2026 North West 200
SuperTwin/Sportbike
Jeremy ‘Jezza’ McWilliams, the 62-year-old ex-Moto GP star made history today when he became the oldest ever winner at the North West 200. 27 years after he stood on the top step of the 250 cc Dutch TT podium, he scored victory in the second Supertwins race; amazing local fans and proving that age is just a number.
McWilliams had almost got the job done in the first Twins contest which had opened the days programme in the morning. He led for much of the four-lapper, fighting tooth and nail with Peter Hickman all the way, with Alastair Seeley also involved.
Strong tail winds had caught some riders out on the approach to Coleraine on lap one and they misjudged their braking and overshot. Included in this was Paul Jordan, who was a 2025 Supertwins race winner and had shown strong pace in qualifying. At that point it looked as though the front three would be contesting the win, with Jordan’s chances blown.
With McWilliams in charge at the front, Hickman and Seely squabbled over second and in the early stages it looked as though wily old Jezza was going to streak off into the sunset. The gearing of his Flitwick Yamaha R7 was set-up perfect for conditions and he was pulling time on the straights over the similarly mounted Hickman and Seeley on the Aprilia.
But Hicky would claw his way back onto the number 99’s back wheel over the coast road each time they negotiated the clifftop section of the course and there was nothing between them as they ticked another lap off at the start/finish line.
All of a sudden, it became apparent that mid-pack, Jordan was making moves and was forcing his way back into contention. He was almost on lap record pace despite the conditions and soon he was up to sixth before forcing his way past Jamie Coward and onto the back of Seeley.
On lap three Hickman hit the front between Coleraine and Portrush, demonstrating to McWilliams that he was going to have to work for this one, and although Jeremy soon got his nose back in front, the local fans gave a collective groan as it looked as though the number 60 might scupper the chance of a home victory.
Jordan was lapping 2-mph faster than the rest and pulled Seeley up to the lead pair to make it a four-way dice on the final circuit. If anything, it looked as though he was the dangerman.
But as they approached Metropole for the last time, Seeley put a firm but fair move on his fellow countryman, and Jordan ran slightly wide. With just a few miles to go, it was between McWilliams and Hickman.
While Jeremy led the race home over coast road it was Peter Hickman who dived underneath him into Juniper and from there powered up the Hill and onto the line to take his fifth win at the event.
McWilliams was visibly disappointed and lamented the fact that the flag man at the line had missed them on the previous circuit and failed to put out the last lap flag, “I was caught napping” he shared. Hicky also mentioned this in his post-race interview but commented that it hadn’t been a major issue for him. Obviously delighted with the win, 12 months on from claiming he ‘probably’ wouldn’t return to the event, big Pete was all smiles in parc ferme.
Seeley took his 44th North West podium, just falling short of that elusive 30th victory but happy none the less. Jordan was left to wonder what might have been; clearly the fastest man on track but losing so much time on that lap 1 overshoot. Jamie Coward and Christian Elkin completed the top six.
The second race was much more spread out. This time McWilliams streaked off into the lead and stayed there, leading throughout the four-lapper. Hickman, Jordan and Seeley gave pursuit but never really looked like reeling him in. Although it’s worth noting that Jordan and Richard Cooper had got tangled up in the earlier Supersport race and had an off at Mill road round-a-bout.
In fact, for three laps it might be said this was the most ‘boring’ or ‘processional’ race of the day. However, as McWilliams started his last lap, and under no pressure at all, he rode over the kerb on the exit of the start/ finish chicane and the bike bucked and weaved and threatened to throw him out of the seat.
Thankfully he soon regained composure and settled back down into a rhythm for the final 8.9 miles. And it took the pressure off when Hickman dropped out on the final circuit and Jordan overshot again, leaving Jeremy to receive the applause of the crowd as he raced to the line. The spectators waved as he streaked through and he waved back in appreciation.
When he got to the chequered flag he stood on the pegs with both hands in the air and the fans in the grandstand went wild. Jordan recovered to finish second with Seeley taking his third podium of the day. Jamie Coward finished fifth ahead of debutant, Franco Bourne and Christian Elkin.
A delighted Jeremy sharing,
“That’s been coming for a while. I’ve been waiting on that. I got caught napping this morning and I’m a bit disappointed not to win the first race but I’m delighted with that. Everyone’s been telling me the older I get the less chance there was of this happening but I just kept my head down and it’s come along.”
