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What a day that was! Thankfully we got one race in and a local win, with the wee wizard from Carrick taking his total of North West wins to five with his Supersport victory. What a scintillating race it was. It will make fabulous vieiwing in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ NW200 highlights programme on Monday night.

Mervyn Whyte and his team went over and above the call of duty to try and keep the race action going. There will be nobody more disappointed that all the races didn't run than Mervyn. Maybe if Ryan Farquhar's bike had blown up somewhere else on the track in the Superbike race other than on the recently laid tarmac things could have continued. But as it was every time they thought they had the oil cleaned up, it just kept seeping back through. Then the event finally succumbed to the inevitable, when they were unable make the circuit safe enough to continue.

Full respect to Michael Rutter who stuck to his guns and pulled off the grid whenever they wouldn't hold back the first running of the Superbike race. He told me that it wasn't due to a lack of grip and that the surface was ok, but the problem was that when the riders got caught up in the traffic the spray coming up off other bikes' tyres made it impossible to see properly. Micahel would have preferred the start of the race to be held back until more of the surface water had been cleared, but as it was it wouldn't have made any difference due to the oil seeping onto the circuit.

Ultimately, the most important thing is everybody is heading home safe from what action we have had today and the good news is that Stuart Easton is recovering well in hospital and we all send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I felt really sorry for the riders today. I know from when I used to race that you wake up on race day morning full of nerves and anxiety and you just want to be out on the bike and get the action underway. However, today with all the delays everything was strung out for the riders. Having a few aborted attempts at getting the racing underway only creates more tension and nervousness for riders until it comes to a point when you have been hanging around for so long that it then becomes a problem to get yourself in the right frame of mind for when you actually have to race.

A few highlights from the action we did get this week was the epic battle between Seeley and Donald in the Supersport race, an outstanding debut performance in qualifying from simon Andrews and the slick running and amount of practice time available from the practice sessions. Whilst this year's race day was disappointingly interrupted through circumstances and the weather, it will only make next year's North West 200 even more eagerly anticipated.

Last word and a special mention goes to all the hearty spectators who deserve a lot of praise for sticking it out for the full duration today in difficult conditions. Thank you to all of you who have followed the blogs and the rest of our ´óÏó´«Ã½ NW200 coverage and thanks to those of you who have sent in texts,
photos and social media messages. Hopefully the ´óÏó´«Ã½ coverage through online, tv and radio today helped make the day not too long for all of you!

I'm looking forward already to joining you all at next year's NW200. Fingers crossed for better weather.

Well its race day morning and the weather at the North West is atrocious. This will certainly put the cat among the pigeons. All of your dry qualifying times now go out the window and the wet weather specialists will come to the fore.

All the fast guys are still going to be up near the front but conditions like these will probably play into the hands of riders such as Ryan Farquhar and Michael Dunlop. I reckon that some of the guys will maybe have their eye on their British Championship commitments and so perhaps won’t push themselves beyond what they feel comfortable with. However, as we have seen from previous years when there has been wet races, the likes of Ryan’s confidence and experience in the wet can make up for any small deficiencies in the machinery.

I reckon the racing will still be tight, competitive and exciting but just at a slower pace.

Keep the fingers crossed for a safe day’s racing.

Well the second qualifying session has just finished. We’ve had a good day, bar the incident at the start of the session involving MSS Colchester Kawasaki team mates Stuart Easton and Gary Mason. Although Stuart Easton has suffered a serious leg and hip break, initial fears were that the injuries suffered, were a lot worse. We wish him a speedy recovery. Gary Mason went to hospital for a check-up but thankfully he is ok.

Once qualifying resumed it was fast and furious. Alastair Seeley continued his dominance topping the timesheets in the Supersport and Superstock class and probably might have topped the Superbike session as well, only for fuelling problems with his Relentless Suzuki by Tas Racing machine to halt the Carrick man's progress. The team spent the full one hour Superbike session trying to get to the root of the problem but failed and they will have their work cut out ensuring the bike is up and running for Saturday.

Another local man on form today was Michael Dunlop, who finished second in the Superstock class and third in both the Superbike and Supersport. His aggressive riding style certainly was bringing him to the fore in qualifying and his confidence will be high going into Saturday. Michael’s brother William seems to have stepped up a gear around the North West circuit. Now that William has got very competitive machinery and highly regarded Moto GP suspension technician Graeme Irvine on his team I think he could be a serious contender for the podiums on Saturday.

Guy Martin appeared not to be in talkative form today. He was very focused on the job in hand and we can only hope he has an early success on Saturday and that brings him round to the usual, jovial Guy, full of quips that we all know and love.

Other riders that performed notably well in qualifying were Gary Johnson, Lee Johnston, Cameron Donald, Michael Rutter and his team mate Martin Jessop. As for the newcomers; British superbike rider Simon Andrews really shone in qualifying in tenth position in the Superbike class, whilst local lads Kirk Jamison and Jamie Hamilton also performed strongly.

Now our thoughts turn to race day and who is going to come out on top? It is hard to see past Alastair Seeley given his form. However, I think whatever races he doesn’t win, Michael Dunlop could pick up. Of course it’s never easy to pick a winner at the NW200 but the last time Michael Rutter won round here, he was riding this bike, but in the North West 200 coloursÌý – could this be an omen? Other contenders include Cameron Donald, Gary Johnson and if it was to be wet Dungannon’s Ryan Farquhar could take the spoils.

Just finally – could this be the year that ´óÏó´«Ã½ correspondent Phillip McCallen’s record of five wins in a day is finally matched???