North West 200: Jeremy McWilliams to ride Paton in Supertwins races
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Jeremy McWilliams is hooping for a third North West 200 Supertwins success
Three-time North West 200 winner Jeremy McWilliams is to return to this year's event to race a Paton machine in the Supertwins class.
The 58-year-old has previously won three races in the class aboard Ryan Farquhar's KMR ER6 Kawasakis, including the Saturday race in 2019.
The Newtownabbey rider will swap that bike for a Paton this time in a bid to add to his tally of victories.
"We've decided to give the Paton a run and see how it performs," he said.
McWilliams will run the bike under the IFS/Bayview Hotel banner.
"I did consider riding Ryan's bike again and I would do so in the future but it is just the way things have worked out." explained McWilliams.
"During lockdown not much was happening and Ryan wasn't sure what he was doing. The rules for the Supertwin class have been changed recently and that has definitely shaken up all of those teams that are using 650cc engines. Graeme Hanna from IFS bought a Paton and told me if I wanted to use it, I could work away."
McWilliams rode the new bike for the first time during an Ulster Superbike meeting at Kirkistown in July 2021, taking two wins on the Italian machine.
Two more successes on the Italian twin during the recent opening round of the 2022 Ulster Superbike series at Bishopscourt will have given the former Grand Prix rider cause for optimism ahead of the North West.
'My age has given me extra motivation'
McWilliams considers NW200 return after Daytona victory
"There is nothing as special as riding into that winner's enclosure with your whole team waiting to meet you." he added.
"My age has given me an extra motivation because I am almost always battling against somebody half my age or less who is also trying to get in there."
McWilliams, who recently won the Baggers race at Daytona, is undaunted in his North West 200 ambitions despite suffering two crashes during practice and racing at the 2019 event.
"There is a risk at the North West but you could say that about the walls at Daytona or Cartagena where Glenn Irwin had a big crash during testing a little while ago." he explains.
"You don't ignore it but you ride accordingly, trying harder to make up time where it is safer. Racers don't think of the negatives, we always believe that with the right preparation and mindset, everything will be 100%."