North West 200

The North West 200 is a motor cycle race-meeting held each May in Northern Ireland using public roads. The circuit between the towns Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine is considered among the fastest in the world and enters the outskirts of those towns, passing many private houses. To facilitate this, street signs are removed at parts of the track and bales of hay used to wrap the base of lamp-posts and telegraph poles in case a rider comes off his bike.

Related Topics:
Northern Ireland - Portrush - Portstewart - Coleraine

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Practice nights are held on Tuesday and Thursday before the race. The race meeting on Saturday requires public roads to be closed during the afternoon. The meeting takes its name from the main race of the afternoon - the 'North West 200'. This forms part of the larger tradition of Irish road-racing and the Isle of Man TT races.

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Thousands of people visit for the weekend, many of whom camp on fields beside the circuit or sleep in their cars.

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Many world-class riders have taken part. The most famous is the late Joey Dunlop.

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