2008 North West 200

All you want to know about 2008 North West 200

The 2008 Kennedy International North West 200 was held over the dates of 13, 15 and 17 May at the 8.966 mile circuit, dubbed "The Triangle", based around the towns of Coleraine, Portrush and Portstewart, in Northern Ireland. The meeting was overshadowed by the untimely death of Northern Irish rider Robert Dunlop, the record-holder for wins at the circuit, who was killed in a practice crash on May 15. The 47-year-old had been travelling in a group of three riders at the Mather's Cross section of the course, when his bike seized at 160mph. He would later succumb to his injuries in a Coleraine hospital. Robert's sons Michael and William continued to race at the meeting, with Michael winning the 250cc race.

1 Practice
2 Races
3 External links

Practice

John McGuinness dominated qualifying for the 250cc race, the first to be contested on race day. McGuinness went round the 8.966 mile circuit in a time of 4'57.791, the only rider to break five minutes and qualified on pole by over 3 seconds from the Hondas of Michael Dunlop and Paul Robinson. Hondas took the first eight places on the grid, with Henrik Voit's Aprilia the best non-Honda in ninth. McGuinness also dominated Superbike practice, being fastest both on Tuesday and on Thursday. Having achieved a 4'25.377 on Tuesday, he lowered that mark by over 3 seconds to a 4'22.342 on Thursday. Michael Rutter on the NW200-backed Ducati qualified 2nd on a 4'22.999, with the rest in the 4'24s or higher. This session sets the grid for both Superbike races. Steve Plater qualified on pole for the Supersport races, recording a lap of 4'33.749 on Thursday to put him half a second clear of Alastair Seeley, who qualified second, with Keith Amor qualifying 3rd, to give three different nations placed in the top three places. Amor would go two places better in the qualifying session for the Superstock race. In the fourth session, he set a time of 4'26.446, which would give him the pole by over 1.5 seconds. Seeley was second with his time of 4'28.029 coming in session three and Rutter was third, with a 4'28.138 set in session four. Michael Wilcox was the clear pacesetter in the 125cc qualifying, setting a pole lap of 5'17.528 and was on top by nearly three seconds from the Aprilia of David Lemon with the Hondas of Mark Curtin, Michael Dunlop and Chris Palmer rounding out the top five. Leo Aldersley's Yamaha was fastest in the 400cc session, which occurred at the same time as the 125cc session as those two races are contested in the one race, albeit separated on track. His 5'15.329 was almost three seconds faster than second placed qualifier and fellow Yamaha rider, Oliver Linsdell. Les Shand's Kawasaki was third, with the best Honda belonging to Manxman David Madsen-Mygdal lining up fourth.

Races

Greenline Hire 250cc Race

4 laps - 35.724 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Michael Dunlop	Pirate Racing Honda	19'34.316
2	Christian Elkin	Barton Bikesport Ltd. Honda	19'35.345	+ 1.029
3	John McGuinness	Padgett's of Batley Honda	19'36.079	+ 1.763
4	Paul Robinson	D & P Racing Honda	19'57.041	+ 22.725
5	Andrew Neill	Wray Brothers Honda	19'58.859	+ 24.543
6	Davy Morgan	Ballygowan RRSC Honda	19'58.930	+ 24.614
7	Denver Robb	Mar-Train Racing Honda	20'13.624	+ 39.308
8	Mark Lunney	Celtic Racing Honda	20'16.330	+ 42.014
9	Emlyn Hughes	Honda	20'16.820	+ 42.504
10	Neil Richardson	Yamaha	20'18.659	+ 44.343

Fastest Lap: Michael Dunlop, 4'51.975 on lap 4 (110.549 mph; 177.911 km/h)

DeWalt Performance Tools Superbike Race

5 laps - 44.690 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Michael Rutter	North West 200 Ducati	21'52.169
2	Guy Martin	Hydrex Bike Animal Honda	21'52.979	+ 0.810
3	John McGuinness	HM Plant Honda	21'53.125	+ 0.956
4	Steve Plater	AIM Racing Yamaha	21'53.361	+ 1.192
5	Gary Johnson	Uel Duncan Honda	22'02.426	+ 10.257
6	Bruce Anstey	Relentless by TAS Racing Suzuki	22'09.851	+ 17.682
7	Ian Hutchinson	AIM Racing Yamaha	22'10.139	+ 17.970
8	Ryan Farquhar	McAdoo Racing Kawasaki	22'10.555	+ 18.386
9	Denver Robb	Mar-Train Racing Suzuki	22'19.287	+ 27.118
10	Keith Amor	Wilson Craig Racing Honda	22'34.010	+ 41.841

Fastest Lap: Michael Rutter, 4'20.729 on lap 5 (123.798 mph; 199.234 km/h)

Club SOI Portrush Supersport Race

5 laps - 44.690 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Steve Plater	AIM Racing Yamaha	22'46.632
2	Alastair Seeley	Team Millsport Racing Yamaha	22'49.619	+ 2.987
3	Ian Lougher	Blackhorse Motorcycle Finance Yamaha	22'50.366	+ 3.734
4	Ian Hutchinson	AIM Racing Yamaha	22'50.813	+ 4.181
5	Ryan Farquhar	McAdoo Racing Kawasaki	22'51.092	+ 4.460
6	Keith Amor	Wilson Craig Racing Honda	22'51.288	+ 4.656
7	Guy Martin	Hydrex Bike Animal Honda	22'51.866	+ 5.234
8	Gary Johnson	Uel Duncan Honda	22'52.396	+ 5.764
9	John McGuinness	Padgett's of Batley Honda	22'54.799	+ 8.167
10	Conor Cummins	Vanfit Yamaha	22'55.173	+ 8.541

