Davey todd earns top newcomer award at north west 200
Burrows engineering racing prospect davey todd made a highly successful debut at the vauxhall international north west 200, where he was named as the event’s top newcomer.
The 22-year-old’s best results included two excellent 12th place finishes, coming in thursday’s superstock race and saturday’s first superbike race on the suzuki gsx-r1000.
Davey also showed his potential with another 12th place result in saturday’s superstock race and 13th in the feature nw200 superbike race, when he gained invaluable experience on the big suzuki ahead of his debut at the Isle of Man TT.
In the supersport class, the saltburn-by-the-sea rider had a minor spill in thursday’s race on the cbr6000rr honda and davey was then ruled out of saturday’s encounter, stopping at university. However, it was a very positive week overall at the famous north coast road race for davey and the burrows engineering racing team, who are now focused on the upcoming Isle of Man TT.
Burrows engineering racing’s derek sheils did not compete at the north west 200 as derek had other commitments to race at horice in the czech republic. Derek will be back in action on the burrows engineering racing suzuki at the irish national road races after the isle of man tt.
"As a team, we are very happy with davey’s performance. There’s a very strong field at what is a major international event at the north west 200, with leading british superbike riders through to the very best road racers. Prior to the event, I felt that the top ten would have been a very strong result for davey and more realistically the top 15, so I think we achieved what we set out to do.
"I was also very impressed with how davey’s lap times progressed throughout the day and how he was closer to the leaders. In the superstock race on saturday, he had the leaders in sight for a couple of laps and that was a vast improvement from where we started off. Davey had a little slip off on the 600 honda thursday, which wasn’t great for his confidence, but leaving the north west 200 with those top 15 results on the suzuki gsx-r1000 ahead of the tt is a massive boost for davey.
"He has had so much more track time on the bikes, which has proved invaluable with davey only really starting to ride a 1000cc machine this year, barring a couple of one-off rides in the past. It takes a lot of getting used to, but davey is gelling well with the new gsx-r1000 and we are more than happy.
"As a newcomer to the event, davey could only do three races on the saturday and we decided not to take the supertwin to the north west, giving davey the chance to concentrate on the other bikes before the tt. I must also say how impressed we were with our michelin tyres at the north west, they really were top class and davey was very pleased with the feedback they gave him.”
"I’m really happy with how it went. It was a tough weekend to start off with but it was just all about learning the track and getting used to it. The guys worked really hard to get the bikes sorted and the suzuki gsx-r1000 was awesome. I’ve never gone that fast in my life and it was crazy getting used to that. It was really weird that the hardest part of the circuit for me was going down that main back straight and getting used to the sheer speed.
"I really enjoyed the rest of the course and I loved the circuit – it honestly felt nuts because it was just so fast! After putting in so much work to do the north west 200 for the first time, it has definitely left me really eager to get on the bikes again at the TT.
"We’re in the process of getting set up and it’s beginning to sink in now that we’re here and the tt is next. I’m really excited to have the chance to ride the best circuit in the world and I’ve put in a lot of work to learn the circuit and be as prepared as I can be. I can’t wait to get going and I know it will take a lot more learning and more years to really know the circuit, so now I just want to get out there and enjoy it.”
The isle of man tt races take place from may 26 to june 8, with a week of practice preceding the races. Davey’s first race will be the rst superbike event on saturday, june 2.
