Dunlop Riders Take 11 NorthWest200 Podium Places

The International NorthWest200 came to a close on Saturday 15 May with Dunlop given particular reason to be satisfied with the performance of riders using its tyres. First places in the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport races went to McGuinness, Amor and Hutchinson, all using Dunlop rubber; in total 11 out of the 18 available podium places went to riders using the manufacturer’s products. Company representative Pat Walsh thought the weekend’s successes boded well for the rest of the season: “This impressive start puts us in a good position for the Isle of Man TT which starts in two weeks time.”

Ireland’s largest outdoor sporting event, the International NorthWest200 circuit runs between the towns of Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine on an 8.9 mile high speed road course. Keith Amor claimed his first ever International road race win in the five lap Superstock race, clinching it on the final lap by reaching 118mph, completing the race in 22:46.565 minutes. John McGuinness took his fifth win in the famous NorthWest200 race. Riding HM Plant and Padgetts Honda’s once again, he reached over 120mph in the opening Superbike race. Also riding on tyres made in Birmingham by Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson dominated in the second Supersport race of the day. His Padgetts Honda finished the course in 18:29.915 minutes, 3.288 seconds ahead of his competition. 

“We were very happy with the tyre performance at the NorthWest200,” Walsh concluded. “A special mention must go to the factory for providing us with top quality product. With motorcycles reaching speeds in excess of 200mph at this event, it is crucial that the tyres are flawless. In 2009 we really dominated the road race scene and hope to do the same this year.”