North West 200: Race schedule, live TV coverage, how to watch online, riders to look out for, weather forecast

Everything you need to know about the 2019 North West 200

Dean Harrison is in action at the North West 200 this week (www.iomtt.com)

The North West 200 gets underway on Tuesday with the opening day of practice as the road racing season comes to life in Northern Ireland.

Following the Cookstown 100 last month and the Tandragee 100 last week, the road racing season clicks into gear with the first major meet of the year, the 80th time that the North West 200 has taken place since its inception in 1929.

While the North West 200 is in itself one of the main events of the season – with eight races up for grabs – the meet also provides the first real chance to see how the teams and riders are shaping up ahead of the Isle of Man TT, which takes place later this month and into the first week of June.

Home hero Alastair Seeley remains the man to beat, with the Northern Irishman warmly known as the ‘Wee Wizard’ holding the record of 24 wins around the coast roads between Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine.

Riders have two full practice sessions to get to grips with their bikes and tinker with their set-ups, before racing commences on Thursday evening in the form of three events for different classes.

The main event takes place on Sunday, with five races scheduled and the blue riband Superbike race to close out the week’s action.

Race schedule

Tuesday 14 May

Practice (9.15am-3pm)

Thursday 16 May

Practice (9.15am-3pm)

Racing (5pm-9pm)

Race 1: Supersport (6 laps)

Race 2: Superstock (6 laps)

Race 3: Supertwin (4 laps)

Saturday 18 May

Racing (9.15am-7pm)

Race 1: Supersport (6 laps)

Race 2: Superbike (7 laps)

Race 3: Supertwin (4 laps)

Race 4: Superstock (6 laps)

Race 5: The NW200 Superbike Race (7 laps)

TV schedule

All action will be shown on the BBC Sport website, with live commentary on BBC Radio Ulster. Highlights will be shown on Friday 17 May (BBC1 NI, 9.30pm), Sunday 19 May (BBC1 NI, 10.35pm) and Monday 20 May (BBC1 NI, 10.35pm).

Who to watch out for?

John McGuinness, the 23-time TT winner, returns to competitive action for the first time since breaking his leg at the 2017 North West 200 in an accident that threatened to end his career. The long-time Honda man will instead be on the chrome-clad Norton, riding with the No 5 on his SG8 superbike and 650cc Superlight bike.

Seeley will head into the week as one of the standout favourites, riding the PBM Be Wiser Ducati in both superbike races and an EHA Racing Yamaha in the two supersport events. However, with PBM unable to supply a superstock bike, he will sit out the other races this week.

Michael Dunlop will also expect to be at the front for Tyco BMW, having been passed fit after suffering a minor wrist injury in a recent practice crash. It will be the first time that Dunlop has competed in Northern Ireland since the death of his brother, Williams, last year, and he will compete in the superbike, superstock and supersport races.

John McGuinness crashed at the 2017 North West 200 (The International North West 200) (Facebook/The International North West 200)

Other men to watch includes last year’s TT frontrunners Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman – the fastest man on the roads after his Senior TT record-breaking victory last year – while British Superbike regular Glenn Irwin also returns following his superbike double last year.

Another man to watch – or rather the bike – is the MotoGP-based RCV V4 Honda of Michael Rutter, which will wear the No 90 in honour of the 90th anniversary of the first North West 200 event. Rutter will hope to add to his 14 wins at the event, which would see him tie with the late Robert Dunlop as the second-most successful rider in the event’s history.

Weather forecast

Tuesday is expected to see clear skies and 17 degrees Celsius in what is forecast to be the best day’s running of the week.

Thursday will see sunny intervals with highs of 15 degrees Celsius, and slim chances of any rain throughout the day.

Saturday will see cooler temperatures of around 13 degrees Celsius and a slight increase of rain, though running is still expected to be dry.