NW200: Davey Todd 'more left if needed' in Superbike races ahead of Saturday showdown on north coast

Todd was the runner-up behind 11-in-a-row Superbike winner Glenn Irwin in all three races in 2024 but made the breakthrough he wanted to add his name to the prestigious silverware.

The 29-year-old was in red-hot form on the 8TEN Racing BMW after qualifying second fastest alongside team-mate and pole man Peter Hickman, fending off a determined attack by Honda Racing’s Dean Harrison to take the win by 0.215s.

Already a winner in the Superstock and Supersport classes at the NW200, a beaming Todd can now call himself a Superbike winner but he is hungry for more.

A treble winner last year after a Superstock double and Supersport success, Todd says a fast start will be required again on Saturday as he hunts down more wins around the 8.9-mile course.

“With the new Superbike I’ve been really struggling to get off the line at BSB at the weekend,” he said.

“I’ve always been good off the start but we struggled with it, and fortunately when it counted I got the good start.

“I wanted to lead from the front and with it being such a short race, four laps, I wanted to stay at the front as long as I could, try to set a steady pace for the first few laps and then really get the head down for the last lap.

“If I needed to, I had a little bit left in there,” added Todd, who was joined on the rostrum by team-mate Hickman, who finished third.

“It’s special – it’s the one that’s been eluding me for quite a while.”

Todd paid tribute following his victory to England’s Owen Jenner and New Zealand competitor Shane Richardson, who tragically lost their lives in an 11-rider pile-up at the Oulton Park British Superbike round on Bank Holiday Monday after an incident in the Supersport race.

“This one’s for the boys and actually I’d love to dedicate this one to Owen [Jenner] and Shane [Richardson], two good mates who were lost at BSB at the weekend, so this one’s for them,” he said.

“I’m thinking about them and hope they’re riding in the skies.”

Runner-up Harrison has yet to win a race at the North West but is a major contender today on his stable of Honda Racing machines.

The Bradford man, now living in Laxey on the Isle of Man, gave Todd a run for his money in the Superbike opener and finished second in the Superstock race on Thursday behind Michael Dunlop.

The British Supersport regular claimed pole in the Supersport class but was disappointed with fourth place in the first race on Thursday and is hoping for much better on Saturday.

“Supersport didn’t really go to plan, I just couldn’t get in the slipstream,” said Harrison. “In Superstock and Superbike I just chipped my way through.

“It’s just so tight out there that it’s really only a couple of little things that could make a big difference. Everybody’s on it, totally committed, but we’re in a good place.

“I’ve certainly had many worse Thursdays than this – we’ve had lots of sunshine and a couple of podiums, the team’s happy, so we’re in a good place.

“There’s more to come from me and the bikes, I know it’s there,” he added.

“The crowd is unreal around this track, they’re absolutely everywhere and it’s a pleasure to be here. It’s unlike anything else.”

Hickman has won Superbike races at the TT, Ulster Grand Prix and Macau Grand Prix but has still to triumph in the class at the North West.

He will be eager to build on his third place in the opening Superbike race and lines up on pole for the two six-lap showdowns on the 8TEN Racing BMW.

Michael Dunlop was a double winner in the first Superstock and Supersport races and now his target is Superbike glory on his Hawk Racing BMW.

Jamie Coward produced an excellent ride on the KTS Racing/Stanley Stewart BMW and is another key protagonist along with Ian Hutchinson, who took fifth in the Superbike race and made a welcome return to the podium with third in the Superstock race on Thursday, riding for Michael Laverty’s MLav Racing team on a BMW.

Alastair Seeley will be back in action today after an engine blow-up with his BMW thwarted his prospects on Thursday, while Finland’s Erno Kostamo is one to watch on the RVS Motorsport BMW after an excellent seventh in the Superbike opener.

Jackson Racing Honda riders Josh Brookes and Paul Jordan will also be looking to make their mark.

Brookes was only 19th in the Superbike race but battled back to finish sixth in the Superstock race.

Magherafelt’s Jordan was ninth in the Superbike race and 10th in the Superstock and Supersport races.

Dunlop showed blistering pace on his Ducati Panigale V2 and could be the man to beat again in the Supersport races, when his opposition includes Thursday runner-up Richard Cooper (BPE/Russell Racing Yamaha), Todd on Clive Padgett’s Honda, pole man Harrison, Hickman on his Trooper/PHR Performance Triumph and the likes of Adam McLean (PRA Yamaha), Mike Browne (BPE/Russell Racing Yamaha) and of course 13-time Supersport winner Seeley (CD Racing by MSS Kawasaki).