NW200: Thursday double for Alastair Seeley after dominant wet Superstock success

Seeley reached a milestone 25th success in the earlier Supersport race and he made it a night to remember for the Antrim-based IFS Yamaha team, pulling away at the front to establish a commanding lead over Davey Todd (Milenco by Padgett’s Honda), who secured his second runner-up finish of the night.

A host of riders opted to sit out the race, including pole man Glenn Irwin, plus fellow Northern Ireland riders Lee Johnston, Michael Dunlop and Adam McLean.

Irwin’s Honda team-mate John McGuinness also decided against competing in the conditions.

But Seeley was unperturbed and his reward was a 26th victory around the ‘Triangle’ course, where the 42-year-old has enjoyed so many famous wins over the course of his career.

Seeley has been riding his IFS Yamaha Superstock machine in the Ulster Superbike Championship this year and is right at home on the 1000cc R1.

He turned the race into a procession, pushing hard at the beginning to pull a comfortable advantage before controlling the pace at the front, with Todd always safe in second.

After a largely uneventful six-lap race, Seeley’s winning margin was 12.8s over Todd, who was seven seconds ahead of Cooper on the Hawk Racing Suzuki.

Nottingham man Cooper was celebrating another Superstock rostrum after he finished second in the class on his NW200 debut in 2019.

Conor Cummins (Milenco by Padgett’s Honda) and 14-time NW200 winner Michael Rutter (Bathams BMW) were the top five, with Marty Lennon from Banbridge having a fine ride to sixth on his Yamaha R1.

SUPERSTOCK

1 A Seeley (Yamaha)

2 D Todd (Honda) +12.864s

3 R Cooper (Suzuki) +19.868s

4 C Cummins (Honda) +36.428s

5 M Rutter (Honda) +39.725

6 M Lennon (Yamaha) +1m 48.366s

7 C Phillips (Suzuki) +1m 51.843s

8 I Hutchinson (BMW) +1m 59.850s