Manxman Conor Cummins put in a strong showing at Saturdays International North West 200 road races and after claiming his first ever pole position around the 8.9 mile circuit, he was rewarded on race day with 2nd place in the opening Superbike race for a debut podium around the high-speed circuit. The McAdoo Kawasaki Racing rider was prominent in all five of his races and whilst he didnt necessarily get the results his efforts deserved, he served warning that he is going to be a tough man to beat at the forthcoming Isle of Man TT Races.

 

The Manxman put in some strong qualifying performances with the undoubted highlight being pole position for the Superstock class although he was also well placed after the two Superbike sessions, the 23 year old putting the Kawasaki into third place here. He was slightly lower down on the Supersport grid, in 12th, but knew there was more to come in Saturdays two races.

 

The opening Superbike race was delayed by a rain shower and cut to four laps but when it got underway, Conor shot into the lead and it soon became clear it was going to be a two-man fight between him and John McGuinness. The Honda man overtook Conor on the 2nd lap and managed to hold him off for the rest of the race although there was little to choose between the two riders, just 0.217s separating them at the chequered flag. In the following Supersport race, Conor was again in the heat of the battle but overheating problems with the 600cc bike meant he was slightly down on power and had to settle for 8th place.

 

After a brief rest, Conor was back out in the 5-lap Superstock race where he lined up in pole position and a brilliant start saw him immediately take the lead. However, it didnt last long as a rare mistake saw him high-side out of the action just a few miles later at University Corner, fortunately without injury. Things didnt get much better in the feature NW200 Superbike race when he was forced to retire on the second lap after water from the machine started being thrown out but he finished on a positive note with a strong 7th in the second Supersport race pulling through from a poor start that saw him outside of the top 15.

 

Speaking afterwards, Conor commented

 

Overall, I am happy with how today has gone and there are a lot of plusses to take from it. I was made up with the first Superbike race and I would like to think I pushed John hard all the way. I tried to make a break for it but that is nearly impossible to do at the North West and John overhauled me. I tried my best to find a way by him but he is a wily old fox and had everything covered – finishing 2nd and 0.2s behind him is no disgrace though. In the second, the bike started throwing water all over me and, at first, I wasnt sure if it was from another bike so I continued but I was getting passed by bikes I shouldnt have been. It was getting worse and worse so I pulled in as it simply wasnt safe, which was a wise decision as there was water all over the side of the bike.

 

I didnt quite get the Supersport bike set up right all weekend and in the first race it was at about 114 degrees at one stage! It did cool down a bit but was still down on power so I had to settle for my position. I was happy with my riding in the second though as I got a really poor start and dropped all the way back to 16th. It was hard work but I got my head down and managed to latch on to the group dicing for the podium so to finish 7th was pretty good going. As for the Superstock race, well, we will have to put that down to pilot error for now. I had just got the lead and the bike was flying when it high-sided me with no warning coming out of University. I felt really confident of winning it so it was a bit of a strange one to be honest.

 

I took my first NW200 pole position and podium this weekend and the bikes are good enough for the job so there are lots of positives to take from the meeting. The McAdoo bikes are flying, they handle brilliantly and it was real good fun out there so I cant complain. I am feeling confident so roll on the TT

 

Before the TT though, Conor will be back out in the colours of Team Blackhorse Kawasaki this weekend, with round 4 of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship taking place at Cadwell Park, May 21-23.