Alastair Seeley on the Tyco BMW at the North West 200 in 2015.

North West 200 record-breaker Alastair Seeley is set to renew his long-standing ties with Ulster’s TAS Racing team to ride Tyco BMW Superbike and Superstock machinery in May, the News Letter can reveal.

The Carrickfergus man has found it difficult to secure a ride in the British championship this year, with teams asking riders to stump up a budget of up to £50,000 to effectively buy their way in.

However, Seeley has already put a deal in place with top British Supersport team Gearlink Kawasaki to ride a ZX-6R at the first big international road race of the year and is now poised to join Ian Hutchinson in the Tyco colours for the 1000cc races.

The 37-year-old became the most successful rider in the history of the famous race in 2016 after clinching a Supersport brace for Norma and Michael de Bidaph’s Gearlink team, moving onto 17 victories in total.

He last rode for the TAS Racing team in 2015, winning both Supersport races on a Suzuki GSX-R600 plus the Superbike race on the Tyco BMW.

Seeley also finished as the runner-up for the team in the British Superstock 1000 Championship on the S1000RR behind fellow Northern Ireland rider Josh Elliott.

It is understood that North West 200 title backers Vauxhall are involved in the deal to back Seeley at the ‘Triangle’ meeting, which will take place from May 8-13 on the 8.9-mile North Coast course.

The official launch of the event will be held at a new venue this year at the Vineyard in Coleraine on March 15, featuring the hugely popular ‘Meet the Riders’ evening.

The North West will offer fans here the first chance to see new Honda Racing signing Guy Martin in international road race action alongside John McGuinness on the Fireblade SP2, while Bennetts Suzuki star Michael Dunlop will line up on the GSX-R1000 for his eagerly anticipated maiden roads appearance of 2017.

Kyle White