO Racing BMW. With British Superbike front-runner Josh Brookes added to the FHO stable this year, we were treated with one of the most exciting teams to line up on the roads for a long time.

Sadly, though, only those that were watching practice and qualifying were able to see the duo ring their BMW M1000RRs around the 8.9-mile Triangle Circuit, because the team were informed they would be excluded from the Superstock races owing to an issue with their carbon wheels. MCUI regulations, which came into force in January this year, state that carbon wheels are not to be used in a road racing capacity, throwing up a major issue for FHO Racing, as the BMW is homologated with carbon wheels – leaving the team in an impossible situation no matter what wheels it used.

Following the exclusion, FHO Racing released a statement explaining that it was withdrawing from the entire event “due to no confidence in the application of the Superstock technical regulations”. This meant that there would be no Peter Hickman or Josh Brookes in either the Superstock or Superbike races. However Faye Ho, FHO Racing owner, gave her blessing for Hickman to compete in the Supersport and Supertwin races aboard his own PHR machines. Both Brookes and Hickman will now have to wait until the last week of May and opening practice for the Isle of Man TT to be able to ride a big bike around closed roads.

The controversy, let alone losing two of the biggest names on the entry list, was exactly the opposite of what the North West 200 organisers would have wanted following last year’s exclusion of Supertwins winner Richard Cooper aboard the KMR Kawasaki and the Dunlop tyre debacle that saw half of the Superbike field withdrawn. Unfortunately, the Dunlop drama returned, with the second Superbike and Superstock races reduced to five laps (instead of the originally planned six) upon the request of Dunlop-shod competitors. A response from Dunlop itself distanced itself from the decision, stating it had under no circumstances requested the shortening of the races, but it was less than ideal from a PR perspective for both Dunlop and the event.

Irwin and Seeley dominate big bike classes

The Superstock bikes were the first of the 1,000cc categories to get underway, competing on Thursday night. With the FHO bikes being packed back into their trucks, the rest of the field streaked away into the sunset as the shadows began to lengthen over the Causeway coastline. For British Superstock Championship front-runner Alastair Seeley, it was business as usual aboard the Synetiq BMW – while many were left wondering how he was able to circumvent the homologation conundrum. Seeley, who has won more races around the Triangle Circuit than anyone else in history, scored a pair of perfect lights-to-flag victories to take his total to 29.

Seeley was adamant the total had reached 30 at the conclusion of the second Superbike contest, and final race of the week. The result was up in the air following a red flag bringing about an early end to the race, which was par for the course this week, with both Seeley and rival Glenn Irwin both believing they were the rightful winner. It was not the first time the two had been at odds across the week, either, with contact between the pair in the opening Superbike race on Saturday morning. Irwin did visit Seeley’s garage to apologise, but the BMW rider would still go on to suggest that someone “remind him that this is a road race”.

The final race was eventually called in Irwin’s favour, meaning it would be yet another double victory for the PBM Ducati rider and an eighth consecutive superbike victory at the North West 200 for the British Superbike championship leader. Irwin now only needs one win in the premier category to tie both Michael Rutter and the great Joey Dunlop’s record of nine triumphs. Both Michael Dunlop and Dean Harrison were also on form, both fighting for honours in the Superbike races but ultimately falling short to the ‘King of the Superbike class’. However, it does very much whet the appetite for the Superbike and Senior TTs at the Isle of Man next month, where Peter Hickman will also be added into the mix.

Todd seizes his moment; Cooper makes amends

One of the recurring themes of last year’s North West 200 was that Davey Todd was the perennial bridesmaid and, try as he might, he just couldn’t make that move to the top step of the podium. That all changed this year, however, as he wrestled his way to the front of the Supersport field in the very first race of the weekend.

Running much later than anticipated following a lengthy red flag delay after the first attempt at a start, Todd was one of seven riders vying for the victory across the six-lap race. Richard Cooper led across the line for the first three laps, before the fans went wild for local legend Michael Dunlop, who led as the race began to draw to a close. Alastair Seeley was the leader heading into the final lap, but it was the Padgetts Honda of Davey Todd who would force himself to the front with one of his trademark “demon on the brakes” manoeuvres, beating Seeley to the line by just one tenth of a second. Cooper, Dunlop, Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman rounded out the top six, all finishing within a second of Todd.

