North West 200: Dunlop's share the Superbike spoils as brotherly battle between Michael and William provides warm memory of road racing past

William made a daring pass on Michael to win the first race before Michael prevailed in a battle with Josh Brookes and Alastair Seeley in the last race of the day

Jack de Menezes
Saturday 17 May 2014 20:54 BST
Comments
Man of the meeting at the North West 200 Michael Dunlop
Man of the meeting at the North West 200 Michael Dunlop (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

William Dunlop came out on top in a thrilling battle with his brother Michael to win the first North West 200 Superbike race in Northern Ireland, notching his fourth career win on the streets of Northern Ireland and sparking memories of the Dunlop battles of the past.

William and Michael’s father Robert Dunlop still hold the record for the most wins in the North West 200 with 15 victories, before he was tragically killed during practice at the 2008 road race. His brother Joey, who holds the record number of Isle of Man TT wins with 26, frequently battled his sibling for victory, with the nostalgic sight of the two Dunlop’s battling yesterday afternoon delighting their home crowd.

BMW rider Michael Dunlop would go on to claim the second Superbike race of the day after a hotly contested battle with Alastair Seeley and Josh Brookes. Seeley, who won the opening race of the meeting on Thursday, had to make do with third after Australian Brookes pipped him on the final lap in a shortened five-lap shootout.

Earlier in the day, Bruce Anstey took advantage of a crash between Alastair Seeley and Lee Johnston to win the Supersport 600 race, while Johnston returned to take the chequered flag in the Supertwins. Michael Dunlop won a shortened Superstock race due to an accident causing a red flag on lap four of six.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in