Nico Mawhinney on the Team Polaris BMW last year

Former Irish Superbike champion Nico Mawhinney believes he still has what it takes to be a title contender after injuries put the brakes on his career over the past few years.

The Castledawson man was involved in a big crash in practice during his debut at the North West 200 in 2016, which left him with a broken pelvis, ankle and heel.

The following year, Mawhinney sustained a string of serious injuries in a massive crash in a British Thundersport round at Mallory Park, when he collided with another rider.

The 28-year-old suffered a badly broken right femur and was also paralysed from his left knee to his foot after sustaining nerve damage. He also dislocated both knees and broke his left wrist.

After several operations, Mawhinney returned to the Ulster Superbike Championship in 2019 and was rewarded for his perseverance and determination with a race victory and runner-up finish at Kirkistown in Co Down.

His plans were thrown into disarray in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but Mawhinney hopes to have the opportunity to compete in more races this year and has also stated his desire to return to the North West 200 in 2022.

“I’m still not confident we’ll see a lot of races this year but we’ll just have to watch how things go,” he said.

“I’ve had a few offers to do the Dunlop Masters Championship but I’ve always used Pirelli tyres and I never really got used to the Dunlops, although the new Pirelli profile I used last year at Kirkistown is quite close to the Dunlop profile and I really liked it, so maybe it’s something I’ll look at doing.

“We didn’t have much racing last year obviously but the BMW I’ve got, which is the older 2018 model, was a fantastic package. I always liked the Kawasaki but the BMW turns easier and is a little bit quicker as well,” he added.

“It has great potential and I qualified on the front row at Kirkistown last September, but I was just having problems getting the thing off the line.

“I was so worried about someone running into the back of me at the start of the race that I asked to be moved to the back of the grid. But if we could get the bike off the line better, then I’m confident I’ve got the pace to run at the front and I still feel I’m capable of winning another championship.”

Motorcycle racing in Northern Ireland is currently suspended until June, with the first short circuit meeting of the year scheduled to run at Kirkistown in Co Down on June 5.

Mawhinney plans to race at whatever Ulster Superbike rounds go ahead in 2021 and also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of travelling to England again to contest the Thundersport series.

“We’ll probably do whatever Ulster Superbike rounds there are this season and I might go and do a few Thundersport races as well,” he said.

“We might not have a full championship to race for this year if the events are held as closed meetings, so I’ll probably have options to pick and choose what I do, without having to worry about championships.

“The main thing for me now is to enjoy my racing and when I came back in 2019 and got a win at Kirkistown, it felt like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

“My legs still don’t bend all too well because of the ligament damage I suffered but the BMW has helped with that, because it had a factory sub-frame which you can lift up and that makes things easier for me.

“TAS built the bike for us and it’s just such an awesome piece of kit. When you have a bike as good as that, you want to do well on it and it gives you the hunger to try and win again.”

The North West 200 has been cancelled for the second successive year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but Mawhinney says he has unfinished business with the famous road race following his nasty spill in Thursday qualifying in 2016 at Mill Road roundabout.

“I just hit a manhole cover and it knocked the brake pads back,” he said.

“If it happened on a short circuit then it’s not really a problem because you just miss your braking marker and run onto the grass.

“But I got caught out on the Thursday night and when I reached for the brakes there was nothing there. I had already committed to tipping in and there was nowhere for me to go.

“It was down to rider error and inexperience of the roads on my part, but I was 15th fastest at that point out of 56 or 57 riders and I was enjoying it.

“I’d like to go back and experience the whole event again and finish a race, so it hasn’t put me off and maybe that chance will be there next year.”