Padgett's veteran Bruce Anstey won a dramatic Supersport race at the North West 200 on Saturday morning after Alastair Seeley and Lee Johnston crashed out at the Metropole on the final lap. The leading quintet of Seeley, Johnston, Anstey, Conor Cummins and Gary Johnson had been nose to tail throughout the six-lap race, which was held in damp conditions, with positions changing hands all the time.
However, Seeley and Johnston touched on more than one occasion on the final run down to the left handed Metropole before Seeley went down with the pair of them hitting the air fencing hard. Anstey, who had seemingly lost his chance of victory after overshooting the Mathers Cross chicane last time around still had to hold off the close attentions of Cummins but he did so by just 0.188s to take his 10th NW200 victory.
“I can’t believe it,” said the Kiwi afterwards. “The bike’s running beautifully so a big thanks to the whole team but I thought I’d lost it after running on. When I saw the two in front of me collide, I had to do everything to keep Conor behind me. They were really tough conditions out there but I really enjoyed it.”
With showers around the course at intermittent intervals, tyre choice would be crucial and the usual mixture of choices was made. Johnson, on a dry rear and intermediate front, made the running in the early stages but there was never much in it and after two laps just one second covered the leading five.
The fourth lap, in particular, was spectacular as the lead changed hands on no less than nine occasions. The race looked like it would be between Seeley and Johnston but Anstey took full advantage of a double slipstream to hit the front for the first time on the fifth lap as they headed into Mathers Cross.
Seeley was back in front as they started the final lap before Anstey re-took the lead on the high speed run to University. It was Johnston’s turn to lead again at Magherabuoy as he again showed his strength on the brakes but the heavy spill ended both his and Seeley’s hopes.
Johnson slipped back in the closing stages as the rain returned but he gave Triumph a superb podium with Josh Brookes, on similar tyres, having another good ride into fourth. Further back, Michael Dunlop came through from a lowly grid position to take fifth with Michael Rutter on the second Triumph taking sixth.
William Dunlop and Dan Cooper took seventh and eighth with Russ Mountford and James Cowton having strong rides from the second group in ninth and tenth.
