NW200, Seeley to line up with Yamaha: “I thought I’d have to stop, but…”

Now 42, Alastair Seeley will take part in the 2022 edition of the North West 200 (on 8-14 May), riding the Yamaha for team IFS Racing, a squad headed up by Graeme Hanna. The expert rider and road racer already won last year’s Ulster SBK title with the same team, and will ride both the R6 in Supersport, and the R1 in the Superstock and Superbike classes.

“Wee Wizard” was unsure he’d be able to participate in this year’s edition of the famous road race, which weaves through the towns of Portrush, Coleraine and Portstewart, but now that he’s reached an agreement, he has high hopes: “I didn’t have a bike for this year and so thought I’d have to stop and go to the North West as a spectator or track marshall. Now that I know I can race with a competitive team though, I hope to be one of the frontrunners as I have been in the past”.

Seeley: “After what happened in 2019, I want my 25^th win”

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The latest edition, which ran before the pandemic, didn’t go to plan for Alastair, who wants to put things right this time around: “The way 2019 finished, with a crash at the last turn while I was leading in “my” Supersport race, was hard to swallow. The 600 is the ideal category for me and so this year I hope to be able to fight at the front. I want that 25th win and will do my best to secure it”.

“I won’t test in Spain before the North West, but will just do a shakedown at Kirkistown or Bishopscourt circuit. The races, aside from the Superbike perhaps, won’t be won by the rider who finds the right set-up, but by the person who best adapts to the track”, continues Seeley. “With my experience, I’m sure I can be fast right away, whatever the conditions, seeing as only McGuinness and Rutter have more than me, with about 90 years of racing behind them…”, he jokes.

Translated by Heather Watson

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