Glenn Irwin claimed pole position during Superbike final qualifying Thursday at the Briggs Equipment North West 200, in Northern Ireland. Riding his Hager PBM Ducati Panigale V4 R Superbike, Irwin covered the 8.970-mile circuit of closed-off public roads in 4:16.433 for an average speed of 125.928 mph, which is a new outright lap record for the course.
Davey Todd was the best of the rest with a time of 4:18.663 and an average speed of 125.928 mph, but Todd’s Milwaukee BMW was fastest through the speed trap with a top speed of 209.8 mph.
Michael Dunlop qualified third with a 4:20.933 and 123.756 mph average speed on his MasterMac Honda CBR1000R-RR Fireblade SP by Hawk Racing.
Richard Cooper earned pole position in Supersport qualifying with a lap at 4:33.627 and an average speed of 118.015 mph on his BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. Todd qualified second at 4:34.304 (117.723 mph) on his Powertoolmate Ducati Panigale V2, and Cooper’s teammate Mike Browne was third-fastest at 4:37.104 (116.534 mph).
Todd grabbed pole position in Superstock qualifying with a time of 4:19.324 and an average speed of 124.524 mph on his Milwaukee BMW. Peter Hickman was second-best at 4:19.578 and 124.402 mph on his PHR Performance BMW, and Dean Harrison was third in the field of 48 riders with the 4:21.525 (123.476 mph average speed) he did on his Honda Racing UK CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Peter Hickman captured pole position in Supertwin qualifying with a lap time of 4:51.323 and average lap speed of 110.846 mph on his Swan Racing Yamaha YZF-R7. Cooper was second-quickest with a 4:52.971 (110.222 mph) on his Jack Reid Cars Kawasaki 650, and 60-year-old Jeremy McWilliams bounced back from a crash on Wednesday to qualify third with a 4:55.822 (109.160 mph) on his Bayview Hotel/JMW Paton on Thursday.
The first round of racing will commence Thursday evening followed by a day off on Friday and the final round of racing on Saturday.