The North West 200 takes place in Northern Ireland this week but without Superbike or Supersport bikes from Honda Racing UK.
The official UK Honda team has taken only Superstock machinery to the Causeway Coast this year, meaning its riders are not competing in the Supersport class at all, and are restricted to stock machinery in the Superbike class.
Honda Racing UK said that this was down to logistical issues, including with the supply of components and the 2024 racing schedule. “Due to the demands of the 2024 calendar and schedule, combined with challenges in the supply chain regarding parts and materials, Honda Racing UK will not be running Superbike or Supersport machinery at this year’s NW200,” the team said. “As a result, riders Dean Harrison, John McGuinness MBE and Nathan Harrison will utilise Superstock specification Fireblades in both the Superbike and Superstock classes throughout the event.”
Havier Beltran said much the same: “Unfortunately, due to the nature of the calendar this year and the significant delays in sourcing parts and materials, we are only going to be racing Superstock machines. Obviously, this is less than ideal, but we are still hugely excited to see how Dean, John and Nathan can perform on their 2024 Fireblades.”
The 2024 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade is a new model for this year, with significant updates to particularly to the engine.
“Look, this is obviously not how we planned to come to the North West 200, but it’s the circumstance that we have and we will keep on going,” said Dean Harrison, who finished the first Superbike practice in fifth on his stock Fireblade, before finishing second in Wednesday’s Superstock practice. “I am still determined to go out there and give it my all and fight for some great results. The North West is always a great event, for me, it’s the first road race of the year and the first time I get to go flat out on a closed road. I’ll go out there, get a feel for it and build into things and take it from there.”
Honda is not the only major team to be running Superstock bikes in the Superbike class. PHR Performance has only a Superstock-spec BMW M1000 RR for Peter Hickman, for example, although Hickman also has a Triumph Street Triple RS 765 for the Supersport class and a Yamaha R7 in the Supertwin category.
