Tyco Suzuki’s Alastair Seeley has warned his rivals at the Relentless International North West 200 that he has left no stone unturned in his pursuit of more success at the famous road race.

Seeley, who is competing in the MCE British Superbike Championship this season following his dramatic capture of the British Supersport crown in 2011, was victorious in last year’s only race at the event, beating Cameron Donald in the 600cc class before the meeting was abandoned due to an oil spill which, coupled with poor weather and a hoax bomb alert, culminated in a disastrous for the North West 200.

But that was a year ago, and now Seeley and a plethora of the world’s top road racers are gearing up to battle it out for honours.

“I’ve been doing my homework – I don’t just arrive and race,” Seeley told News Letter Sport.

“I’ve been studying on-board laps and DVDs of the circuit and I’ve done a few laps around the course in the car to see what has changed in the last year or if there’s new tarmac down somewhere.

“So that’s me putting my effort into preparing for the event and I’d say some of the others will start and follow suit after a while.

“I’ve a good team behind me that has a lot of success here at the North West, so the bikes will be good and fast and they have given me every opportunity to do well,” added the 32-year-old, who has five wins to his name at the North West.

“So with my side of the effort combined with theirs, it’s a recipe for success.”

Seeley will adopt the same strategy during race week that has served him so fruitfully in previous years and doesn’t anticipate any major issues with bike set-up, particularly so given his considerable experience of the Suzuki Supersport, Superstock and Superbike machines at the North West.

“We don’t want any mishaps or hiccups with the machinery and hopefully everything will be going right leading up to the races.

“The good thing last year was that we were setting pole in Superstock and Supersport during practice week and we know that if we come across any issues we can return the bikes to how they were set up last year and go from there,” he said.

“I can’t see any issues with the Superbike because it’s basically the bike I’m riding in BSB and in previous years the bike that I’ve been riding in the British championship – whether it’s been Supersport or Superstock – is the bike I’ve been most comfortable on straight away.

“I think it’s going to come down to the usual suspects again, but there’s ten riders out there capable of winning on the day and it’s never going to be easy,” he added.

“But I’m fit and healthy, I feel ready and I know what we’ve got to do.”



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