Alastair Seeley, the North West 200’s most successful racer, will compete on a trio of IFS Racing Yamahas at this year’s event.

Seeley secured a late deal with the Antrim based squad to contest the Supersport, Superstock and Superbike classes for the fonaCAB and Nicholl Oils sponsored north coast spectacular scheduled for May 8th-14th.

With 24 victories already to his name around the famous 8.9 mile Triangle circuit, the 2021 Ulster Superbike and Supersport champion will be hoping to continue that success after securing an eleventh hour deal with IFS Racing.

“I am just glad to have something because for a while it was looking as if I might be flag marshalling or spectating at this year’s North West.” the Carrickfergus rider joked.

Another USBK campaign will provide plenty of preparation for North West week and although the squad won’t receive official Yamaha support, Seeley is confident he has the machinery to add a 25th victory to his record tally.

“I spent a lot of time on the Superbike and the 600 last year.” he confirmed. “The bikes will be meticulously prepared and I will know them as well as the rest of the boys will know theirs. There won’t be any Spanish testing, just cold days out at Kirkistown and Bishopscourt, but we will maximise what we do here at home and I will have the race craft and the mileage.”

Seeley feels his best chance of success in May will come on the Supersport-spec R6 Yamaha, a class in which he holds the lap record.

“The 600 is probably the strongest bike for me.” the 42-year-old said. “I lost out on the Thursday night race in 2019 when I crashed on the last lap at Juniper. The big bikes are all about set-up and I’ve suffered with a lot of high speed weave in recent years which means you can’t hold the throttle wide open to get the top speed and make the passes. But I think the IFS superbike will be good enough.

“Only Michael Rutter and John McGuinness have more experience than me around there because they’ve been coming for about 90 years between them.” the Carrick rider joked on his 36 podium finishes between 2008 and 2018.

“I’ve been around in all conditions and I’d fancy my chances on a wet track that was starting to dry out. If there wasn’t a lot of set-up time we could be quids in. No matter how it goes, we will sort it out on the day.”