Jeremy McWilliams confirms North West 200 bid on Paton

A three-time winner, McWilliams will again compete in the Supertwin races on a Paton machine under the IFS/Bayview Hotel banner.

The 58-year-old took victory on one of Ryan Farquhar’s KMR Kawasaki machines in the Saturday Supertwin race in 2019 but has opted for a change in machinery as the event returns this year.

“I did consider riding Ryan’s bike again and I would do so in the future but it is just the way things have worked out,” McWilliams said.

“During lockdown not much was happening and Ryan wasn’t sure what he was doing. The rules for the Supertwin class have been changed recently and that has definitely shaken up all of those teams that are using 650cc engines.

“Graeme Hanna from IFS bought a Paton and told me if I wanted to use it, I could work away.”

McWilliams made his first outing on the Italian machine last year at an Ulster Superbike meeting at Kirkistown in Co Down, where he won both races.

He was also a double winner on the bike two weeks ago as the new season got under way at Bishopscourt.

“My time at Kirkistown wasn’t under the fastest lap I had set previously on Ryan’s bike but now the North West has returned, we have decided to give the Paton a run and see how it performs,” said the former Grand Prix star.

“The Patons were strong in 2018/19 but the rules have changed since then and we will just have to suck it and see.”

McWilliams will be gunning for a fourth NW200 Supertwin victory next month and despite his age, he says he remains as motivated as ever.

“There is nothing as special as riding into that winner’s enclosure with your whole team waiting to meet you,” he said.

“My age has given me an extra motivation because I am almost always battling against somebody half my age or less who is also trying to get in there.

“The North West 200 isn’t only about racing and winning. It’s also about being able to meet and chat with the people who want to give you a handshake or a good luck message, or even a pat on the back.

“Through most of my racing career almost no-one was allowed into the paddock but at the North West we meet everyone who comes to experience the event.”

The Newtownabbey man crashed twice at the North West three years ago in practice and racing, but McWilliams hasn’t been put off, despite the inherent dangers involved in road racing.

“There is a risk at the North West but you could say that about the walls at Daytona or Cartagena, where Glenn Irwin had a big crash during testing a little while ago,” he said.

“You don’t ignore it but you ride accordingly, trying harder to make up time where it is safer. Racers don’t think of the negatives, we always believe that with the right preparation and mindset, everything will be 100 per cent.”