The International North West 200 is a motorcycleroad race first held in 1929 on a 8.970mi (14.436km)street circuit known as "the Triangle" between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens. It is the largest annual sporting event in Northern Ireland, with the race weekend attracting over 150,000 visitors from all over the world. The course is one of the fastest in the world, with average speeds of 120mph (190km/h) and top speeds in excess of 200mph (320km/h).
Originally intended to be held somewhere in the north west of Ireland and organised by the City of Derry & District Motor Club, the initial meeting was moved to the north coast but the name was never changed. Since 1964 the event has been organised by the Coleraine and District Motor Club. In 2010, the meeting featured daytime practice on the Thursday for the first time.
During the 2011 on Saturday 21 May there were significant delays due to a hoax bomb alert. An extensive oil spill on the track then caused racing to be cancelled after the completion of only one race.
In 2022 the event returned as the fonaCab & Nicholl Oils North West 200 after having been cancelled for the two previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 9 February 2023, an announcement was made by the Motorcycle Union of Ireland about the 2023 event. This followed a significant increase in the insurance premium required to cover the event and consequently placed the race schedule under threat of being cancelled.
However, on 15 March 2023, the event organisers issued a statement that, following a sizeable donation by a prominent businessman and a revised insurance premium quote, the event would take place.
Race format
Riders approaching York from Juniper Hill during the 2009 event.
The North West 200 was originally run over two hundred miles as a handicap race, before changing to its current format of several separate races, each running 4–6 laps during Saturday afternoon. Practice is held on the Tuesday and Thursday evenings before the race. Both the practice and races are held on closed roads, but unlike the Isle of Man TT races which are run in a time-trial format, riders race each other as in normal circuit racing.
Over the years the number and the classes of races has varied according to the latest regulations. From 1990 until 2010, there was always a 125 cc race and since 1992 the North West 200 race has been for Superbikes.
From 2012, all practice sessions will take place during the day, and the racing programme has been extended to include two races on the Thursday evening. All races will be held over six laps, except for the newly introduced Supertwin event.
The course
The street circuit is made up almost entirely of public roads (A2, B185 & A29) but does include three speed-reducing chicanes. The route, running anti-clockwise enters the outskirts of the towns passing many private houses. To help improve track safety street signs are removed at parts of the track and bales of hay are used to wrap the base of lampposts and telegraph poles.
The circuit is 8.970mi (14.436km) long, with a distance of 8.834mi (14.217km) being covered on the first lap of every race. The original start/finish line was located near Magherabouy but moved to the Portmore Road in Portstewart in 1930. The elevation ranges from 6 to 75 metres (20 to 245ft) above sea level.
Mick Grant passes the Railway Bank at Metropole Corner, Portrush, 1975
1973 saw the first major changes to the course, which include the exclusion of the Promenade at Portstewart from the route and the moving of the start/finish line to its current location between Juniper Hill and Millbank Avenue. These changes meant the route used Station Road (B185) for the first time and saw the introduction of York Corner. Shell Hill Bridge, an iconic part of the original course was used for the last time in 1979. In 1980, a new link road, from University Corner to Ballysally Roundabout, was introduced. A chicane was introduced just before the approach to the Juniper Hill corner in 1983 and in 1988 improvements were made to Mather's Cross and the start/finish chicane was introduced to reduce the speeds around Primrose Hill as well as allowing safer access to the pitlane.
At the end of 2009 Mather's Cross was widened in order improve safety at the corner. For 2010 additional modifications were made to the circuit to improve safety. A new purpose-built chicane at Mather's Cross was introduced to reduce speeds at the corner and safety improvements made to the area at Station corner.
Jack Brett recorded the first 100mph (160km/h) lap of the course on a Manx Norton 500cc in 1957. The fastest recorded lap at 127.63mph (205.40km/h) was set by Tom Herron during the 1978 North West 200 race.
Peter Hickman holds the outright lap record for the circuit configuration with four chicanes, set during the 2022 Superbike event, at 124.799mph (200.845km/h).
In 2004, Michael Rutter became the first rider to record a top speed in excess of 200mph (320km/h) on the course. During Tuesday's practice at the 2012 event Martin Jessopp set a new fastest speed trap time, reaching 208mph (335km/h) on the approach to University Corner.
Controversies
In 2022, Richard Cooper won two Supertwin races but was disqualified after scrutineers found a fairing bracket to be non-standard and deemed it to be a breach of regulations. The team's appeal was successful and in November 2023 Cooper was re-instated as winner of both legs, with prize monies awarded retrospectively. Prior to the announcement, Cooper had won both legs at the same event in May, tallying his wins to four.
