Brookes, Cooper and McWilliams set the pace on wet NW200 Wednesday

2026 North West 200
Wednesday Report

The North West 200 got off to a cautious start in less-than-ideal conditions, with many competitors using a wet Wednesday to bank qualifying laps rather than chase headline times. It was a day when experience counted, and the older heads on the grid were the ones who ended up heading the timesheets.

Josh Brookes was quickest in Superstock, Richard Cooper topped both Superbike and Supersport, and 62-year-old Jeremy ‘Jezza’ McWilliams led the Supertwin/Sportbike standings while also finishing second in Supersport.

In keeping with tradition, it was the ‘newcomers’ who took to the circuit first. The 2026 list of debutants makes for impressive reading, with Rob Hodson, Franco Bourne, Fredrik Mathys and many more donning orange bibs.

The focus, however, was on BSB regular Storm Stacey and his famous top hat, with photographers scrambling to get a shot of the 23-year-old as he took his place on the grid.

The bikes hadn’t long left the line when a red flag was signalled and they once again returned to Portstewart; some of the riders travelling in the opposite direction of the circuit.

After some time, word came through that Dutch rider Wesley Ankersmid had come off at Blackhill. Thankfully, the rider was okay. After a short delay, the session restarted and ran to its conclusion.

Cooper tops wet Superbike & Supersport timesheets

Next up was the turn of the Superbikes and there was a clamour of activity, with many of the top men keen to get going.

We should note at this point that it was announced first thing in the morning that Michael Dunlop would not be racing his ‘World Superbike spec’ V4RR Ducati at the North West, stating that more time was required to set the bike up properly for the roads. Instead, it was a Hawk Racing Honda Fireblade SBK he wheeled out to the line.

Dunlop rode a Hawk Racing Honda in 2023 and 2024, and had great success, particularly at the TT. He won the SBK TT in ‘23 before leading the same race the following year, only to be thwarted by the infamous visor fiasco.

His fastest ever lap of the Mountain course was also set on the Honda, and if I were a betting man I wouldn’t be placing any money on him riding the big Ducati at the TT… but time will tell.

However, after all the fanfare, Dunlop did not set a qualifying-worthy time in Wednesday’s opening Superbike session and posted only a handful of laps at a fairly sedate pace. Like a number of the field, he appeared to have one eye on Thursday’s final qualifying session, when conditions were expected to be more favourable.

It was Richard Cooper who went fastest. The diminutive Nottingham man was riding the SMS/Nicholl Oils BMW, and you would never have guessed that it was only the second time he’d ridden the bike. Sporting a stealthy black livery, he looked every bit a four-time British Champion as he splashed his way to the top of the time sheets.

Behind him, local man Paul Jordan placed his Jackson racing by Prosper2 Honda on the second rung of the standings, with Honda racing’s Dean Harrison in third, Glenn Irwin in fourth and Peter Hickman and Mike Browne completing the top six.

There was almost an embarrassing moment for Irwin, midway through the session when he passed Storm Stacey heading away from the start/finish area. He tapped his seat as he nipped in front of the number 73, signalling for Stacey to follow him. But with Glenn’s hand off the bars, his Ducati gave a massive twitch, with the rear end stepping out as they tipped into Primrose.

It’s the first time Richard Cooper’s ridden a 1000 cc bike at the event since 2022, and he played his chances in the race down when interviewed at the end of the session, saying he viewed the Supersport category as the category he was most likely to win.

Richard Cooper

“For me, the bike’s very new and the more laps I can do the better. We came in and put the wet tyres in, just got a feel for things; no heroics and just sort of rode round.”

Cooper also topped the Supersport timesheets on the BPE Russell Racing Yamaha. ‘RC’ has won a supersport race at the event for the past two years in a row, and there will be many who have him marked down as pre-race favourite.

Behind him in second, McWilliams looked extremely comfortable on the CD Racing Kawasaki; the ex-GP star raising more than a few eyebrows with his performance. Dean Harrison, currently fourth in the British Supersport Championship, slotted into third on the Honda racing machine.

The Bradford man (now based on the Isle of Man) will be hungry to taste success on his CBR600RR later in the week. Last year he was visibly disappointed not to get the job done, viewing Supersport as ‘his’ class that he rides week-in-week-out, and the one he should do the business in.

Hickman, Alastair Seeley and Ian Hutchinson made up the rest of the top six, with Josh Brookes on the Uggly and Co. Carl Cox Motorsport Suzuki in seventh.

Brookes untouchable in Superstock

It was Brookes who set the fastest time in Superstock on the DAO Racing Honda. His time of 4m55.143 would have put him fifth in the earlier Superbike session. Brookes will take heart from his performance and will be hoping that his form transfers onto tomorrow in the dry.

Dean Harrison posted a time 1.5s slower than Brookes in this one, but was once again keeping his bright red Honda to the forefront. Perhaps the biggest talking point of all was that Storm Stacey came in third, just a few hours after that newcomers session.

Things should iron out in tomorrow morning’s sessions and only then will we get a true understanding of who’s truly on the pace and who’s not. But there’s no doubting that Stacey has been impressive. John McGuinness, Dominic Herbertson and Peter Hickman made up the rest of the top six.

Adelaide’s David ‘Davo’ Johnson used Wednesday as a shakedown on his new 2026 Kawasaki ZX-10R, finishing 12th in Superbike and 19th in Superstock. He expects Thursday to be more business-like if conditions improve.

McWilliams fastest Twins/Sportsbike

The big talking point of the day was McWilliams and his provisional pole time in the final Twins/Sportsbike session.

The category is going through a transformation from the highly expensive proto-type Supertwins rules to a more affordable and viable Sportsbike class. So, there’s a varied and interesting collection of machinery on the grid, including 660 Triumphs and GSX-8R Suzukis for the first time.

It was McWilliams on the Flitwick Yamaha R7 Supertwin who ruled the roost this afternoon; banking five laps and recording a time of 5m07.065. 2025 race winner, Paul Jordan slotted into second with Alastair Seeley making his Supertwin debut in third. Jezza spoke to us shortly after the session.

Jeremy ‘Jezza’ McWilliams

“The conditions played into the hands of those who are prepared to explore the limits in some places. Staying out is always a good thing when it’s wet like this, because the size of the circuit you can see it starts to dry in little places and you can go deeper on the brakes and a bit more lean angle because a dry line starts to appear. I just stayed out in both sessions in the hope that the track would come to me and get a little bit better. Both the bikes are great. The little CD Racing Kawasaki ZX636 is working well and I’m happy to be sitting second on it. And the Flitwick Yamaha, it’s the first time I’ve really ridden an R7 in anger. But I’m bloody impressed with how it goes. I don’t think the times tell the full story; I don’t think we should be that far ahead. We’ll leave the bike how it is and take it out in the dry tomorrow and see how we get on.”

One major name absent from the running order was Davey Todd, who was ruled unfit to compete following a medical examination at the event after injuries sustained at Daytona. His absence removes one of the key Superbike and Superstock benchmarks from the week, particularly given his recent North West 200 record.

We do it all again tomorrow, with final qualifying taking place during the morning before racing gets underway in the evening. While the forecast for qualifying looks to be dry, it’s less positive for the Thursday races, and it might well be that today’s practice times are the ones that translate best to race pace once the flag drops.

SUPERBIKE – Q1: Superbike First Qualifying