North West 200: Hickman fastest in first NW200 Superbike qualifying
Peter Hickman posted the fastest lap speed in an opening North West 200 Superbike qualifying session which was disrupted by two red flag stoppages caused by oil spills on Wednesday.
The Lincolnshire rider recorded an average speed of 121.732mph on his 8Ten Racing BMW to occupy provisional pole position for Thursday evening's opening Superbike race and the two outings in the premier class on Saturday.
The four-time North West race winner told BBC Sport afterwards that "it was the most comfortable he had ever felt on a Superbike at the North West".
Second on the practice leaderboard was Yorkshireman Dean Harrison, who lapped at 121.385 on his Honda Racing Fireblade.
The 36-year-old hit a top speed of 209pmh during the big bike session, with the Isle of Man resident saying that his bike "felt pretty good straight off".
The event's record wins holder Alastair Seeley was third quickest on his return to the meeting after a one-year absence on the SMS/Nicholl Oils BMW with 121.003.
Davey Todd, three-time runner-up to Glenn Irwin in the Superbike class in 2024, was well down the leaderboard after encountering "a couple of issues" with his BMW but believes he "has the pace" to improve his fortunes during the rest of the week.
"It's a brand new bike with no testing whatsoever," explained the six-time North West race winner.
"The rear brake pads fell off on the run to University and I lost my rear brake.
"With the new bike it's complete guesswork for us at the minute and I didn't complete a flying lap. It's just about getting the teething problems sorted out."
Michael Dunlop was seventh on the timesheets with a lap speed of 119.063mph.
Superbike first qualifying fastest lap speeds -
1 Peter Hickman (BMW) 121.732mph; 2 Dean Harrison (Honda) 121.385; 3 Alastair Seeley (BMW) 121.003; 4 Paul Jordan (Honda) 120.652; 5 Erno Kostamo (BMW) 119.292; 6 Jamie Coward (BMW) 119.118.
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