Fastest Lap and New Lap Record: Steve Plater, 4'30.792 on lap 5 (119.197 mph; 191.829 km/h)

Autozone 125cc Race

4 laps - 35.724 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Michael Wilcox	Slim Racing Honda	21'10.496
2	Chris Palmer	Mannin Collections Honda	21'10.673	+ 0.177
3	James Ford	Brookhouse Garage Racing Honda	21'20.006	+ 9.510
4	Mark Lunney	KRB Honda	21'23.032	+ 12.536
5	Mark Curtin	Honda	21'23.596	+ 13.100
6	Graham Wilson	Honda	21'24.652	+ 14.156
7	Stephan Savelkouls	Racing Team Kockengen Honda	21'47.464	+ 36.968
8	David Ferguson	DF Electrics Honda	21'50.154	+ 39.658
9	Tim Stott	Dunlop Racing Honda	21'50.437	+ 39.941
10	Nigel Moore	Honda	21'50.668	+ 40.172

Fastest Lap: Chris Palmer, 5'16.672 on lap 4 (101.928 mph; 164.037 km/h)

McKendry Fabrications 400cc Race

4 laps - 35.724 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Oliver Linsdell	Blackhorse Motorcycle Yamaha	20'38.949
2	Paul Dobbs	Dave East Engineering Yamaha	21'03.441	+ 24.492
3	Les Shand	Oak Tree Contracts Kawasaki	21'04.150	+ 25.201
4	Joe Phillips	Kawasaki	21'04.319	+ 25.370
5	John Barton	Marks Bloom Racing Kawasaki	21'05.398	+ 26.449
6	Alan Brown	Suzuki	21'10.235	+ 31.286
7	David Madsen-Mygdal	Honda	21'13.993	+ 35.044
8	Michael Sweeney	Honda	21'17.834	+ 38.885
9	Coyles Wright	Suzuki	21'29.098	+ 50.149
10	Ian Whitlow	Suzuki	21'55.007	+ 1'16.058

Fastest Lap and New Lap Record: Oliver Linsdell, 5'06.838 on lap 3 (105.194 mph; 169.293 km/h)

CPHire Ltd Superstock Race

5 laps - 44.690 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Alastair Seeley	Team Millsport Racing Yamaha	22'08.828
2	Bruce Anstey	Relentless by TAS Racing Suzuki	22'09.363	+ 0.535
3	Cameron Donald	Relentless by TAS Racing Suzuki	22'09.583	+ 0.755
4	Guy Martin	Hydrex Bike Animal Honda	22'10.136	+ 1.308
5	Keith Amor	Wilson Craig Racing Honda	22'10.269	+ 1.441
6	Ryan Farquhar	Kenny Harker Racing Kawasaki	22'11.671	+ 2.843
7	Gary Johnson	Uel Duncan Honda	22'16.745	+ 7.917
8	Conor Cummins	Vanfit Yamaha	22'23.426	+ 14.598
9	Rob Frost	CD Racing Yamaha	22'29.852	+ 21.024
10	Les Shand	Leeds Parcel Company Yamaha	22'30.633	+ 21.805

Fastest Lap and New Lap Record: Guy Martin, 4'24.682 on lap 3 (121.949 mph; 196.258 km/h)

Blackhorse North West 200 Superbike Race

6 laps - 53.656 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Steve Plater	AIM Racing Yamaha	26'17.157
2	Cameron Donald	Relentless by TAS Racing Suzuki	26'17.744	+ 0.587
3	Michael Rutter	North West 200 Ducati	26'18.495	+ 1.338
4	Bruce Anstey	Relentless by TAS Racing Suzuki	26'18.692	+ 1.535
5	John McGuinness	HM Plant Honda	26'18.915	+ 1.758
6	Gary Johnson	Uel Duncan Honda	26'20.874	+ 3.717
7	Keith Amor	Wilson Craig Racing Honda	26'30.113	+ 12.956
8	Ian Hutchinson	AIM Racing Yamaha	26'31.163	+ 14.006
9	Ryan Farquhar	McAdoo Racing Kawasaki	26'50.132	+ 32.975
10	Denver Robb	Mar-Train Racing Suzuki	26'51.260	+ 34.103

Fastest Lap: John McGuinness (lap 5) and Steve Plater (lap 6), 4'21.686 (123.345 mph; 198.505 km/h)

Ballymoney Borough Council Supersport Race

5 laps - 44.690 miles

Rank	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Steve Plater	AIM Racing Yamaha	22'41.258
2	Alastair Seeley	Team Millsport Racing Yamaha	22'41.391	+ 0.133
3	Ian Lougher	Blackhorse Motorcycle Finance Yamaha	22'43.218	+ 1.960
4	Steve Brogan	HM Plant Honda	22'46.694	+ 5.436
5	Keith Amor	Wilson Craig Racing Honda	22'46.795	+ 5.537
6	Gary Johnson	Uel Duncan Honda	23'02.936	+ 21.678
7	Cameron Donald	Relentless by TAS Racing Suzuki	23'03.409	+ 22.151
8	John McGuinness	Padgett's of Batley Honda	23'06.462	+ 25.204
9	Les Shand	Bob Henderson Racing Suzuki	23'28.676	+ 47.418
10	James McBride	Pazzo Racing with www.speedycom.com Yamaha	23'32.998	+ 51.740

Fastest Lap: Keith Amor, 4'31.745 on lap 4 (118.779 mph; 191.156 km/h)

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_North_West_200"

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