NW200: Peter Hickman fastest in second Supertwin qualifying
Peter Hickman was fastest in the second Supertwin qualifying session on the Swann Yamaha R7 at the North West 200 on Thursday.
The English rider is competing on the same machine he rode at the North West last year before he won the second Supertwin race a few weeks later at the Isle of Man TT.
In a striking new yellow Swann livery, Hickman lapped in 4m 51.323s (110.846mph) to claim the top spot from Richard Cooper on the Ryan Farquhar-prepared Jack Reid Cars Kawasaki by 2.795s.
Nottingham’s Cooper has won the last four Supertwin races at the event and is the current lap record holder in the class, setting a 112mph benchmark last year.
Three-time winner Jeremy McWilliams was third fastest on the Bayview Hotel Paton, 7.1s down on Hickman, while Cork’s Mike Browne was fourth on the Scott Racing Aprilia, four tenths slower than veteran McWilliams.
Christian Elkin (Kawasaki), Gary McCoy (Kawasaki) and Michael Rutter (Yamaha) finalised the top six.
Both Supertwin races will be held on Saturday over four laps.