2026 North West 200
Supersport
Michael Dunlop took the ninth NW 200 victory of his career in Saturday’s Supersport race. It was a bruising affair, which saw many riders fall at different stages and the race was stopped twice. As ever in Supersport, the pace was frantic but there was something about the manner in which Dunlop went about his business in this one, that looked as though he had his name on the trophy from the moment the flag dropped.
The race was initially red flagged when Ian Hutchinson came off at Mill Road round-about. Thankfully the Bingley Bullet was uninjured and raced later in the day. But even before Hutchy’s fall, the race was unfolding in a chaotic manner.
As the leaders approached York corner on lap one (rebranded Amicci corner this year on account of the adjacent Italian restaurant by the same name) Dean Harrison missed his breaking marker and ran slightly wide.
Finland’s Erno Kostamo was right in the thick of things but he arrived into the slow and tight turn extremely hot, it’s unclear whether he was sucked in by Harrison’s misdemeanour or whether he was on that trajectory already.
In an attempt not to skittle half the field, Kostamo contorted himself and his Milwaukee Ducati into all kinds of shapes and managed to somehow miss Michael Dunlop’s rear wheel and everyone else’s by a whisker. Erno ended up on the floor with a fairly second hand V2 but walked away unhurt.
On the following lap, Christian Elkin high sided as he powered away from York and also ended up being unceremoniously dumped onto the tarmac. Seconds later, Ian Hutchinson’s crash caused the first stoppage. Once Hutchy’s red flag incident was cleared up, there was a full restart.
This time Michael and Dean Harrison went head-to-head. Harrison was riding the Honda Racing CBR 600RR vs Dunlop’s Scars Racing Ducati. The chasing pack consisted of Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing V2 Ducati), Richard Cooper (BPE Russell Racing Yamaha), Josh Brookes (Ugly and Co. Carl Cox 750 cc Suzuki) and Alastair Seeley (Binch Racing V2 Ducati).
Dunlop led at the end of each lap and when they crossed the line to complete the fourth, he was 0.3-seconds in front. But when the leaders reached Mill road (the same place that Hutchinson had crashed) Cooper and Jordan went down, once again bringing out the red flags.
This time the organisers called it and the result was taken on countback to when they’d crossed the line, previously. The two fallers were excluded from the results on account of them causing the red flag.
That meant yet another runner-up finish for Harrison – the 17th of his career, and still without a win. But he can take some heart from the fact he set a new lap record for the class at 118.683 mph.
Josh Brookes was promoted to third on his Ugly and Co. Carl Cox Motorsport Suzuki.
While it was disappointing for the fans not to see the race reach its conclusion, a Michael Dunlop victory is always popular with the home fans and it was suitably celebrated around the circuit by the partisan supporters.
Alastair Seeley came in fourth ahead of Ulster Superbike champion, Carl Phillips in fifth. Sixth place went to Mitch Rees, the Kiwi making a rare supersport appearance and enjoying his best result in the northern hemisphere yet.
Tides Restaurant Supersport Race Results
 |
||||
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
Time/Gap
|
Speed
|
|
1
|
M. Dunlop
|
Duc
|
4m32.086
|
118.683
|
|
2
|
D. Harrison
|
Hon
|
+0.292
|
118.748
|
|
3
|
J. Brookes
|
Suz
|
+8.252
|
117.796
|
|
4
|
A. Seeley
|
Duc
|
+8.724
|
117.611
|
|
5
|
C. Phillips
|
Duc
|
+31.817
|
114.923
|
|
6
|
M. Rees
|
Hon
|
+37.780
|
114.688
|
|
7
|
M. Browne
|
Yam
|
+37.869
|
114.818
|
|
8
|
D. Herbertson
|
Tri
|
+38.591
|
114.209
|
|
9
|
P. Y. Bian
|
Tri
|
+40.165
|
114.318
|
|
10
|
M. Evans
|
Tri
|
+41.936
|
113.894
|
|
11
|
G. McCoy
|
Suz
|
+42.100
|
113.931
|
|
12
|
A. Venter
|
Hon
|
+53.535
|
112.672
|
|
13
|
M. Poncini
|
Yam
|
+58.997
|
112.729
|
|
14
|
J. Thompson
|
Hon
|
+59.363
|
112.454
|
|
15
|
S. Brolly
|
Duc
|
+1m07.654
|
110.949
|
|
16
|
B. Burrell
|
Tri
|
+1m12.996
|
111.516
|
|
17
|
J. Perry
|
Kaw
|
+1m26.252
|
109.825
|
|
18
|
D. Ingham
|
Kaw
|
+1m29.675
|
109.232
|
|
19
|
G. McAleese
|
Yam
|
+1m30.220
|
109.756
|
|
20
|
I. Caljouw
|
Yam
|
+1m30.254
|
109.447
|
|
21
|
J. McWilliams
|
Kaw
|
+1m33.677
|
111.877
|
|
22
|
J. Trummer
|
Tri
|
+1m36.802
|
110.130
|
|
23
|
N. Lehtiranta
|
Yam
|
+1m39.027
|
109.440
|
|
24
|
W. Bourgeais
|
Yam
|
+1m43.926
|
108.801
|
|
25
|
L. Hara
|
Yam
|
+1m44.778
|
109.688
|
|
26
|
S. West
|
Duc
|
+1m49.404
|
108.831
|
|
27
|
C. Kennelly
|
Yam
|
+1m50.960
|
107.779
|
|
28
|
L. Chawke
|
Suz
|
+1m56.610
|
107.058
|
|
29
|
M. Gahan
|
Suz
|
+1m56.939
|
106.762
|
|
30
|
M. Morris
|
Duc
|
+2m01.335
|
107.511
|
|
31
|
E. Wormald
|
Suz
|
+2m09.491
|
106.089
|
|
32
|
M. Allen
|
Kaw
|
+2m12.468
|
105.650
|
|
33
|
A. Hornby
|
Yam
|
+2m21.557
|
105.138
|
|
34
|
L. Thornton
|
Tri
|
+2m26.404
|
104.759
|
|
35
|
R. Hughes
|
Kaw
|
+2m28.081
|
104.075
|
|
36
|
D. Booth
|
Kaw
|
+2m28.852
|
105.000
|
|
37
|
S. Degnan
|
Kaw
|
1 Lap
|
103.372
|
| Not Classified | ||||
|
DNF
|
P. Jordan
|
Duc
|
4m33.617
|
118.019
|
|
DNF
|
R. Cooper
|
Yam
|
4m33.919
|
117.889
|
|
DQ
|
B. Furber
|
Tri
|
4m55.254
|
109.370
|
|
DNF
|
D. Trappe
|
Kaw
|
5m09.224
|
104.429
|
|
DNF
|
P. Cranston
|
Kaw
|
5m12.797
|
103.236
|
|
DNF
|
K. Keyes
|
Yam
|
4m56.388
|
108.952
|
|
DNF
|
M. Bottalico
|
Yam
|
5m38.622
|
95.363
|
|
DNF
|
C. Cook
|
Kaw
|
5m21.571
|
100.420
|
|
DNF
|
M. Simpson
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