The same six riders were embroiled in another close battle for the second middleweight class encounter on Saturday, with Seeley’s lap record – set during Thursday evening’s opening contest, smashed by the top three on the penultimate lap. The record would eventually become something of a consolation prize for Peter Hickman, who admitted he was competing “through gritted teeth” after FHO Racing’s withdrawal.

Davey Todd once again bettered his rivals in the Supersport category, taking his career victory tally to three, with Richard Cooper settling for a second runners-up spot and Dean Harrison finishing the podium places. Todd continued to cement himself at the top of the road racing field across the week, taking a further podium in the opening Superbike race before a mechanical failure on the usually bulletproof Padgetts machine took him out of a podium place in the second Superstock challenge.

It was to be a year of doubles around the Triangle Circuit, with Richard Cooper asserting his dominance in the Supertwin category. The diminutive rider from Nottingham took a pair of victories aboard the KMR Kawasaki, making up for the disappointment of 2022 which saw both of his wins struck off due to an illegal fairing bracket. Ryan Farquhar, owner of KMR racing, had said he was never going to return to the Irish racing scene following the controversy, but could not let Cooper down when he called at the 11^th hour asking for help.

Both of the four-lap races started with Cooper sitting back and allowing those in front to battle between themselves, including, Paul Jordan, Adam McLean and Goodwood Revival favourite, 59-year-old Jeremy McWilliams. It would be lap three in the two races that Cooper would pull the pin, with winning margins that would not suggest there had been any form of battle for the lead at any point.

Red flags dampen mood under sunny skies

Despite some rain in the early qualifying sessions on Tuesday, Thursday evening’s and Saturday’s racing was held under glorious sunshine, with Saturday’s ideal conditions pulling a bumper crowd to line the historic course. The bumper crowd came with its own problems, although a positive issue to have, where spectators were encroaching on restricted areas, delaying proceedings even further than they had been due to numerous red flags.

While there was great racing in each of the eight races across the week, the event was punctuated with lengthy red flags and, sadly, riders requiring stints in hospital. The highest-profile incident came during qualifying when five-time winner Lee Johnston was airlifted to hospital, later revealed to have suffered a broken leg, putting his involvement in next month’s Isle of Man TT into doubt.

Also on the doubt list for the TT is Honda’s Nathan Harrison, in what will be a major disappointment for the young talent given his chance at a top works seat. The Manxman was involved in an incident at Dhu Varren in Thursday evening’s Superstock race, sustaining “minor injuries” that are expected to keep him off the grid at the Isle of Man.

Michael Sweeney, who crashed in the opening Supertwin race, was taken to hospital in Belfast as a precaution, while James Hillier, who had the incident that caused the shortening of the headline Superbike race, confirmed he was okay – and more upset that he’d missed the team’s end-of-meeting steak dinner.

For the racers, the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course on the Isle of Man now beckons for the road racing community, with just two weeks to wait until the opening day of practice week on Monday 29^th May. Meanwhile, those in the British championship, whether Superbike, Superstock or Supersport, will shift their focus to Donington Park next weekend.

For the organisers, it will undoubtedly go down as a successful weekend, especially considering that only 12 weeks ago it looked like there would be no event at all. However, it’s been far from perfect, and questions will surely be asked as to how the FHO situation was allowed to happen at all, let alone having two riders arguing over whether they’ve won the headline event or not on countback after a red flag finish. When the event was put on due to fans putting their hands in their own pockets, they deserve only the very best, and there were times throughout the week that the fans were left scratching their head at what was being presented to them.

The future of the North West 200, and road racing in Ireland in general, hangs in the balance, and relying on the generosity of those that line the side of the road is anything but a sustainable plan. In order to secure the longevity of the event, it’s clear that government funding is going to be required, and suffering these sorts of incidents, which at times were referred to as “shambolic”, are not the best way to convince those in charge of public funding budgets.

Images courtesy of North West 200, Pacemaker Press International.