North West 200: Hundreds of fans arrive at Belfast Harbour

Hundreds of fans touched down at Belfast Harbour before making their way up to the North West 200

The sounds and smells of exhaust fumes cut through the air as hundreds of motorcycles touched down ahead of the 2024 North West 200.

It's an event which sees some of the worlds top riders hit Northern Ireland's north coast for three days of high-octane action.

It kicked off on Wednesday, with more qualifiers on Thursday and a packed race schedule on Saturday.

The races are on public roads, and event organisers warned of traffic disruptions.

• All you need to know about the North West 200

• North West 200 - BBC coverage details, race timetable, preview

Turlough will be keeping spectators safe at the high speed Primrose Hill section of the circuit

'Just special'

Turlough McCluskey has travelled from Calgary in Canada to work as a marshal at the Primrose Hill vantage point.

He has been coming to the North West 200 for more than 40 years.

He said: "I've been fortunate to have travelled the world to see racing from Alabama to Mugello in Italy."

"The North West is just special.

"It's great racing, the best fans in the world and the most scenic race track," he added.

Peter Hickman praises atmosphere

Peter Hickman pictured after the second Supertwin race at the Isle of Man TT

Road racing legend Peter Hickman said he was looking forward to the races.

"As always the North West 200 has an awesome atmosphere and it's great to see so many fans from all over the world come here to watch," he told BBC News NI.

"I'm hoping to put on a good show for them," he added.

Road closures

The roads will be closed on Thursday May 9 between 9:00 BST and 15:00 and again between 16:45 and 21:00.

For the main race day on Saturday May 11, roads will be closed between 09:00 and 19:00.

A detailed list of which specific roads which are due to be closed can be found on the North West 200 website.

Vantage Points?

The main viewing points for fans and spectators on circuit - known as The Triangle - are at York Corner, Station Corner, Mather's Cross Chicane, Metropole Corner and Railway Arch.

The first qualifying stage in the Superbike category will take place on Thursday from 09:45.

Next will be the Supersstock category at 11:00 followed by Supersport and Supertwin categories.

Coverage

All practice sessions and races will be covered online by BBC Sport.

Stephen Watson, Larry Carter, Phillip McCallen, Keith Huewen and Steve Parrish will guide you through the action on iPlayer, and with presentation and commentary team on BBC Sounds.

You can also watch highlights of all the high-speed action in separate television programmes on BBC One NI on Friday 10 May at 22:40 , Sunday 12 May at 22:30 and Monday 13 May at 22:40, with all three also available to view on BBC iPlayer.