Dunlop tops Saturday’s NW200 Supersport race with Brookes third

4 weeks ago 35

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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.

Paul Jordan, Richard Cooper, Josh Brookes and Alastair Seeley

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	–	–	–