Kawasaki's Alastair Seeley continued to show he's the current master of the North West 200 adding two more wins to his ever-increasing total in Thursday evening’s races thus making it ten in all and becoming the fourth most successful rider ever around the 8.9-mile circuit.
Seeley, current leader of the British Supersport Championship, was in sensational form, none more so than in the opening Supersport race where he started from the fourth row of the second wave. Race leader Michael Dunlop had an eight second lead at half race distance but, on the final lap, the Carrickfergus rider was able to turn a 5.5s deficit into a 1.3s advantage. He’d also, amazingly, worked his way up to sixth on the road.
"I took it steady on the first half of the first lap just to make sure I didn't get tangled up with anyone but once I got some clear track, I got the head down," said Seeley.
"I couldn't believe it when I caught people like Cameron Donald and William Dunlop as I thought they'd be miles ahead and when I got a board saying P2, I just kept it as smooth as possible. I didn't really know how far Michael was ahead but I concentrated on hitting my apexes and it's great to get the win.
His second win of the evening came in the six-lap Superstock race, which saw the best of the conditions and although the MSS Kawasaki ace took it steady in the early stages on a circuit that was 90% dry but as soon as he was fully dialled in, he reeled in the pace setting duo of Gary Johnson and Bruce Anstey. He hit the front for the first time on the fifth lap but had to work all the way to the end to keep Anstey at bay, just 0.296s separating the duo at the chequered flag.
"When Bruce and Gary shot off in the early laps it concerned me a bit but I just tried to concentrate on my own race and let the track come to me," said Seeley. "With it being a six lap race, I knew there was plenty of time so I just sussed out where the damp patches were - which was primarily on the link road - and pushed on the dry bits. Bruce was able to gain time on me through the damp stuff and I was then able to edge away on the other stuff but he'd got the Honda working really well and it was a tough one to win."