Josh Brookes Put The Fastest Lap Time Of The Day In As The North West 200 Got Under-Way.

After a two-year break due to the Covid Pandemic the North West 200 got under-way. The weather was your typical Northern Irish mix of wind, rain and sunny spells.

The first free practice session of the morning was the New Comers, this session was dedicated to the riders who haven’t competed at the North west before or haven’t raced at the road circuit for a number of years. This session had some familiar names in it from the Bennetts British Superbike paddock; Josh Brookes, Brad Clarke and Brian McCormack.

The Supersport session got going with the usual names you would expect to be inside the top ten. Michael Dunlop, Alastair Seeley and Davey Todd all took it in turns at the top of the time sheet. There was a strong wind across the coast road but it didn’t seem to affect too many of the riders. Lee Johnston topped the first free practice session with a best lap time of 4:42.935. Michael Dunlop was second, Dean Harrison was third, Davey Todd was fourth with Alastair seeley in fifth place.

The Superbike free practice session was under dry weather conditions, with mental rain impacting some parts of the course. Michael Dunlop was at the top of the time sheet for most of the session until Davey Todd took the top spot for a lap, Michael returned to the the number one spot until Josh Brookes put a flying lap in with minutes to go for the end of the session, putting the Australian rider in first place at the checkered flag, with a lap time of 4:29.000, Dunlop was second, Davey Todd was third, Alastair Seeley was fourth with home rider Glenn Irwin finishing in fifth place.

The rain came into play for the Supertwin free practice session, one side of the course was dry and the other side was wet, leaving a difficult tyre choice for the Supertwin riders. Even though the conditions were dicey most of the riders were out on the road circuit. Richard Cooper put the fastest lap time in of 5:14.212, Bian finished in second place, McWilliams was third, Rutter was fourth with Loughlin finishing in fifth place.

The final free practice session of the day was the Superstock class, Michael Rutter, Michael Dunlop and Richard Cooper all had turns leading the session. The rain had cleared and there was a dry line around the course. Rutter looked like he was going to top the session until Dunlop put a flying lap in to take the number one spot with a lap time of 4:35.056, Rutter was second, Richard Cooper was third, Dom Herbertson had a strong session finishing in fourth place just in front of road racing veteran Ian Hutchinson.

The next North West 200 action in on Thursday 12th May.

Featured Images: Nicholl Fueloils, Brad Clarke.