Adam McLean confirms 2024 road racing plans with Ulster's J McC Roofing Racing team

McLean joined Jason McCaw’s outfit this season and sealed two podiums at the North West 200 in the Supertwin races – his first rostrum finishes at Ulster’s top road race.

Next year, the Tobermore man’s primary target will again be the North West 200 in May, where he will compete in the Superbike, Supersport and Supersport classes.

McLean will also return to the Armoy ‘Race of Legends’ and intends to compete at Oliver’s Mount in the Scarborough meetings, while the 27-year-old has pencilled in the Manx Grand Prix once more after making his comeback around the Mountain Course in August for the first time in five years.

“It worked well this year so I’m going again with J McC Roofing Racing again in 2024,” McLean said.

“We’ll be doing the main road races, so the plan is for the North West 200, the Scarborough races at Oliver’s Mount and Armoy again.

“I’ll also be going back to the Manx Grand Prix on the same bikes as I rode this year, with the 250 Yamaha and the 500 Royal Enfield for Steve and Olie Linsdell.

“I’m looking forward to getting back there again after going this year for the first time since 2018.”

After deciding to sit out the Isle of Man TT, McLean has made the North West 200 his top objective in recent years and the ‘Triangle’ event will again be his main priority in 2024.

“I’ll be riding a Superbike next year because it works out with the way the North West 200 is structured, because there’s an hour-long practice session to start with before you move onto any other bikes, which will be beneficial,” McLean said.

“With the Supertwin race being moved to the Saturday from Thursday, it means there’s an opportunity to focus on the big bike.

“The Supertwin and the 600 were my main classes on the Thursday racing schedule, so that meant that the big bike got neglected.

"I think this year with the changes they have made to the programme, it will be a good opportunity to focus on the big bike.

“This year, we got two podiums on the Supertwin at the North West 200 and two sevenths in the Supersport races.

“In the first Supersport race on the Thursday we were there or thereabouts with the front group for a while, but the 600 just didn’t have the speed and that’s one of the reasons why I’m looking at the possibility of riding something else next year – if you’re not making progress you’ll be left behind and we didn’t have the speed this year, so we might need a change.”

McLean is awaiting confirmation of the Supersport rules for 2024 before finalising his choice of machinery for the middleweight class.

“I’m just waiting on the official rules coming from BSB as to what the next generation Supersport amended rules look like before making that decision, so whether we stick with the Yamaha or go with something else I’m just not sure yet,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can pick up where we left off with the Supertwin.

“It’s difficult to give 100 percent in all three classes but it works out better next year and there’s an extra Superbike race now, so it will definitely be a busy week for anybody that’s riding two or three bikes, that’s for sure.”