It has been reported that Stuart Easton had a coming together with his MSS Colchester Kawaskai Team Mate Gary Mason on the approach to Station Corner, and that he has been taken to hospital. He has subsequently been diagnosed as having sustained a fractured right leg and pelvis.

When the chequered flag went out to end the first practice session for the Relentless North West 200 on Tuesday evening, there were a few raised eyebrows at seeing the third man on the list.

Martin Jessopp from Yeovil in Somerset is only riding in his fourth North West and to date had never finished inside the top 10, hence the surprise when he clocked a speed of 116.949mph on the sixth of seven laps.

It earned him a provisional front row starting position, with just this morning’s final qualifying session remaining, alongside team-mate Michael Rutter in the Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati Team who had just finished in second position.

A year ago, at the North West, mechanical gremlins halted the Ducati’s progress, but the team have certainly bounced back in fine style.

“We know what the Ducati is capable of. What it lacks in top speed on the fast sections here, it well makes up for on other parts of the circuit,” explained Jessopp.

“We are not getting carried away just yet with one more qualifying session still to go. “Michael and Alastair (Seeley) are experts around here and just to be in the ball park with them is brilliant and a confidence boost for me. “There are still a lot of other riders who have yet to show their hand this week.”

A regular in the British Superbike Championship, 25-year old Jessopp is a former schoolboy motocrosser, racing from the age of six before moving in 1999 to the tarmac scene, taking in the Aprilia Superteen series in England.

Since then he has moved through the ranks, taking part in endurance racing, British Superstock and Supersport Championships before racing in the full British Superbike series in 2008 when he finished second in the Superbike Cup category behind local rider John Laverty.

Last year saw Jessopp had his best ever start to his Superbike campaign scoring fifth and sixth place finishes at the ultra-fast Thruxton circuit, but things all went a little pear-shaped three rounds later at Mallory Park, when he crashed, breaking his tibia and fibula, his season thus ending prematurely.

Up until the North West he has been struggling to find his form in 2011, his best finish in BSB being ninth in the opening race of the season at Brands Hatch.

However, he couldn’t have picked a better time to return to form on Tuesday night.

The machines Jessopp and Rutter are racing this weekend are factory specification 1198R Ducati’s, virtually the same as the Althea Ducati that Carlos Checa leads the World Superbike Championship on.

Both Jessopp and Rutter were second and third fastest through the speed trap at 192 and 193mph just behind fastest man Stuart Easton, who clocked 194mph.

Riders from Down Under looking good

The southern hemisphere has provided a number of distinguished riders who have left their mark on the North West 200 over the past 30 years.

New Zealand, in particular, has a remarkable record as the only country from outside the UK and Ireland to have produced race winners around the Triangle.

In 1982 Stuart Avant became the first overseas winner when he won the 500cc race riding a Suzuki.

Another 13 years elapsed before Robert Holden claimed the final Supermono race when he rode a Ducati to victory, then made it a Kiwi double by winning the second Superbike race, also on board a Ducati, after a titanic tussle with Phillip McCallen and Iain Duffus.

Holden, unfortunately, lost his life in a practice accident for the 1996 TT races.

Today Bruce Anstey from Wellington has established himself as one of the North West 200 stars, equal fifth on the all-time winners list alongside Tony Rutter with nine race victories.

Anstey, of course, rode for the Moneymore-based TAS Racing team over an eight-year span following a North West debut win in the Production class (now Superstock) in 2002, but has switched to the all-conquering Padgetts Honda Team, who won an amazing 10 international road races in 2010.

Anstey has been on the rostrum in at least one race every year since his debut, and if he manages a rostrum this year he will equal Rutter’s record of a podium in at least one race for ten consecutive years.

He scored a memorable hat-trick in the 2007 meeting,, picking himself up off the tarmac after an opening Superbike race crash to win the two Supersport races and the Superstock race.

Anstey had come close to a hat-trick in 2004 when after winning the first 600cc race by a tenth of a second from Ryan Farquhar and the Production race by half a second from Ian Lougher, he was in contention for the second Supersport 600cc race, dicing with John McGuinness for the win, when he high- sided out of contention at Church Corner on the final lap.

Of course, there is another hugely-talented southern hemisphere competitor in Cameron Donald from Melbourne, Australia.

He has yet to win at the North West, but has two podiums to his name from 2008 when he was team-mate to Anstey at Relentless Suzuki by TAS.

