Relentless International North-West 200


Racing was abandoned early at the Relentless International North West 200 as a result of a major oil spill from a competitor's bike. The spillage, which resulted from a mechanical issue, started at Church Corner and extended to Juniper Hill. After lengthy and exhaustive attempts to clean the area and following close examination by race officials and a competitor it was decided that despite the cleanup operation the road was still in a hazardous condition. As always the safety of the riders is the key priority and the race stewards after receiving all the information had no alternative but to stop racing for the day.

NW200 Technical Director Mervyn Whyte MBE said, "This is obviously extremely disappointing for everyone, riders, spectators, sponsors and the hundreds of volunteers who have worked tirelessly towards this day. Unfortunately the fact is that the oil spill was just too extensive to clean up to ensure an optimum level of safety for the riders. Despite repeated efforts by the cleanup team the affected stretch of road was just still in too dangerous a condition to continue racing."

Ian Lougher had earlier been forced to pull out of the opening Supersport race when his Ninja ZX-6R overheated on the sighting laps. In the first Superbike race, Ian was in a strong fourth when the race was stopped due to the oil spillage between Church Corner and Juniper Hill.

Photo: Ian Lougher at Church Corner on the Blackhorse Kawasaki Superstock Ninja ZX-10R

Courtesy: Alan Armstrong  www.aarmstrongphotos.com

........................................................................................................................................



Relentless International North-West 200
Second Qualifying

Ian Lougher upped the pace as final qualifying took place in dry but cold conditions on Thursday morning ahead of the Relentless International North-West 200.

The opening Superstock session was delayed following an incident on the approach to Station Corner and when it resumed Ian managed a best lap of 116.73mph, an improvement of over a second on his time on Tuesday evening. He went through the speed trap at 188mph on his sixth lap and finished 10th quickest. Next up was the Supersport session and here Ian circulated in a time of 4:46.34 secs to improve by over nine seconds and finish in 9th position. In the final session for Superbikes, Ian again improved on his Tuesday evening best, this time by over 10 seconds with a lap of 116.65mph.

The speed trap recorded his Ninja ZX-10R at 189mph on the seventh lap.

........................................................................................................................................


Relentless International North-West 200
First Qualifying

It was a professional job well done for Ian Lougher, as the Blackhorse Kawasaki team manager/rider figured prominently on the leader board in all three classes as first qualifying for Saturday's International North-West 200 drew to a close on Tuesday evening.
One of the most experienced competitors round the famous Portstewart-Coleraine-Portrush triangle circuit, Ian opened his account with 13th in the Superbike class.

Rain began to fall on parts of the circuit accompanied by a strong wind as Supersport practice got underway. Undeterred, Ian rounded off the session with 7th fastest in the standings, the highest placed Kawasaki rider with a lap of 109.31mph.

With conditions at Ballysally Roundabout being reported as a bit slippery, practice for Superstocks got underway with Lougher particularly impressive on the Ninja ZX-10R. Running in the top three in the early stages with Guy Martin and William Dunlop, Ian eventually finished fifth fastest with a lap of 116.28mph to bring his evening's proceedings to a satisfactory conclusion.