by Davy Apsley

Thousands of spectators at the NW200

Every May sees a huge pilgrimage to the stunning North West County Antrim Coast.

Over the period of a week, thousands of people descend upon the harbour town of Portrush, not to watch the fishing boats coming in or admire the wonderful golden strands along the ocean's edge, but to be enthralled by the high speed spectacle of a premiere motorcycle road racing event that has made legends of many a rider over the years. The North West 200 draws record crowds to line the 7.5 miles of public roads to cheer encouragement to motorcycle aces who jockey for position at staggering velocities of over 180 mph!

All kinds of folk go to the North West... it's a unique sporting event that reaches to hearts far beyond the motorcycling fraternity. Families go in abundance, Grandads and Grandmums cheer the riders alongside the youngsters. Many people who go have no particular interest in the bikes at all but just want to be there to soak up the atmosphere.. and atmosphere there most certainly is.

From exotica to commuters..
Bikes galore everywhere you look Of course there are bikers too, literally thousands of them and they travel up to "the Port" in the only way that is appropriate - on a motorbike. Large groups of bikers set out from all over the country to make their way to the North West circuit and on occasions, as you might imagine, the riding can be quite "spirited". Riding up to the NW200 with a group of bikers is a great experience and the journey itself is an important part of the proceedings. Of course on a bike, what would be a three hour journey in a car can be done in half the time, even without breaking any laws. For those of you who are bikers, you will appreciate that a motorcycle is more than just 'transport' and biking is much more than just 'travelling'.

More importantly though, did you have a good day’s craic? We did.

The ride down was very pleasant and dry. After we had parked at the caravan, breakfast was created in time honoured fashion, after someone in our company proclaimed "Get the pan on." Much ‘extracting the Michael’ was had while we stuffed our faces to prepare for the day ahead.

The pre race air display was rounded off by a demonstration from an RAF Tornado jet fighter. I don’t know about you but I was impressed by the noise and the speed with which the plane got smaller when the pilot turned the nose towards space, and you thought bikes were fast!

Then it was time.

The sound of the bikes heading of on their sighting lap was our cue to leave the warmth of the caravan. 100 metres later we picked a spot on the coast road, a couple of miles from the finish.

Michael Rutter steams home on the big 'Duke'

The big stories of the day were: the dreadful weather and Dungannon rider Ryan Farquhar becoming the first rider in the history of the NW200 to be disqualified from a race.

The unmistakeable throaty snort of a Ducati was first through the line in Race 1 with Michael Rutter on board and it seemed to us that he didn’t have to stretch himself too much.

Apparently Ryan Farquhar won the second shortened 600cc race. It was reduced in length because the rain started to come down heavily,a wise decision I think you'll agree.

Will the rain ever stop?
Sheltering in the tunnel beneath the track.

We headed off to find some cover when the rain came on, and it seems we weren’t the only ones!

If only I were 40 years younger...
The flagship Ducati 999

Then it was a walk further towards the pits area to see the second race. On the way we came across one of the brand new Ducati 999s, (It’s much smaller in real life than I thought from looking in bike mags.) and an old RG 500 Suzuki.

Object of desire...
Suzuki RG500 circa 1985

Walking around the car parks and backstreets is a favourite pastime for many and there you can find a panoply of motorcycles. All manner of weird and wonderful mounts, all proudly owned are there on display. As well as all the usual modern "race replicas" you'll find an enticing sprinkling of the less common… Mammoth Gold Wings nestle beside old BSAs and cool Ducatis share a patch of grass with an MZ sidecar outfit. Anything goes here. The motto of the day is "you can look, but you'd better not touch!" You could easily spend the entire day just marvelling at the glossy hardware sitting stationary without bothering with the super-fast racing.

Next it was of to the pits area.

I always feel the day is incomplete unless we’ve been here, don’t ask me why! You can buy your t-shirts and caps here if you’re that way inclined.

Can you guess what it is yet?

For those of a technical persuasion I found this sectioned engine for you to look at. What is it? Answers on a postcard to ‘I’m an anorak get me out of here.’

Can you feel the father's wallet strain?

Honda brought along some of their wares to show off and this boy’s father is going to have an empty wallet soon me thinks!

As the weather was getting wetter and there was a break in the racing, we took a quick poll and elected to return to the caravan for coffee and biscuits. Wimps I hear you say. You’re only jealous!

Riders in the rain get ready for the off at the NW200We surfaced again to watch the 600cc race. These machines never fail to impress me. The scream of the engines sounds like torture for the internal mechanical bits and the racing is always very close. This race caused the disqualification controversy as it was reported that Ryan Farquhar overtook Ian Lougher when oil flags were being waved.

The final race was cancelled due to the weather which was probably wise as the roads looked very wet.

So it was time to go home. Did we have a good day? You bet we did. We laughed all day long. Did the weather put us off? Not a chance, we’ll be back next year come hail or shine.

Did you enjoy the day? What about that controversial disqualification? Send us your thoughts and pictures.

Click here for a guide to what the North West is all about.