Alastair Seeley and Tyco BMW made it a record-breaking night at the International North West 200, with the diminutive Ulsterman taking a 12-second Superstock race one victory on the north coast aboard his BMW Motorrad S1000RR. His team-mate Ian Hutchinson took fourth place.
It stretched Seeley’s record at the NW200 to 18 wins and counting, and Tyco BMW’s parent company, TAS Racing’s, to 25 career wins at the Northern Ireland based event. Seeley also set a new lap record for the class with a staggering effort of 122.898mph, which was just 0.6-seconds outside the Superbike lap record, which gives an indication of his blistering pace on the Tyco BMW.
Speaking afterwards Seeley, who started from pole position said: “After qualifying, I knew if we could get some clear track, the lap record was on, as the Tyco BMW Superstock bike is perfect for the job. Obviously the win was the most important part of the job and after a little excursion at the Magic Roundabout early in the race, we picked up the pace to grab the win and that lap record. I just watched the gap on my pitboard climb and then made sure we didn’t make any mistakes on the last lap.”
Hutchy said: “We’ve put a lot of effort into dialling in delicate little set-up changes to suit my Tyco BMWs for the NW200, which are a little bit different for the roads. The overshoot ruined my chances of a podium tonight, but we are moving in the right direction and I’ll be looking to correct that on Saturday.”
Team Manager Philip Neill explained: “”It’s no secret how much I love the NW200 and to record the 25th victory for TAS Racing on the north coast in beautiful sunshine is just superb. I am really pleased to have reached this milestone together with Tyco and BMW, and it is fitting indeed that Alastair is the man to delivery this special victory on the BMW S1000RR.
Hutchy was also capable of delivering a podium position today but unfortunately didn’t have a chance after losing almost eight seconds when overshooting the chicane.
Thanks as always to our partners Tyco Security Products and BMW Motorrad and a very special thanks to each and every member of TAS Racing for all the hard work required to achieve what we did today.”
Results – Bayview Hotel Superstock Race [6 laps of the 8.9-mile NW200 circuit]
Alastair Seeley [Tyco BMW] 26min:22.328sec; 2nd – Lee Johnston [BMW] +12.6sec; 3rd – Dean Harrison [Kawasaki] +1.2sec; 4th – Ian Hutchinson [Tyco BMW] +17.2sec; 5th – Martin Jessopp [BMW] +0.2sec; 6th – James Hillier [Kawasaki] +16.9sec
New Lap Record – Alastair Seeley [Tyco BMW] 4min: 22.755sec [122.898mph] on lap 4
For more information contact [email protected]
www.tycobmw.com