Honda Racing ready for the North West 200
Honda Racing riders John McGuinness MBE and Dean Harrison are ready to lead Honda Racing at the first major road race on the calendar: the North West 200 on Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coast.
The 8.97-mile (14.44 km) Triangle circuit of public roads that lie between Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush has hosted this iconic event since 1929. The North West 200 remains one of the fastest road races in the world, with average speeds in excess of 120 mph (190 km/h).
Honda’s six-time event winner McGuinness arrives at the event after a strong pre-season testing campaign. Having set personal best lap times on the closed circuits of Donington Park and Oulton Park, the North West 200 legend is in fine form and is sure to enjoy strong support from the large and passionate crowds in attendance as he focuses his attention to the ‘big bike’ classes only.
Harrison already has ten podium finishes in his North West 200 career to date, two of which came in last year’s running of the event. The Yorkshireman will be gunning for his first win as he gears up to compete with a host of world-class road racing talent in the Superstock, Supersport and Superbike classes.
The team’s extensive off-season testing programme has given them confidence in their prospects for the race and a growing roster of partners specifically drawn to the unique road racing environment.
John McGuinness MBE
“My first North West 200 was 1994 and I’ve loved it ever since. Really, it’s difficult to get across how good the event is: the people are so hospitable, it’s a stunning part of the world, everyone’s so enthusiastic and you can’t help but look forward to it. As a rider, it’s incredible to be there at over 200 mph wheel-to-wheel with the best road racers in the world. We nibbled onto the podium last year and that’s got to be the target once again. Everything has gone well in testing, I’ve been setting personal best times - but then so has everyone else! It’s good that I’m still going forward, and to ride a full-on Superbike this year is really special. Have I got the pace to win it? We’ll see. Realistically, I’m desperate for Dean to win and I’d love to be up on the podium with him. We’re in a good place I think.”
Dean Harrison
“Last year was good, we made the best of what we had available and put on a good showing. This year, of course, we will be taking the Superbikes as well as the Supersport and Superstock machines, so it really is a full effort and that’s going to be really exciting. I really can’t wait to get going with all of the different Hondas and they’ve all felt good in testing, that’s confidence inspiring, so I’m feeling confident they can give a good roar when we get to the event. The North West 200 is really important in so many ways, it’s the first major road race of the year and it draws a huge crowd of people, more than 100,000, who give it an amazing atmosphere. You’re out there in front of them at 200 mph for several miles at a time and that’s really what makes it so special. I can’t wait to get going.”
Team Manager Havier Beltran
“I think that we approach this year’s North West 200 with probably the strongest rider pairing you could hope for and we have the bikes and equipment ready to give them the best opportunity in all of the races in which they are competing. I’m particularly excited to see Dean riding the CBR600RR Supersport on a full road course, which is his natural habitat. Hopefully we will have good weather, it always lifts everything. Meanwhile John continues to amaze us, at this stage in his career, to be going faster than ever and to be pushing and enjoying the whole process as much as ever. A happy rider is a fast rider and John has clear targets on what he wants to achieve. When we’re committing the sort of resources that are needed to attend an event like this, we need to have good goals. And we are coming with new and existing partners and sponsors for whom success in road racing is key to achieving what they want from being in the sport, so it’s very important to us all to perform strongly.”