North West 200: 'Successful but not vintage year' for one of NI's best sporting spectacles
- Published
Glenn Irwin celebrates winning the second Superbike race
Given the uncertainty over whether this year's North West 200 would take place at all, the 2023 event is likely to be regarded as a generally successful one, if not a vintage one.
The meeting had a bit of everything.
On the plus side, the weather was mostly favourable, there was plenty of close, exciting record-breaking racing in front of massive crowds, a variety of popular winners and all eight races were run.
From a more negative perspective, regular red-flag incidents saw a number of riders hospitalised with injuries of varying degrees, though thankfully none appear life-threatening, and there was controversy in the form of the withdrawal of one of the most prominent teams in the paddock in FHO Racing.
Add to that something of a verbal spat between top riders Glenn Irwin and Alastair Seeley prior to confirmation of the result of the feature Superbike race and you get a flavour of an eventful few days on Northern Ireland's north coast.
The run-up to the event was dominated by the 'will it, won't it' saga regarding whether the event would go ahead.
Only an 11th-hour agreement to provide insurance cover to allow motorcycle sport in Northern Ireland to take place, allied with a generous contribution from county Tyrone businessman Derek Keys and a chunk of a crowdfunding project which raised in excess of £90,000, ensured that the 2023 event would proceed.
After that decision was confirmed in mid-March, organisers began the task of finalising preparations for the international speed spectacular, culminating in the first practice session on Tuesday morning.
The news that five-time winner Lee Johnston had sustained significant but "non-critical" injuries in a crash during qualifying on Thursday was received with concern by his many fans and everyone involved with the event.
Later that evening, the revelation that the FHO Racing team had withdrawn from the meeting after race stewards had deemed the carbon wheels they were using on their Superstock machines to not be within the regulations came as another setback.
The racing itself was thrilling, albeit punctuated throughout by premature stoppages, with familiar names and some new faces taking their places at the top of the leaderboards.
Glenn Irwin reaffirmed his position as the 'King of the Superbike class' by taking victory in both showpiece big bike events, the charismatic Carrickfergus rider being afforded the opportunity to enjoy his now trademark exuberant post-race celebrations.
After taking his tally to eight wins, surely it will now only be matter of time before the Ducati rider overtakes the nine triumphs achieved by the late Joey Dunlop and Michael Rutter to become the most successful Superbike competitor ever at the event.
In a meeting of double successes, Alastair Seeley showed that he is still a major force around the Triangle with twin victories in the Superstock class on his Synetiq BMW by TAS Racing, thereby extending his record win tally to a remarkable 29.
Four wins for Northern Ireland riders then, but that matched by four for the visiting English contingent in the form of further double victories for Milenco by Padgett's Honda star Davey Todd in the Supersports and maiden successes for Richard Cooper in the Supertwins.
There were lap records and other new benchmarks aplenty to keep the statisticians among us busy updating our records over the long winter months and much to celebrate too for many of the manufacturers and teams, with Ducati, Honda, BMW and Kawasaki all represented on the top step of the podium.
Bike racing fans flocked to the north coast event in their tens of thousands
For the riders, thoughts will now turn to the next round of the British Superbike series at Donington Park next weekend and the Isle of Man TT in a few weeks' time.
Much to contemplate too for the organisers of the North West 200 as they look to a future which remains precarious in the light of increasing financial demands.
They will be hoping not to encounter any further controversies over technical regulations after the issues of the last few years.
And a more stable business plan, which does not depend on one-off contributions from benefactors or crowdfunding initiatives, but rather on greater contributions from the public purse and government agencies, is surely essential to the survival of an event which despite the challenges it faces remains one of the greatest spectacles on the Northern Ireland sporting calendar.