Benutzer:Pessottino/North West 200

Datei:North West 200 logo 2010.jpg
North West 200
Region	Northern Ireland
Date	May 13 to May 15 (2010)
Type	Road Course
Clerk of the Course
Event Organiser	Coleraine and District Motor Club
Principal Sponsor	Relentless Energy Drink
History
First race	1929
Number of races	75 (2009)
First winner	Vereinigtes Konigreich Ernie Nott (1929)
Most wins	Vereinigtes Konigreich Robert Dunlop 15
Lap record	Vereinigtes Konigreich Steve Plater 4:20.074, Vorlage:Convert
Current Season	2010 North West 200

Riders approaching York from Juniper Hill during the 2009 event.

The North West 200 is a motorcycle race meeting held each May in Northern Ireland. The course, made up of public roads running between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush (the Triangle) is one of the fastest in the world, with speeds in excess of Vorlage:Convert. It is one of around fifteen events run on public roads between April and October throughout the island of Ireland. It is the largest annual sporting event in Ireland, with the race weekend attracting over 150,000 visitors from all over the world.

Originally intended to be held somewhere in the north west of Ireland and organised by the City of Derry & District Motor Club, the initial event 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.

The 2010 event took place on Saturday 15 May and featured daytime practice on the Thursday for the first time.

Race format

The 'North West 200,' was originally ran over two hundred miles in 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, all riders compete together as with normal circuit racing.

Over the years the number and the classes of races has varied according to the latest regulations. Since 1990 there has always been a 125 cc race and since 1992 the North West 200 race has been for Superbikes.

Strecke

North West 200 circuit layout as of 2009.

The course 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 Vorlage:Convert long, with a distance of Vorlage:Convert 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.

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 improvement made to the area at Station corner.

Jack Brett recorded the first Vorlage:Convert lap of the course on a Norton 500cc in 1957. The current course lap record is held by Steve Plater at Vorlage:Convert which was set during the 2006 event. The fastest recorded lap at Vorlage:Convert was set by Tom Herron during the 1978 'North West 200' race. In 2004, Michael Rutter became the first rider to record a top speed in excess of Vorlage:Convert on the course. During Tuesday's practice at the 2010 event Stuart Easton set a new fastest speed trap time, touching Vorlage:Convert on the approach to University Corner.

Tödliche Unfälle

A group of racer 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 events 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 was killed 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 160 mph. 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

Twenty-two-year-old Mark Young died during the 2009 event on 17 May 2009. He crashed at the same corner as Robert Dunlop, raising serious concerns about the circuit’s safety. It was Young's first race at the North West 200 though he had road racing experience.

Sieger

Northern Irishman Robert Dunlop holds the record number of wins, totalling fifteen victories throughout his career. His brother Joey won thirteen races, but the event has been dominated in recent years by Englishman Michael Rutter, who has won twelve races from 1997 to 2008. The next generation of Dunlop entered the record books in 2008 when Robert's son Michael won the 250 cc race. The following year another son, William, won two races.

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.

Medienpräsenz

Spectators enjoying the 2009 event.

The event is currently covered by BBC Northern Ireland having previously been covered by UTV. Some races can be accessed live nationwide via the BBC Red Button and all races are live on the BBC 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 5 times winner on a single day Phillip McCallen.

Verweise

Siehe auch

• Clady Circuit
• Dundrod Circuit
• Isle of Man TT
• Ulster Grand Prix

Weblinks

Commons: Pessottino/North West 200 – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

• Offizielle Website (englisch)
• North-West-200-Homepage der BBC (englisch)