Alastair Seeley produced an incredible ride to claim his ninth victory at the Vauxhall International North West 200 in the first Supersport race on Thursday night, which was held in damp conditions.

Seeley had to start from the fourth row of the second group after machine trouble and wet weather hampered his practice preparations, but he stormed through on his Gearlink Kawasaki ZX-6R to snatch victory from long-time leader Michael Dunlop on his PTR Honda on the fifth and final lap.

Seeley’s winning margin was 1.3s over Dunlop, who had led his fellow Northern Ireland rider by five seconds at the beginning of the final lap.


Dunlop believed he had won the race when he crossed the finishing line but the news soon came through that Seeley had slashed his deficit to take a dramatic win on corrected time.

Tyco Suzuki’s Guy Martin was some 24 seconds behind the leading pair as he claimed the final place on the rostrum.

The top six was completed by Bruce Anstey on the HM Plant/Padgett’s Honda, Stuart Easton on the Mar-Train Racing Yamaha R6 and up and coming prospect Dean Harrison (Yamaha).

Milwaukee Yamaha’s William Dunlop plus Gary Johnson on the MV Agusta 675 F3 were among the retirements.

The race was reduced to five laps from six after a slight delay as competitors changed tyres following the sighting lap.



Kyle White
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