Seeley brings NW200 victory tally to 22 after winning Supersport opener
Wee Wizard leaves field spell-bound as event gets off to superb start
Last updated 18th May 2018
Alastair Seeley got his North West 200 campaign off to a flying start – beating a top-class field to win the Supersport race.
The Carrick rider, known as the Wee Wizard, was in magical form – posting the fastest lap and finishing 2.4 seconds ahead of James Hillier.
It brought Seeley’s already impressive overall wins record tally to 22.
It’s nice to keep that record going.” the 38 year old said.
“I knew the boys were there because they kept passing me and I knew going in to the last lap that I had to make a gap. The fuel load was down so I knew I could brake later and I bided my time to lose the tow. I still had plenty in the tank!”
Fermanagh’s Lee Johnston took third place but speaking to Downtown & Cool FM he felt he should have won.
The pace was good and I felt really comfortable – I think I just fell asleep with two laps to go to be honest.
No complaints with the bike – the bike is mega. My fault – I should have won the race.”
When Seeley moved into the lead of the Superstock race on lap three it looked like the Carrickfergus man was going to make it a double but it was Peter Hickman who snatched the chequered flag with a stunning last lap move.
Hickman dived inside Seeley on the brakes going into Juniper chicane to give the big Burton on Trent rider his first North West victory on the Smith’s BMW.
He said it was the perfect result to what has been a challenging yea.r
“It was really close on the lap before and I knew I could have a go there.” He said.
“I didn't want to show my hand too early but I was really strong at Black Hill and the bike is good in a straight line. Alastair tried to let the brakes off and lean on me going into Juniper and I thought ‘You’re not doing that!’”
The Supertwins race was another intense battle with Martin Jessopp eventually taking his third North West victory on the Riders Motorcycles Kawasaki.
The Yeovil rider beat 54 year old former MotoGP star, Jeremy McWilliams (KMR Kawasaki) by 1.8 seconds with the youngest rider in the field, Joey Thompson finishing third on a Paton.
“The evening had started off well when I was leading the Supersport race and then I ended up sitting on top of the Mill Road roundabout!” Jessopp joked about his earlier mishap in the Supersport race.
“It was a hard race and I only led from Metropole on the last lap because I was losing so much out of the corners.”
Racing resumes at the North West 200 with five races tomorrow (Saturday). Roads close at 9.15am with the first race starting at 10am.