Isle of Man TT Superbike lap record holder Conor Cummins made his return to real road racing at the 2011 North West 200.

The Ramsey Rocket has competed at the first three rounds of the 2011 National Superstock championship but last week raced his McAdoo Kawasaki Racing machines for the first time since TT 2010.

Practice was held in the dry and Conrod took things steadily, gradually building up his pace whilst becoming more familiar with the 2011 McAdoo Kawasaki machines. His best qualifying position was 13th in the Supersport 600cc class with sixth row starts in the Superbike and Superstock 1000cc classes for race day.

Unfortunately the wind and rain arrived late Friday night throwing race day into turmoil. Race one of the day was switched to Supersport race one and Conrod made a decent start from 13th and got settled into the race. The Pirelli wet tyres were working fantastically and gave Conor the confidence to push ahead passing a few riders to climb to 11th at the end of lap two. Lap three saw him get up to 10th and rapidly catch the scrap for 8th between Guy Martin and Lee Johnston. His pace was much faster than Martin & Johnston’s but by the chequered flag he just couldn’t find a way past and settled for a very promising and creditable 10th.


After more rain Superbike race one began and Conor had a lot of work ahead with 17 riders in front of him on the grid. However, he made a terrific start and was in 10th place half way around lap one. Nearing the end of the lap he was up to 7th but his early efforts were all in vain as Ryan Farquhar’s Superbike engine blew up in a major way and left a trail of oil over one mile long right on the racing line. The organisers had no choice but to show the red flag and stop the race on safety grounds. The combination of the oil and worsening weather conditions meant the entire meeting was abandoned and that was the end of NW200 2011.

A disappointing end to the event but both Conrod and his McAdoo Kawasaki team were more than happy with the meeting. Conor’s pace was building all week and with more time on the bikes he’ll surely progress to his usual position at the sharp end of the road race scene.

Onwards now to the Isle of Man TT with first practice on Monday 30th May. Bring it on!