Thursday Nights Racing at the 2017 NW200 saw some amazing racing – really putting the event back on the Road Racing Map after a couple of tragic and difficult years.
Apologies for it being a bit late, but sometimes you just get busy.
The poor weather at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Race Meeting has given me the opportunity to get caught up on a few things I had let slip. You’ll be glad to hear the next gallery will be from the Isle of Man!
So if you are over at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races you are right about now probably wishing for the rain to stop! Don’t worry it is going to – tomorrow is to be a lovely day.
However in the meantime to satisfy your needs for some motorbikes here is my gallery from the 2017 NW200 Thursday Race Session… (You’ll see it was soaked in glorious sunshine!)
Photos for this session were taken from the area of the Juniper Hill Chicane – maining looking down the Coast Road.
As with all of my photos please feel free to like, share and even use them. If you do use them however please credit me with the photograph – Don’t steal it. I don’t want to start watermarking my photos so if you do use it please – do the right thing.
Also all photos are available in full resolution, so if you would like any of the photographs in their full uneditted glory please just let me know – especially if you are one of the riders!
Glen Irwin on the Be Wiser Ducati takes the 2017 Vauxhall NW200 Superbike Race in an outstanding feature race!
With five races scheduled for the Saturday event the usual happened and the weather closed in. After 2 glorious weeks that covered Northern Ireland in sunshine by the time Saturday Race Day had arrived so too had the rain. That meant delays… by well after lunch time only one race had been run and the question was will just one more race be even possible?
Well it was, the weather broke just enough to get a full schedule completed and WOW what a Race Day it was! Every race was outstanding, there was only one red flag and that was for rain and safety reasons rather than crashes or injuries. William Dunlop found himself back on the podium again after an outstanding run on the Supertwin machine, then a few moments of drama when rain closed in on a race and the riders wanted the race stopped raised the temperature of the event. Tempers rose to the point of breaking – all of which accumulated itself in the feature race – The 2017 Vauxhall NW200 Superbike Race. It was one of the great spectacles this event has had in years and talking about it isn’t enough, you have to watch it and see the ride that Glen Irwin put in on his Ducati, breath taking doesn’t cover it! Irwin wanted it, Seeley wanted it, Hutchy wanted it, Rutter wanted it. They all wanted it so badly – Hutchy was riding his bike more like a Subaru WRC powersliding it round the place, Seeley almost ended up sliding down the road after cutting a bit of the roadside grass for The Causeway Coast Council, and Glen Irwin was poetic coming out of every corner. It was a truly outstanding race.
Make sure you catch the highlight shows on the BBC – I have no idea how they could cut that race down to ‘highlights’ the whole race was a highlight!
Thursday Night traditionally brings 3 races to open the events actual racing. It is a pleasure to say this year the Thursday Night passed without incident, all 3 races getting off on time, to their full duration and a cracking evenings racing, marred only by the crash involving John McGuinnes earlier in the days Superbike Session.
Here are the results of the first three races of the 2017 International North West 200!
Another glorious day at the North Coast and another early morning into afternoon qualifying session, then it all got underway with the Thursday night Race Session.
So without further a do here is how the qualifying went :
A gorgeous sun drenched North Coast of Northern Ireland set the scene for the first Practice / Qualifying Session of the 2017 International North West 200.
This is why we love the North Coast – when it’s good it’s so good!
Northern Ireland’s North Coast gets fired up for the 2017 Tuesday Practice Session
The sun was out and just after 10am the riders came out and entertained us for the next 5 hours or so.
Here is a quick run down of the results from each of the sessions.
(I have plenty of pics to sort out too, but first things first, here is how things are playing out leading up to Thursday’s session).
SUPERBIKES :
1. Alastair Seeley (Tyco BMW) 4m 25.1s 121.811mph
2. Michael Rutter (Bathams/SMT BMW (4m 26.670s 121.093mph
After last weeks soaking I had been keeping an constant eye on the weather forecast for Cookstown and the Cookstown 100 Races.
It changed every day! Sunny, wet, overcast, wet, sunny but cold… it just changed every time I looked it up!
By this morning the forecast was dry but overcast and then some rain round about 1pm that should blow over pretty quickly.
With that in mind I figured the trip would be worth it and I ventured towards my first ever Cookstown 100.
It wasn’t far wrong…
2017 Cookstown 100 Weather
As I said above this was my first Cookstown 100 and it is instantly one of my favourite race meetings.
Maybe I was just lucky but the spot I managed to find was outstanding. The bikes were close, fast and spent most of the time I seen them either on the back wheel or in the air. It was truly amazing and has instantly made me a huge fan of this event! The effort these guys were putting in was breath taking.
The event had many red flags, pretty much a red flag for every race – bar the 125 / Moto 3 race and the Classics. Thankfully there were no reports of any serious injuries. More than that, even with so many incidents to deal with the organisers still managed to get the full program raced – leading to a great day for the riders and spectators alike.
I haven’t had a look through my camera yet but I think I managed some awesome photos so a full gallery will follow shortly but in the meantime here’s what you came here for…
Well today unfortunately the weather forecasts could not have been more wrong. For at least the last week the forecast was overcast, but dry. That was wrong it was overcast and wet.
The day did start off dry and we got a couple of races before the mizzle started. The problem is it never stopped and as the day went on, it got harder right up to the point where there were reports coming in (via Twitter) of standing water on sections of the course.
This was the forecast for the hour following the Senior Support Race :
2017 Tandragee 100 Weather
The deteriorating weather conditions and a race incident (no further details known at this stage) – just at the end of the Senior Support Race brought the days events to an end – before we could have a SuperSports race and the days feature race – The Tandragee 100.
Most importantly I wish a speedy recovery to the rider involved in the Race Incident.
The Results of the days completed races are as follows :
After a great Thursday night racing and the weather being exceptionally kind, Saturday rolled up. When I left the house it was glorious! So sunny it was almost hazy. I had to stop half way there to put my waterproofs on as it looked like it was going to chuck it down, and by the time I arrived although it hadn’t rained it looked like it was going to, big time! It was dark and there was some proper big ass black clouds floating menacingly over head. It did not take long for them to burst! And so began the theme for the day, sunny, windy, cloudy, raining, heavy ass raining, sunny, warm, windy, cloudy… and repeat!
The first race of the day had to be cancelled after a couple of restarts but from about 1.30 -2.00PM we did get some more continuous according to plan racing, it even looked like, for a short while, that the road closure contingencies would be used to get the final race in however as the winds had picked up again the riders and management decided against that.
So all in all it was a great days racing and thankfully, ultimately no one was fatally injured. A rider was critically injured as was a spectator when a bike left the track and hit her in a garden, a tragic freak accident, however thankfully and mercifully all involved and injured people are now well on the mend, and all are expected to make a full recovery.
With Thursday now being the 1st Official Race Night of the NW200 I am happy to bring you the official results and the a nice photo gallery of some of the action from the Juniper Hill Chicane near Portstewart. This is a decent vantage point for taking some decent photographs as the bikes are well slowed down for reaching the chicane, something the riders aren’t to fond off! Guy Martin for example started a bit of controversy for being ‘Bored to the back teeth!’
Unfortunately tonight we only got two of the three races completed, a red flag halted the 3rd race, thankfully no one was injured badly, however following consultation with the riders a low evening sun (as pictured), and time constraints meant the third and final race could not be run and was postponed until Saturday’s racing.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.