Alastair Seeley leads Lee Johnston in the Supersport race at the North West 200 prior to his last lap crash on Thursday.

Gary Dunlop has hit out at spectators who appeared to cheer when all-time North West 200 record holder Alastair Seeley crashed out of Thursday’s Supersport race.

Carrickfergus man Seeley, chasing an unprecedented 25th success around the 8.9-mile ‘Triangle’ course, was embroiled in a battle with fellow Northern Ireland rider Lee Johnston on the final lap.

Seeley edged ahead on the brakes at Juniper Hill chicane but the 39-year-old ran in too hot and took to the grass, losing the rear of his EHA Yamaha and crashing out of contention. Fortunately, the two-time British champion was not seriously hurt.

Johnston went on to wrap up his first victory in the class at the event on the Ashcourt Racing Yamaha from Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) and James Hillier (Quattro Plant Kawasaki).


Motorcycling fans on social media claimed a number of spectators cheered Seeley’s unfortunate slip off, prompting Dunlop’s response on Twitter.The Ballymoney man tweeted:

‘Everyone has there favourite riders and wants to see them win, but cheering when another rider crashes is disgusting. And the sad thing is, there was plenty done it yesterday when Alastair went down. Pathetic’.

Kyle White