William Dunlop tops first Supersport session
Tyco Suzuki’s William Dunlop topped the opening Supersport session on the first day of North West 200 qualifying, beating Michael Rutter by more than a second while Alastair Seeley ended the session in third.
The 28-year-old from Ballymoney set the fastest time on Tuesday on the GSX-600 at 114.754mph to take the top spot from the impressive Michael Rutter (114.193mph), who was 1.384s behind on the Smiths Triumph 675.
Dunlop also finished fourth in the Superbike class, just one place behind team-mate Guy Martin, who posted the sixth fastest time in the middleweight division. Dunlop and Martin were seventh and tenth respectively in the Superstock session, which was red flagged.
William Dunlop:
“I’m pretty pleased with that for an opening day at the North West. I had every confidence we could be up there on the GSX-R600 Supersport bike but was also looking for a top ride on the Superbike. I will take fourth place happily. We had no major problems and with more time on the Superstock bike in a full session we can get well up the grid.”
Tuesday Practice Times
Supersport
1st – William Dunlop [Tyco Suzuki] 4min 41.401sec/114.754mph; 2nd – Michael Rutter [Triumph] +1.384sec; 3rd – Alastair Seeley [Yamaha] +1.423sec; 4th – Lee Johnston [Honda] +1.568sec; 5th – Gary Johnson [Triumph] +2.288sec; 6th – Guy Martin [Tyco Suzuki] +3.116sec; 7th – John McGuinness [Honda] +4.633sec; 8th – Michael Dunlop [Honda] +5.735sec; 9th – Josh Brookes [Yamaha] +6.499sec; 10th – Bruce Anstey [Honda] +7.845sec; 16th – Ian Hutchinson [Yamaha] +8.913sec
Supersport Lap Record: Keith Amor [Honda] 4min 37.591sec/116.329mph – [Supersport Race 2 – 2010]
Superbike
1st – Michael Rutter [BMW] 4min 26.643sec/121.106mph; 2nd – Alastair Seeley [Kawasaki] +1.601sec; 3rd – Guy Martin [Tyco Suzuki] +2.104sec; 4th – William Dunlop [Tyco Suzuki] +3.443; 5th – Martin Jessopp [BMW] +5.625sec; 6th – Josh Brookes [Milwaukee Yamaha] +5.805sec; 7th – Bruce Anstey [Honda] +6.138sec; 8th – Michael Dunlop [BMW] +6.288sec; 9th – Simon Andrews [BMW] +6.736sec; 10th – Lee Johnston [Honda] +6.748sec
Superbike Lap Record: Alastair Seeley [Suzuki] 4min 24.960sec/121.875mph – [Superbike Race 2 – 2010]
Superstock
1st – Horst Saiger [Kawasaki] 4min 32.427sec/118.535mph; 2nd – Michael Rutter [BMW] +0.099sec; 3rd – Stephen Thompson [BMW] +0.277sec; 4th – Martin Jessopp [BMW] +0.511sec; 5th – Simon Andrews [BMW] +0.805sec; 6th ¬– Lee Johnston [Honda] +1.727sec; 7th – William Dunlop [Tyco Suzuki] +2.331; 10th – Guy Martin [Tyco Suzuki] +3.540sec
Superstock Lap Record: Michael Rutter [Kawasaki] 4min 28.757sec/120.153mph [Superstock 2, 2012]
Thursday May 15 Practice Schedule
Practice – Roads Close 09.15hrs to 14.45hrs
(Times are approximate)
1st Session Supertwin 10.00 to 10.50hrs
2nd Session Superstock 11.05 to 11.55hrs
3rd Session Supersport 12.10 to 13.00hrs
4th Session Superbike 13.15 to 14.15hrs
Thursday May 15 Race Schedule
Racing – Roads Close 17.15 to 21.00 hrs
(Times are approx)
Race 1 Supersport (6 laps) 18.00hrs
Race 2 Supertwin (4 laps) 19.00hrs
Race 3 Superstock (6 laps) 20.00hrs
Saturday May 17 Race Schedule
Roads close 09.30hrs
RACE 1 Supersport Race (6 laps) 10.30 am
RACE 2 Superbike Race (7 laps)
RACE 3 Supertwin Race (4 laps)
RACE 4 Superstock Race (6 laps)
RACE 5 NW200 Superbike Race (7 laps)
Visit here for more info on our sponsorship of William this year.
