Relentless Suzuki's Alastair Seeley has taken the first Supersport race win at the 2011 Northwest 200 after a titanic scrap in the wet with the Wilson Craig Honda of Cameron Donald.
The pair swapped paint for the second half of the five-lap encounter after the Antipodean made a mess of his start and had to fight his way through the pack to take second place on lap three before starting his charge for the lead. Seeley was stronger on the brakes into both the Mather's Cross and Magherabuoy chicanes but Donald's traction control gave him better grip on the exits and he was able to win the battle of the slipstream.
As the lights went out, East Coast Racing's Gary Johnson rode round the outside of Seeley in York corner while Ryan Farquhar, who ran an intermediate rear, staked his claim for the lead. It wasn't for long, though, as Johnson was back in front on the run into Metropole.
Lap two saw Seeley take the lead from Johnson just after the start/finish line but Anstey went past the pair down the Avenue as Donald made his way into fifth after an awful start. Anstey got shuffled back to fourth in the slipstream to Mather's as Johnson over-cooked it on the brakes and had to take to the sliproad, losing the lead to Seeley while Anstey was passed by Donald.
Donald staked his claim for the lead on lap three but Seeley had his number into Magherabuoy. As they crossed the line to start lap four, they had pulled a five-second lead with Anstey in third and Johnson fourth a further three seconds back.
Lap five saw the lead pair trade first but Seeley was once again first on the brakes into Magherabuoy and didn't look back. Donald made a small error on the Coast Road and couldn't make back the time so let it be and cruised in for second.
There was a five-second gap to third-placed man Bruce Anstey, on the Padgett's Honda, who had a lonely race after a small dice with Johnson saw them get gapped by the leaders early on. Local man Michael Dunlop took fourth place and Johnson fifth. William Dunlop was sixth and Ryan Farquhar seventh. Guy Martin took eighth, Lee Johnston ninth and Connor Cummins rounds out the top ten.
Seeley: "I managed to get a good start and saw that I was battling with Ryan and Gary so spent the first couple of laps sussing things out. Then when I turned round I saw Cameron and I was thinking he wasn't there a minute ago! We got a gap and then I just tried to control the race plan. I had a bit of a game plan if it came dfown to the last lap and I felt strong on the brakes at the important corners so it all game good. Conditions aren't too bad and there's good grip out there apart from a couple of the white lines so it should be good, close racing for the rest of the day."
Donald: "Apart from the start, it wasn't too tough a race and I felty good out there. The clutch slipped a bit off the line and the bike went sideways on me - I think I was last going into the first corner so didn't hang around getting up to the front! It was close at times between me and Alastair and I knew he was good on the brakes along the coast road so I tried to get him into Church but the brain ruled the red mist and I had to let him go. I'm more than happy with second and it conditions stay as they are we should be good for the rest of the day."
Anstey: "I got held up a bit by Gary Johnson and by the time I managed to get by him, the front boys had gone. Once I'd lost the tow, it was a pretty lonely race but the tyres were good and the speed of the Honda good so I had no issues."
