NW200: Davey Todd aiming to climb one step higher after four runner-up spots last year

Todd finished in the runner-up spot no less than four times in 2022 and although he set new lap records in the Supersport and Superstock classes, the 27-year-old was left wanting more.

He has already tasted the victory champagne on the north coast, claiming his first major road racing success in a wet Supersport race in 2019, but the Milenco by Padgett’s Honda rider felt he could have added to that tally last May barring one or two ‘mistakes’ in close races against Lee Johnston and Glenn Irwin.

Todd lost out by a mere tenth of a second in the sun-soaked Saturday Supersport race to Johnston and pushed Irwin all the way in the first Superbike encounter, with only 0.3s separating them at the finish.

Reflecting on the moments that didn’t go his way, the Saltburn-by-the-Sea man says he won’t allow lightning to strike twice next month when the North West takes place from May 9-13.

“I just wasn’t defensive enough going into the (Juniper) chicane and he got past,” said Todd, recalling his last-lap Supersport battle with Johnston.

“I have watched the footage time and time again and kicked myself for it.

“In the Superbike race against Glenn last year I just ran in a little too wide at Metropole on the last lap.

“Both of us were strong on the brakes but he just got underneath me and that is where I lost out,” he added.

“But I will be a wiser man this year and not make the same mistakes again.”

Todd was also a force to be reckoned with in the wet conditions last year, following home Alastair Seeley in the first Superstock and Supersport races on the Thursday of race week.

“A good North West 200 for me this year will be going one better in every race than I did last year, that would definitely do the trick,” he said.

“I was really pleased to be in the battle for wins in the dry and the wet and I had some great races.

“Being at the front in the wet and the dry was something positive for me to take away from last year’s North West.

“In every class and in every condition, I was there, battling different people for the win in every race,” added Todd.

“My lap times are there and I know I have got the speed. But it comes down to making the passes at the right places and defending the lead at the right places.”

Todd won the National Superstock 1000 Championship last season for Clive Padgett’s team and has made the step up to the British Superbike class on the Milenco by Padgett’s Honda this year – a move he feels will pay dividends for the big road races in 2023.

“I’m feeling better than I have ever felt as a rider and my style and technique have come on a lot,” he said.

“I feel a lot better than I did at this time last year and a lot more comfortable.”

Todd will be joined in the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport races on the grid in Portrush by team-mate Conor Cummins.