´óÏó´«Ã½

What a great day's racing. It all looked a little shakey to start with, what with the weather and the absence of Steve Plater but once it got going the sizzling hot action soon dried out the track. Great to see McGuinness get another Superbike win and a superb double (could have been more due to slow starts /Ìý shortened races) for the wee wizard from Carrick Alastair Seeley. How popular was he when the gloves came off and flew up into the crowded grandstand?



Hutchy rode well all day and I have never seen anyone so disappointed with a second place in my life but it definitely gave him the inspiration he needed to go out and win the 2nd Supersport race in a most un-Supersport fashion, by a country mile.

Lastly hats off to Keith Amor, with what was probably the worst way possible to go about preparing yourself for the NW 200 (splitting with the JMF team, only picking up his Supersport bike and suspension for the 1000cc BMW the weekend before and arriving at Portrush without a wheel turned in testing). To not only qualify so well but to take victory in the Superstock race is outstanding. Living with Johnny Rea must be rubbing off on him, watch out everyone at the TT.

And so to the NW200 predictor game, all you armchair know it all's, how did you all get on? I suppose top bragging rights must go to Teamac, but then again if I had topped the list then you would be shouting fix!!! We'll see next year!

Top 6 for the Overall Game

1ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý TeamMacÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 2925
2ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý coatesyscrashersÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 2900
3ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý aggieÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 2750
4ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý SicknoteÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 2650
5ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý thomas46ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 2575
6ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý TooFamousRobÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 2575

Well the final (unofficial) results are in and it was very close at the top of the overall leaderboard. The injury to Steve Plater and the success of Keith Amor - finishing in the top six in every race he entered and winning the Superstock class - provided an interesting change to proceedings post Thursday practice night predictions.

Alastair Seeley's two wins - Superbike and Supersport - were very popular with the race fans in the gallery and on the predictor game.

So, top dog in the overall league goes to.......TeamMac, with Coatseyscrashers in second place and aggie taking third. The top twenty are shown below and if you can see the full results by checking your dashboard on the Podiun Predictor site.



In the Expert Predictions league it was nip and tuck in the end. At one stage ex-NW200 champion Phillip McCallen was miles behind Stephen Watson and Steve Parrish in the points stakes, but just like his racing style, he came from the back of the grid to pip Steve Parrish on the last bend. Both ex-riders posted the same final score but McCallen took the podium, as had more accurate predictions in order.

We hope you enjoyed playing the game and that it added a fun element to the banter bewteen your friends and colleagues while watching the race atction develop over the week.

Steve Plater is recovering after a high speed crash at the NW200 in Thursday night's practice session. The Lincolnshire rider has a broken arm after coming off at Quarry Hill. Read the full account below from HM Plant Honda's PR team.

photo : Pacemaker Press International

"HM Plant Honda's Steve Plater and John McGuinness have experienced some highs and lows during this week's practices for Saturday's North West 200 races, with both riders securing leading positions in the practice timesheets but also with Steve Plater sustaining a broken arm leaving him unable to compete on Saturday.

Steve and team-mate John entered today's Superbike practice session in first and second positions respectively following Tuesday evening's practice. However on the second lap of his outing, Steve crashed at the last corner, Quarry Hill, when he lost the front end of the bike and slid heavily into the safety fencing.

Steve was immediately attended to by marshals and medics on the course and taken to Coleraine hospital where he underwent a full examination. It was quickly evident that his head, main body and legs were fine and that the main injury was to his left arm.
X-rays have confirmed that Steve has a broken left arm at the mid forearm point - with clean breaks to both the ulna and radius bones - and he will need an operation to have both bones plated. Steve's arm has been plastered and he will remain in hospital overnight as a precautionary measure, ahead of his operation tomorrow.

Steve is fortunate to have come away from his high speed crash with relatively minor injuries and this is testament to the FIM approved safety bales which absorbed the majority of the impact, the quality of Steve's leathers and helmet and also his quick thinking, as when he knew he was sliding towards the kerb he picked his legs up to minimise any further injury.

Steve remembers the whole accident and, although in pain, was talking to paramedics and HM Plant Honda's team manager, Harvey Beltran, before being taken to hospital by ambulance - in fact the first thing he said was to ask Harvey to call Vicky (his wife) and reeled off her number!

Whilst being incredibly disappointed to be missing Saturday's North West 200 races, Steve would like to thank everyone for the numerous good wishes already received. And, in his true determined spirit, Steve plans to watch Saturday's races from the pits and is already focusing on what he needs to do get back on the seat of his HM Plant Honda Fireblade as quickly as possible in order to retain his current lead in the British Superstock Championship.

In the meantime, John McGuinness will line up on the grid for an action packed day of North West 200 racing, with two Superbike races, two Supersport races on the CBR600RR and one Superstock race."

As you can see Steve is in good spirits as he recovers in hospital after an operation to set his broken arm.

We sent Gavin Andrews to visit Steve in hospital in Londonderry. You can watch the video here.