Maxwell Freight SuperTwin/Sportbike Race Results
 |
||||
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
Time/Gap
|
Speed
|
|
1
|
P. Hickman
|
Yam
|
19m23.691
|
111.034
|
|
2
|
J. McWilliams
|
Yam
|
+0.460
|
110.826
|
|
3
|
A. Seeley
|
Apr
|
+0.623
|
111.509
|
|
4
|
P. Jordan
|
Apr
|
+0.938
|
112.231
|
|
5
|
J. Coward
|
Pat
|
+9.938
|
110.121
|
|
6
|
C. Elkin
|
Apr
|
+10.435
|
110.276
|
|
7
|
A. Venter
|
Apr
|
+22.532
|
108.998
|
|
8
|
M. Sweeney
|
Apr
|
+26.918
|
108.231
|
|
9
|
F. Bourne
|
Pat
|
+29.626
|
108.797
|
|
10
|
M. Poncini
|
Apr
|
+29.755
|
108.903
|
|
11
|
A. Majola
|
Pat
|
+33.864
|
108.089
|
|
12
|
D. Herbertson
|
Tri
|
+34.765
|
107.832
|
|
13
|
N. Kernohan
|
Apr
|
+49.328
|
107.082
|
|
14
|
B. Graham
|
Apr
|
+51.080
|
106.791
|
|
15
|
K. Duncan
|
Apr
|
+56.155
|
106.287
|
|
16
|
D. McMaster
|
Kaw
|
+58.307
|
106.081
|
|
17
|
D. Ingham
|
Apr
|
+1m00.662
|
105.803
|
|
18
|
S. Gorton
|
Apr
|
+1m01.270
|
105.856
|
|
19
|
S. Brolly
|
Apr
|
+1m02.452
|
106.070
|
|
20
|
K. Keyes
|
Yam
|
+1m12.102
|
105.001
|
|
21
|
J. Chawke
|
Apr
|
+1m12.869
|
105.050
|
|
22
|
B. Burrell
|
Tri
|
+1m13.146
|
105.272
|
|
23
|
G. McCoy
|
Kaw
|
+1m21.956
|
106.288
|
|
24
|
W. Bourgeais
|
Apr
|
+1m32.912
|
103.236
|
|
25
|
L. Hara
|
Apr
|
+1m33.393
|
104.845
|
|
26
|
O. Morgan Edwards
|
Apr
|
+1m38.944
|
102.301
|
|
27
|
G. McAleese
|
Apr
|
+1m49.595
|
101.762
|
|
28
|
M. Allen
|
Apr
|
+2m15.147
|
100.888
|
|
29
|
R. J. Woolsey
|
Kaw
|
+3m04.133
|
96.602
|
|
30
|
R. Peersman
|
Apr
|
+3m23.940
|
94.287
|
| Not Classified | ||||
|
DNF
|
J. Thompson
|
Apr
|
2 Laps
|
107.048
|
|
DNF
|
B. Furber
|
Yam
|
2 Laps
|
106.464
|
|
DNF
|
M. Johnson
|
Kaw
|
1 Lap
|
–
|
|
DNF
|
A. Herd
|
Apr
|
1 Lap
|
–
|
|
DNF
|
A. Hornby
|
Pat
|
1 Lap
|
–
|
|
DNF
|
G. Mercier
|
Apr
|
1 Lap
|
–
|
John M Paterson SuperTwin/Sportbike Race Results
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
Time/Gap
|
Speed
|
|
1
|
J. McWilliams
|
Yam
|
4m48.603
|
111.891
|
|
2
|
P. Jordan
|
Apr
|
+5.805
|
112.351
|
|
3
|
A. Seeley
|
Apr
|
+11.109
|
110.913
|
|
4
|
J. Coward
|
Pat
|
+12.556
|
110.491
|
|
5
|
F. Bourne
|
Pat
|
+18.774
|
109.690
|
|
6
|
C. Elkin
|
Apr
|
+19.271
|
109.829
|
|
7
|
A. Venter
|
Apr
|
+21.800
|
109.488
|
|
8
|
J. Thompson
|
Apr
|
+30.997
|
108.876
|
|
9
|
A. Majola
|
Pat
|
+34.260
|
108.225
|
|
10
|
D. Herbertson
|
Tri
|
+34.666
|
108.562
|
|
11
|
M. Poncini
|
Apr
|
+38.922
|
108.866
|
|
12
|
B. Furber
|
Yam
|
+47.212
|
107.344
|
|
13
|
G. McCoy
|
Kaw
|
+53.552
|
106.561
|
|
14
|
D. Ingham
|
Apr
|
+53.975
|
106.522
|
|
15
|
S. Gorton
|
Apr
|
+55.414
|
106.645
|
|
16
|
J. Chawke
|
Apr
|
+58.098
|
106.513
|
|
17
|
K. Duncan
|
Apr
|
+1m10.162
|
105.545
|
|
18
|
D. McMaster
|
Kaw
|
+1m11.269
|
104.995
|
|
19
|
L. Hara
|
Apr
|
+1m14.446
|
104.880
|
|
20
|
S. Brolly
|
Apr
|
+1m15.398
|
106.045
|
|
21
|
B. Burrell
|
Tri
|
+1m15.754
|
105.377
|
|
22
|
P. Y. Bian
|
Tri
|
+1m32.429
|
105.789
|
|
23
|
G. McAleese
|
Apr
|
+1m47.064
|
102.678
|
|
24
|
A. Herd
|
Apr
|
+1m48.129
|
102.013
|
|
25
|
O. Morgan Edwards
|
Apr
|
+1m48.226
|
102.697
|
|
26
|
M. Allen
|
Apr
|
+2m02.638
|
101.315
|
|
27
|
L. Osprey
|
Apr
|
+2m29.927
|
98.648
|
|
28
|
M. Johnson
|
Kaw
|
+2m39.939
|
98.443
|
|
29
|
G. Mercier
|
Apr
|
+2m43.093
|
98.675
|
|
30
|
D. Trappe
|
Kaw
|
+2m49.161
|
97.439
|
|
31
|
R. J. Woolsey
|
Kaw
|
+3m20.667
|
95.631
|
|
32
|
R. Peersman
|
Apr
|
+3m21.011
|
95.594
|
| Not Classified | ||||
|
DNF
|
P. Hickman
|
Yam
|
3 Laps
|
112.036
|
|
DNF
|
A. Hornby
|
Pat
|
3 Laps
|
101.182
|
|
DNF
|
N. Kernohan
|
Apr
|
2 Laps
|
105.820
|
|
DNF
|
B. Graham
|
Apr
|
1 Lap
|
–
|
|
DNF
|
M. Sweeney
|
Apr
|
1 Lap
|
–
|