In 2023, Faye Ho's FHO team riders Peter Hickman and Josh Brookes were disqualified immediately before the start of the Superstock class for using standard wheels on the road-bike based M1000 RRs. Regulations stated the standard carbon fibre road wheels were not allowed, even though the team had raced with them in previous years and successfully completed 2023 scrutineering and practice. As non-standard wheels are not allowed, the team could not use race-specification metal wheels as fitted to the Superbike class machines, so Ho withdrew the team as a protest, with no more classes entered.
In 2025, there was controversy in the Superbike race surrounding the eventual winner Michael Dunlop. Both Dunlop and fellow competitor Peter Hickman missed the Mather's Cross chicane and event rules stipulate that any rider cutting a chicane must put their foot down in the stop-box before proceeding, otherwise a 10-second penalty will be issued to the offending rider. Hickman stopped at the penalty box but Dunlop carried on, retrospectively claiming it would not have been possible for him to do so given his track position. The event organisers initially issued Dunlop with the 10-second penalty which meant that Hickman's teammate Davey Todd was declared the winner. However, upon Dunlop's protest and explanation of his reasons for not stopping, the penalty was rescinded and Dunlop was ultimately awarded the race win.
Deaths at the event
A group of riders entering York Corner during the 2009 event
The first recorded death at the event was Norman Wainwright who was killed in 1939.
1979
Black Saturday as it is known, is regarded as the darkest day in the event's history after crashes claimed the lives of three riders, Tom Herron, Brian Hamilton and Frank Kennedy who died months later from his injuries.
Robert Dunlop
Robert Dunlop died on 15 May 2008 while practising in the 250cc class. The incident occurred as he was approaching Mather's Cross during the 125/250/400cc practice session. It is understood his bike seized and Robert was thrown over his handlebars at approximately 160mph (260km/h). Fellow rider Darren Burns was following immediately behind and collided with Robert, suffering a broken leg and suspected concussion. Robert suffered severe chest injuries and died in hospital shortly afterwards.
Mark Young
Mark Young died during the 2009 event on 17 May 2009. It was Young's first race at the North West 200 although he had road racing experience.
Mark Buckley
Mark Buckley suffered a fatal crash on Millbank Avenue outside Portstewart during the Superstock race on 19 May 2012. He was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries. No other competitors were involved with this incident.
Simon Andrews
Simon Andrews was airlifted to a hospital in Northern Ireland in critical condition after suffering a serious crash while competing in the North West 200 on Saturday, 17 May 2014. Andrews came off his bike and slid down the asphalt until he collided head-first with a section of raised concrete pavement while curbing at high speed in Portrush, County Antrim. After receiving immediate medical intervention from the race doctors and medics, Andrews was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast in a critical condition after suffering the high-speed accident on the approach to Metropole corner. Andrews was competing in the second Superstock race of the event aboard his BMW. He died in hospital on 19 May 2014 as a result of his injuries, aged 31.
Malachi Mitchell-Thomas
Malachi Mitchell-Thomas died as a result of a crash on the third lap of the Supertwins race at the Vauxhall International North West 200 on 14 May 2016.
The 20-year-old from Chorley in Lancashire crashed his Burrows Engineering Kawasaki on the approach to Black Hill. The race was immediately red flagged and Malachi was treated by medical staff from the MCUI Medical team but succumbed to his injuries at the scene. No other riders were involved in the incident.
Racing was subsequently abandoned.
Kamil Holán
Kamil Holán died on 7 May 2026 after an incident in Superbike qualifying. The 48-year-old Czech rider had a crash at the fast Station Corner and died at the scene. His family gave their permission for racing to continue for the remainder of the event.
The early years of the event was dominated by British motorcycle manufacturers, in particular Norton. It was only in 1964 that Honda claimed their first victory. 2010 saw BMW score their first victory at the event and also the first non-Japanese manufacturer to claim a victory since 1997. Yamaha is the only manufacturer to have a clean sweep, winning all five races in 1979.
The event is covered by BBC Northern Ireland having previously been covered by UTV. All races are live on the BBC iPlayer. There is also live radio coverage on BBC Radio Ulster and live text commentary on the BBC Sport NI website. BBC NI also show highlights programmes presented by Stephen Watson, usually on the Sunday and Monday nights after the event. BBC Commentators include BBC MotoGP commentator Steve Parrish and five-time winner on a single day Phillip McCallen. In 2026 it was announced that BBC Sport NI had extended its contract to provide coverage of the event until 2029.
Video game
The North West 200 features in Jester Interactive's PlayStation 2 title TT Superbikes: Real Road Racing Championship released at the end of May 2008. It is the sequel to their top 10 game TT Superbikes released in 2005. It is also featured in Milestone srl's Ride 2, Ride 3 Ride 4 and Ride 5 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