Donald finished second in the feature Superbike race losing out to Steve Plater by half a second, and third behind Alastair Seeley and Anstey in the Superstock race.

He has also switched teams and manufacturer for 2011, riding for the local Wilson Craig Honda Team, and both he and Anstey will be hoping to fly the Australian or New Zealand flags around the Triangle come Saturday afternoon.

Rutter is Red Hot

There was simply no stopping Michael Rutter yesterday.

The English speed merchant claimed pole position for tomorrow’s Superbike race at the North West 200 after leaving everyone trailing in his wake in the second practice.

Rutter has won a dozen times in this part of the world and his experience showed in a sizzling afternoon session.

In the end, he was too hot for his Ducati team-mate Martin Jessopp, who had to settle for second on the grid. Michael Dunlop grabbed third to keep his clan dreaming of glory in front of a bumper crowd tomorrow.

But Rutter’s joy was tempered by a crash that left his pal Stuart Easton in hospital.

“What happened to Stuart has definitely taken the edge off my achievement in getting pole,” said Rutter.

“It’s definitely put a downer on things for me.”

Easton sustained a fractured pelvis and broken fingers in a collision with MSS Colchester Kawasaki team-mate Gary Mason near Station Corner.

He was taken to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine for treatment, before being transferred to the Royal Victoria in Belfast.

“It was a high-speed crash but fortunately not serious and the injuries are not life-threatening,” said NW200 Technical Director Mervyn Whyte.

Big things had been expected of Alastair Seeley after a terrific first practice on Tuesday, but problems with his machine’s fuel pressure meant he would miss out on a place in the front six.

The Carrickfergus rider, however, had the consolation of pole position in both the Superstock and Supersport 600 categories.

He was faster than Michael Dunlop and Rutter in the Superstock, and then bettered Gary Johnson and Michael Dunlop in the Supersport.

.

William Dunlop on the Wilson Craig backed Honda's, completed a highly successful final practice season for Saturday's Relentless International North West 200 in Northern Ireland, with Dunlop taking top ten positions in the three class's, Superbike, Supersport 600, and Superstock.

After a very successful Tuesday night practice, Dunlop upped the pace in Thursday practice, to climb into fifth fastest times in both the Supersport 600 and Superstock categories, and then managed to shave eight seconds of his best Superbike time from Tuesday to end the combined qualifying in 9th place just behind Kiwi Bruce Anstey. Just over fives seconds separated the top ten in Superbike qualifying, with the scene set for a great race in the big bike class.

In near perfect conditions, Dunlop managed to take in 30 qualifying laps on the Wilson Craig Honda's and has set himself up nicely for Saturdays big races, where 80,000 high speed race fans are expected to attend.

William Dunlop:

"I am very satisfied with how practice has gone, and lets hope we can carry that through on race day. My lap times are quite good in all class's, but I suppose I would have liked to have been further up in the Superbike practice. Its all down to race day now, but with the weather forecast for rain on Saturday, that could scupper all the lap times up in the air, so we will just have to wait and see"




Superbike:

1 = Michael Rutter Bathams Ducati 121.245mph
2 = Martin Jessopp Bathams Ducati 120.986mph
3 = Michael Dunlop Street Sweep Kawasaki 120.791mph
4 = Guy Martin Relentless Suzuki 120.008mph
5 = Cameron Donald Wilson Craig Honda 119.943mph
6 = Gary Johnson East Coast Honda 119.414mph
9 = William Dunlop Wilson Craig Honda 118.441mph


Superstock:

1 =Alastair Seeley Relentless Suzuki 119.706mph
2 = Michael Dunlop Street Sweep Kawasaki 119.328mph
3 = Michael Rutter Bathams Ducati 118.039mph
4 = Gary Johnson East Coast Honda 117.993mph
5 = William Dunlop Wilson Craig Honda 117.247mph
6 = Ryan Farquhar KMR Kawasaki 116.972mph


Supersport 600:

1 = Alastair Seeley Relentless Suzuki 115.937mph
2 = Gary Johnson East Coast Honda 115.437mph
3 = Michael Dunlop Street Sweep Yamaha 115.149mph
4 = Bruce Anstey Padgetts Honda 114.417mph
5 = William Dunlop Wilson Craig Honda 114.295mph
6 = Cameron Donald Wilson Craig Honda 113.812mph


Picture by Alan Armstrong

Fantastic work Malcolm,

I really appreciate your work.