All eight victories taken using a mix of METZELER RACETEC™ RR, RACETEC™ RR Slick and RACETEC™ Rain tyres

13th May 2017 – METZELER has dominated the prestigious International North West 200 road racing event in Northern Ireland today in difficult, mixed conditions. Victories were hard won by Metzeler riders Martin Jessopp, Alastair Seeley, Michael Rutter and a stunning first win for Glenn Irwin. Seeley has now racked up an incredible 21 wins and took four wins in the week for the first time in his career.
 
Local hero Seeley, from Carrickfergus, was in imperious form throughout qualifying, setting pole position in the Supersport and Superstock classes whilst Michael Rutter lined up first in the Superbike division.Under clear blue skies, Thursday night saw the traditional start to proceedings with the first Supersport, Superstock and Supertwins events. Martin Jessopp took his first ever International road race victory in the 600cc class which he later followed up in the lightweight Supertwins outing. Seeley, or The ‘Wee Wizard’, as he is affectionately known, took the Superstock victory on his Tyco BMW S1000RR with a dominant 12 second win and logged up a new lap record in the process.

Saturday was very different with overnight rain seeing a delay to proceedings. It was the second Supersport race which kicked the action off, and picking up where he left off on Thursday it was Seeley who cruised to victory by over 4 seconds.

With rain arriving as the Superbikes took to the grid, a lengthy delay ensued with the race eventually getting underway over a shortened race distance of four laps and on a wet track. The ‘Wee Wizard’ was in imperious form throughout the race to claim the win by over 21 seconds ahead of fellow Metzeler rider Rutter. Rutter would be able to go one better in the following Supertwin race however, returning to the top step of the podium to become the third most successful rider in North West 200 history. Thursday night race winner Jessopp finished third. The second Superstock race was red flagged with rain arriving mid-way through the race, giving Tyco BMW and Alastair Seeley another victory with Rutter third.

As the circuit dried, the scene was set for an epic finale; the seven lap North West 200 Superbike race. It did not disappoint as Seeley, Ian Hutchinson and Glenn Irwin battled throughout in a series of audacious overtakes. British Superbike young star Irwin took his maiden victory with some style in front of his local fans.

The massive event was streamed to a worldwide audience, showcasing the talents of these Roads heroes and the performance and durability of the METZELER RACETEC™ RR tyre range. Wins in the Supersport, Superstock and Supertwins classes were chalked up on METZELER RACETEC™ RR road legal tyres and both RACETEC™ Slick and Rain Superbike tyres in the blue riband Superbike events.

METZELER UK Racing Manager Jason Griffiths commented; ”Eight from eight tells the story of the 2017 North West 200 for Metzeler! We used the full spectrum of the Metzeler racing range to win across all the classes in a variety of conditions.
 
A sincere thanks to all of our riders. Congratulations to Martin Jessopp for his first win which he then doubled up on shortly afterwards on Thursday evening. Metzeler’s Mr. NW200 Alastair Seeley logged up another impressive four wins. And then to top off a perfect week, Glenn Irwin took his first win in the feature North West 200 Superbike race in some style on his PBM Ducati machine.”
 
North West 200 Races:
Supersport Race 1 (Thursday)

  1. Martin Jessop (METZELER)
  2. Ian Hutchison
  3. James Hillier (METZELER)
     
    Superstock Race 1 (Thursday)
  1. Alastair Seeley (METZELER)
  2. Lee Johnston
  3. Dean Harrison (METZELER)Supertwins Race 1 (Thursday)
  1. Martin Jessop (METZELER)
  2. Michael Rutter (METZELER)
  3. Ivan Lintin
     
    Supersport Race 2 (Saturday)
  1. Alastair Seeley (METZELER)
  2. William Dunlop
  3. Michael Dunlop

        Superbike Race

  1. Alastair Seeley (METZELER)
  2. Michael Rutter (METZELER)
  3. Lee Johnston
     
    Supertwins Race 2
  1. Michael Rutter (METZELER)
  2. Daniel Cooper
  3. Martin Jessop ( METZELER)
     
    Superstock Race 2
  1. Alastair Seeley (METZELER)
  2. Ian Hutchison
  3. Michael Rutter (METZELER)
     
    Superbike Race 2 (NW200)
  1. Glenn Irwin (METZELER)
  2. Alastair Seeley (METZELER)
  3. Ian Hutchison
     
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