Todd races to first North West 200 Superbike win

Davey Todd celebrates his first North West 200 Superbike win and his seventh at the event

Davey Todd led from start to finish to claim his first Superbike win at the North West 200 on Thursday night.

Riding a BMW for the 8TEN Racing team, the Yorkshireman had just two tenths of a second to spare over runner-up Dean Harrison at the finishing line.

Todd's team-mate Peter Hickman, the pole position man, was a further 1.4 seconds adrift in completing the podium places, with Michael Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson and Jamie Coward completing the top six.

The leading three riders were all targeting a first NW200 Superbike win.

Glenn Irwin had dominated the feature blue riband class of the meeting since 2017, racking up 11 consecutive successes before deciding to end his road racing career.

Todd had previously won six races over the 8.9-mile Triangle circuit, four in the Supersport class and two Superstock victories in 2024.

Todd got off to a flying start off the line but was chased down by Honda Racing rider Harrison throughout the four-lap sprint.

Harrison set the fastest lap of the race on his second circuit at 124.125mph but fell just short of recording his first win at the meeting, instead having to settle for his 11th podium finish.

Dunlop's fourth position belied the fact that he suffered bumps and bruises in a spill during Superstock qualifying earlier on Thursday.

A delighted Todd said after the race that it was "really special" to chalk up the Superbike win that had "been eluding him for quite a while".

Last year's Senior TT winner had finished runner-up to Irwin in all three Superbike outings 12 months ago.

Todd is the first rider from outside Northern Ireland to win a Superbike race since fellow Englishman McGuinness triumphed in 2012.

North West all-time wins record holder Alastair Seeley retired with mechanical problems.

Superbike results

1 Davey Todd (Eng, BMW)

2 Dean Harrison (Eng, Honda)

3 Peter Hickman (Eng, BMW)

4 Michael Dunlop (NI, BMW)

5 Ian Hutchinson (Eng, BMW)

6 Jamie Coward (Eng, BMW)

7 Erno Kostamo (Fin, BMW)

8 John McGuinness (Eng, Honda)