Alastair Seeley made it double celebration on Thursday when he added the Supersport pole position to the Superstock one he'd claimed earlier in the day. The Relentless Suzuki rider seized control on the 30-minute mark and was never headed to end up taking the top spot by 1.2s from Englishman Gary Johnson, the East Coast Racing rider signalling his intentions for the week with another fine performance.

It was Johnson who set the early pace and, lapping almost ten seconds quicker than Tuesday, the far superior conditions saw speeds rise considerably. The Lincolnshire man, fresh from a strong sixth at the recent British Supersport round at Croft, jumped to the top of the leaderboard after 20 minutes, with a lap of 4'm39.738s sending him clear of Bruce Anstey, Seeley and Michael Dunlop.

Seeley was just getting into his stride though and his best lap of 4m38.531s on the half hour mark was enough to put him 1.2s clear of Johnson and with very little change in the closing stages, he held on for another NW200 pole position. Dunlop, as spectacular as ever, took another front row start in third, just ahead of Anstey, William Dunlop and Guy Martin.

Just 9.8s covered the top 11 with short circuit star Lee Johnston riding well for 8th in only his second NW200 outing but there was disappointment for Cameron Donald who stopped on the run to University early in the session whilst James Hillier and Ian Lougher both suffered engine failures and were forced to stop at Mather's Cross. All three, however, have qualified for the two races.

Leaderboard

1 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) 4m38.531s - 115.937mph

2 Gary Johnson (Honda) 4m39.738s - 115.437mph

3 Michael Dunlop (Yamaha) 4m40.436s - 115.149mph

4 Bruce Anstey (Honda) 4m41.660s - 114.649mph

5 William Dunlop (Honda) 4m42.231s - 114.417mph

6 Guy Martin (Suzuki) 4m43.732s - 113.812mph

Click here for full timesheets